This weekend, things looked like somewhat of a success in terms of social distancing for the most part and definitely an improvement from last weekend. The streets are pretty clear and there were some definite hot spot areas that well be focusing on, but the beaches and some of the parks and other places, people were practicing social distancing and we very much appreciate your cooperation. It will make a world of difference and, in fact, we already have made a difference in really saving lives. We may not realize the impacts this until this is all over, but eventually, we will learn, im sure, that because of what we have done and how we all have participated in complying with social distancing, it truly has saved lives. As of today, we have 374 confirmed cases with six deaths and that is six people who have passed away because of the coronavirus. And my heart goes out to the family members expect friends e have lost in San Francisco. One person is too much of a loss and as we have said before, this is a very deadly virus, as you are seeing, not just in San Francisco but throughout the country. And the reason we have taken significant steps has everything to do with saving lives and protecting Public Health. Because we know that there will be challenges on our Healthcare System and we know that people are anxious to know about the stayathome order and whether that will be extended. I know that our county Health Officers will be making an announcement tomorrow to talk about the specifics of extending the stayathome order until mar the sake of planning and everyone can begin to know this continue to have an impact, you should definitely plan to stay at home and this process and what were doing here will continue until at least may 1st. If anything changes, we will definitely notify the public. So i want to just talk a little bit about some of the challenges that we have having and will continue to have and what were doing to prepare for those challenges. Weve said from the very beginning we knew that our vulnerable populations, not only consisting of our ederly but those living in congregate settings and sadly those on our streets would be a part of that vulnerable population and so we would have to move quickly to make sure that in places where we have singleroom occupancy hotels, where our Shelter Systems are and places like ga laguna honda, we had a plan and would keep people safe. From the very beginning, we knew this would be a challenge. We have learn ed this nine employees at laguna honda hospital have tested positive, as well as two patients, and we are still testing people a at at laguna hospital and well have more information once that comes in. We knew the situation would be challenging and so immediately last week, i sent a letter to the federal department of Human Services asking for significant support so that we could not only focus on making sure we provide the resources and support to this hospital and we dont continue to drain other services, but we have the expertise and the testing on side and other things needed in order to prevent something from happening that we know has happened in other places throughout the country, including in washington, that house hav a significant populatn of ederly patients. Laguna ha honda is one of the largest hospitals of its kind in the country, housing over 750 very, very vulnerable residents who cannot take care of themselves. And this is basically their home and this is where they eat. This is where they live. This is where theyre cared for. And so we have been taken immediate steps in order to help support this hospital and support the people and the staff who are part of it. We were fortunate in that the cdc on friday, after sending that urgent request to the u. S. Department of health and Human Services, the cdc has sent two Infectious Disease doctors and two epidemiologists and the department of health has sent two prevention nurses to help assess the situation at laguna honda and make recommendations and we also have a dedicated staff member at the cdc in atlanta to help monitor and facilitate the situation specifically at l laguna honda because we know that, again, this is a very vulnerable population and more testing needs to be done and its going to be important that we have the resources and we have the support necessary to protect and save lives. Its just a start and im grateful for what weve received, but i want to be clear, its not nearly enough to get us to a better place specifically concentrating on la golaguna honda hospital. Well definitely be reaching out to federal and state partners to ask for Additional Support for the residents and the staff at laguna honda hospital. I also want to be clear that the situation will escalate at laguna honda and it will escalate here in San Francisco. The fact that we are taking such drastic steps to, in essence, pretty much shut down San Francisco has everything to do with how serious this is. I cant reiterate enough how important it is for all of us to continue to comply, for all of us to continue to be good citizens, to continue to cooperate. This weekend, i received a note from one of my neighbors. The note basically had the email address expect phone number of one of my neighbors on the block who said they were the block captain. So if i needed anything, whether its Grocery Shopping or pharmacy pickups or what have you, or even someone to take to, they were available. And i got really emotional when i received that note because it made me think about how amazing people are in this city and how ive heard so many stories about people reaching out to their neighbors, people identifying ederly people that they know need help and just dropping off groceries, folks just stepping up and being there for one another. Because we know that its not just about the physical health and what we need to do to combat the coronavirus. We also understand that as human beings, theres an emotional toll that this will take on so many of us. So its so important that we continue to uplift one another and be there for one another as much as we possibly can. My thoughts and prayers go out to the team at laguna honda. I want to thank them for all they continue to do to give dignity to so many elderly patients who may not have family visits or support and resources to do anything just to be there and to know the nurses and those doctors and those social workers continue to put a smile on the face of those patients. They show up everyday and they just really deserve our respect, our support and we will do everything we can to continue to do just that. So at this time, i would like to introduce dr. Grant colfax to provide us with more detail specifically whats happening at laguna honda, what were doing to prepare for the inevitable and how, together, we will do everything we can to save and change lives and get through this. So thank you all so much. And let me wipe this mic down. Good afternoon, im gra grant colfax, director of health. Thank you, mayor. Today im saddened to report to the San Francisco community that laguna honda hospital has a growing outbreak of coronavirus. Weve prepared for since the start of the pandemic and we will continue to do everything we can to protect laguna honda hospital and staff. I want the community and all of the families to know how much i care, we care about them and they are our top priority. We are intensely focused on doing everything we can to protect everyone at laguna honda from harm, but i also need to be realistic and forthright. As we look at the data and the patterns around the world and in our country, we know that longterm care facilities are at most risk for coronavirus outbreaks. Therefore, we expect the situation to, unfortunately, get worse. Across the united states, many longterm care facilities have been hit hard by the coronavirus, including in california, washington, colorado, minnesota, new york and many other states. No local community is equipped to manage this escalating crisis alone. And that is why we have asked for help from the state and federal government and, i am thankful that some of our requests are starting to be answered. As of today, Infection Control nurses from the California Department of health and Infectious Disease physicians and e epidemiologists from the c are on la go laguna honda exper. They will make decisions for management that is expected to escalate and will work with leaders at the department of Public Health to develop a prospective Response Plan for longterm care facilities in addition to l laguna honda. I am grateful for this help and we need more. From the beginning of the global outbreak, efforts by the city to prepare for the coronavirus have prepared the most vulnerable population. Residents who are over 60 years old and those with certain Underlying Health conditions and chronic diseases. The residents of laguna honda hospital are in the most vulnerable of these groups. Laguna honda has a total of 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Nine are amongst staff and two are among residents. All are in good condition. Since march 26th, 158 staff and 54 residents were tested for the virus. Among residents, two have tested positive and 51 negative and one result is still pending. Among staff, 156 have tested negative and 25 more tests are underway. And i expect more cases of coronavirus in the laguna Honda Community among both staff and residents because it is now spreading throughout the bay area. We are drawing on all of the resources we can muster at the local state and federal level to strengthen our response. Laguna honda has been and remains a top priority in the citys preparation and response to coronavirus. The first Health Officer order after declaring a local Health Emergency in early march was to restrict visitors from laguna honda to protect the institutions residents. Laguna honda leadership has worked actively and diligently to train staff on coronavirus including the use of personal protective equipment, ppe, for all cleaning of common spaces of resident rooms and other prevention technique. Here is what is happening on campus right now to respond to the outbreak. First, the hospital incident command system is activated to manage the crisis and the incident commander, troy williams, is here to answer further details about that process. The state Infection Control nurses are creating expanded protocols on environmental cleaning, ppe, and staff safety. The cdc is intensifying the information to look for sources of infection and the pathway of spread and this will prevent a plan that taking the coronavirus situation fully into account. The two units where the cases have been diagnosed, south 4 and south 5, are under an extensive quarantine order. Each of these units houses approximately 60 residents. Within these units, doors have been secured, sheriffs are at the doors preventing residents from leaving and only allowing appropriate staff to enter and residents are being assessed for symptoms on every shift and staff are being screened twice for symptoms at every shift. Testing of all staff on south 4 and south 5 where staff cases have been found is almost complete. To date, nine positive cases have been confirmed. And testing of all patients on south 5 where patient cases have been found is complete and results are pending. To date, two positive cases have been confirmed. All nonessential personnel are restricted from entering the facility. All essential visitors, staff and residents are medically screened and all laguna honda staff are screened at the start of each shift. In addition, laguna honda is setting up a field care clinic on its grounds as a precaution in case there is a need to separate groups of patients. We are continuing to assess the situation and adapt our response accordingly. Working with our state and federal partners. However, even best efforts are no guarantee against the spread of the virus. There are currently 374 cases and six deaths due to coronavirus in San Francisco. In addition to our focused, Rapid Response efforts at laguna honda hospital, they are preparing for the expected surge of hospital patients. I remind all of sanfrancisco to do your part in slowing down the virus. By decreasing community spread, you will help protect vulnerable groups like the very residents of laguna honda and other longterm care facility residents across the country, other ederly people and those with underlying he health conditions. This is the time to come together as a community while we stay home whenever possible. I cannot stress that enough. Unfortunately, we will be seeing more cases and deaths in the coming days and weeks. Please do your part to keep those numbers as low as possible. Thank you. And i would like to introduce mr. Yee, board of supervisors. Good morning. Im t norman yee, president of e board of supervisors and im in district 7 in which laguna honda is located. I want to thank dr. Colfax and mayor breed in taking a stand with these vulnerable populations were dealing with. We knew that at some point somebody was going to be infected. So as tough as its been to say no visitors coming to laguna honda, its something we had to do. Think about it. The people that are there in the hospital are now not with their families, not with their friends visiting. And the love that the family and the friends want to provide for them, they cant. So a tough decision, it was very difficult to make, but think it was the right decision. Problem, in fact, it delayed any infection there. It probably, in fact, reduced the numbers that were seeing today. What im saying is probably reiterating what dr. Colfax was saying, that we need to take an aggressive stance. We need to attack this aggressively and do everything we can to slow it down, to minimize how many people are going to be infected, whether its staff or the seniors themselves. One thing that we could do even more aggressively if we have the tools is to Start Testing everybody there, everybody. We cant be working in a vacuum. We cant be guessing oh, where is the next person that will be positive . We have to get ahead of that. So as dr. Colfax and mayor breed were saying, were reaching out to the state and federal government and please respond because we need your help. Thats all i have to say today and thank you very much to the residents who are behaving the right way, social distancing, stay at home as much as you can and enjoy whatever you can at home and if you have to go out, make sure you are staying away from people, at least six feet and to continue washing your hands. Thank you very much. Well open it up to some question. Madam mayor, this is a question from abc7. What is the city doing to help Small Businesses during this crisis. So one of the first things that we announced early on, because we knew there would be some real challenges with our Small Business community, is a fund to provide a Million Dollars in grants right away and that money has dried up and we provided a delay in business taxes until 2021 so that businesses here can hold off on paying taxes until next year. We put a delay on a number of fees that businesses get charged and we also provided a 10 million fund for employees where you have businesses who have sick leave and, for example, if an employee only has two weeks of sick leave, we could provide an additional week of sick leave through a fund that is available and weve tried to make sure that we provided all of these options to Small Businesses. They can check out the website oewd. Com for more information on how they can get additional assistance. The governor added additional there are others other actually before did not qualify for Unemployment Insurance that now qualify for Unemployment Insurance. And so state Unemployment Insurance is available to a lot more people than it hav ever has before. So its important that people apply because you may not think youre qualified, but you are. Im working to develop a nointerest loan fund where weve partnered with a number of nonprofit agencies excuse me, folks in the private sector to contribute money along with public dollars and were hoping to make that Fund Available to businesses sooner rather than later. We understand that businesses are suffering and theres some real challenges with paying bills, but i think our commercial moratoriums on convictions and a number of other things were doing to really slow down or hold off on extreme responses to the lack of our Business Community and their inability to pay bills because of the resources that theyre no longer able to regenerate, i think that some of the measures we put in place will be helpful. I know they wont be enough so well continue to add a number of resources to help support our Small Business community and i just want to be clear, theres a lot of folks who are hurting out there and wer were going to do everything we can but this is a problem that doesnt exist in San Francisco. Its all over the country, all over the world and it will be difficult to help every single person, but well do our very best. Question from sin singh tao. For affordable housing, but what about luxury Home Building . The fact is in San Francisco, costle building anything is so expensive, the fact we dont build is a problem. It doesnt matter what sort of housing gets built. The fact is, when this is all over, people are going to need places to live and so im not going to pit between one housing versus another. Housing is essential, period. And what we dont want to happen is what happened, especially when we started to focus on Job Opportunities between 2010 and 2015 during the time when we were attracting a number of Tech Companies and other businesses to sanfrancisco. For every eight jobs we created, we created only one unit of housing. You had people lining you in the western Housing Community where i grew up, where you would never see anything like this for one apartment, which i think drives up prices. So the fact is, all housing is essential. And we dont need to pick one over the other. The fact is, when this is all over, just think about it, we have thousandscs of people on streets. You think well able to afford thousands of units to house them . This will require every single unit that we can get on the market, no matter what kind of unit it is. Thank you, madam mayor. The next questions are for dr. Colfax. This is from reedasm lbergati from the washington washington . What date are you used to make your posts positive . Whats the view of using modeling to predict what will happen with the virus and are you relying on any models . Thank you. We have some of the best people in the help department helping us pull in data from all sources, both locally, nationally and internationally to make an informed response. Some of the key things were looking at, obviously, are the number of cases and very importantly, the number of people who are hospitalized, including people in the intensive care unit, following numbers carefully, and using other data from china, italy and now new york t of what to be prepared for in worse Case Scenarios and updating the numbers to see where we stand. So in terms of what were missing, you know that theres clear testing deficiencies across the country and were working to expand our Testing Capacity in San Francisco. We still do not have an accurate prevalence number and, in other words, we not know overall per thousand people in San Francisco what the rate of the virus infection is and we are working, again, with the uc berkley and ucsf colleagues to determine that number as quickly as possible to get the estimates and those will be very important in informing our models. With regard to whether models are helpful, yes, i think they are very helpful and they provide a number of plausible scenarios and they certainly do not provide certainty about where were headed but provide plausible scenarios to help us plan our response Going Forward. The next question is from jamie harr of the associated press. The department of Public Health is sending Health Inspectors to conduct inspections at sros. How many are checking and what are you looking for or not looking for . So we are focus on a number of things, but particularly with regard to hygiene, making sure that the procedures are being followed and making sure that were doing outreach and education to the community, around the social distancing order and making sure that people have the information they need and, also, making sure that people have the information they need in the event they need care. They know who to call, when to call and to get the help from the Public Health department, their community and other Healthcare Providers and systems across the city. And this is a followup, if there are unsafe conditions, what will you do . Will you move people out . Were looking at focusing on the conditions are as safe as possible and if peopl symptoms, they are protected and that theyre provided with resources and physical spaces that allows them to selfquarantine from their community and other people that they may come into close contact with. And the next question is from shannon lim of kqed. Theres a question and followup. What are San Franciscos plans to Start Testing hopeless people for the coronavirus . Do they have a protocol for who they will be testing and when this will begin. So i appreciate the question and im emphasized that we are expanding our testing and its a key priority of the departments. I just want to be transparent, though, what were doing. To give you an example, when we send our request up to state with regard to asking for more help and responding to the laguna honda situation, part of that request was the request for more swabs, testing swabs. Therthis is not just limited ton francisco but a National Shortage and we are struggling to get swabs in order to test and so along the supply chain for testing, there are severe limitations. While we are working to expand Testing Capacity, my Public Health lab is expected to triple its potential Capacity Starting today and we are still struggling along that supply chain to ramp up testing as long as possible. So anything from the specimen collection you need for swabs, from the processing reagents that are needed, our supply chains are episodic and hard to determine. So with regard to testing people who are tendernessin experiencig homelessness, we will focus on people who are symptomatic and people with highrisk exposures. Miss lins followup and similar to question from dan simon from cnn. The medical director of the er at ucsf believes theres a flattening of the curve and credits the stateathome order and not seeing a surge of expected of patients. Do you believe this is so . I havent spoken to the er directly. I think its still too early to tell. We are monitoring the numbers. The thing is when this disease takes off, if it takes off, it takes of rapidly in Communities Just like new york, the escalation, the curve is very upsloping very quickly. Its what we call a logrythmic increase. We need people to stay at home and we are expanding the stayathome order and more details will follow. We are watching the data very carefully and i do not know whether the aggressive actions early on have had the tentative effect but we need data to confirm that. From the l. A. Times, a similar question, asking to clarify how many people with the virus are hospitalized in San Francisco right now. And the sheltered place in terms of flatten the curve, if thats not happening now, when do you think we might see that happening . So to answer the first question with regard to hospitalizations from the latest data i have from the city systems, we have 58 people hospitalized with confirmed covid19 in the Hospital Systems across San Francisco. Again, that number could rapidly change. And its too early for me to speculate whether were succeeding in flattening the curve. The next question, may i ask if San Francisco or dr. Colfax are coordinating with any other bay area counties in the city excuse me counties, cities or the state of california on how long to extend the stayathome order . Yes. Certainly i am in regular contact with Health Directors across the region, as well as direct contact with state Health Leaders and the response to this pandemic and confrontatio yard e healthhealth order. This is far more effective from a regional approach. The order that will be released tomorrow will be another regional approach Going Forward and it is essential that we collaborate, share information and react to reduce the pandemic spread. And the final question is from dominick vercasa of the chronicle. Will any activities currently permitted, like Housing Construction be prohibited under the extended order . So the order will be released tomorrow and those details will follow. Thank you. That concludes our press conference. Thank you. How i really started my advocacy was through my own personal experiences with discrimination as a trans person. And when i came out as trans, you know, i experienced discrimination in the workplace. They refused to let me use the womens bathroom and fired me. There were so many barriers that other trans folks had in the workplace. And so when i finished college, i moved out to San Francisco in the hopes of finding a safer community. And also, i want to recognize our amazing Trans Advisory Committee who advises our office as well as the mayor, so our transadvisory community members, if they could raise their hands and you could give a little love to them. [applause] thank you so much for your help. My leadership here at the office is engaging the mayor and leadership with our lgbt community. We also get to support, like, local policy and make sure that that is implemented, from allgender bathrooms to making sure that theres lgbt Data Collection across the city. Get to do a lot of great events in trans awareness month. Transgender people really need representation in politics of all kinds, and im so grateful for clair farley because she represents us so intelligently. I would like to take a moment of silence to honor all those folks that nicky mentioned that weve lost this year. I came out when i was 18 as trans and grew up as gay in missoula, montana. So as you can imagine, it wasnt the safest environment for lgbt folks. I had a pretty supportive family. I have an identical twin, and so we really were able to support each other. Once i moved away from home and started college, i was really able to recognize my own value and what i had to offer, and i think that for me was one of the Biggest Challenges is kind of facing so many barriers, even with all the privilege and access that i had. It was how can i make sure that i transform those challenges into really helping other people. Were celebrating transgender awareness month, and within that, we recognize transgender day of remembrance, which is a memorial of those that we have lost due to transgender violence, which within the last year, 2019, weve lost 22 transgender folks. Think all but one are transgender women of color who have been murdered across the country. I think its important because we get to lift up their stories, and bring attention to the attacks and violence that are still taking place. We push back against washington. That kind of impact is starting to impact trans black folks, so its important for our office to advocate and recognize, and come together and really remember our strength and resilience. As the only acting director of a City Department in the country, i feel like theres a lot of pressure, but working through my own challenges and barriers and even my own selfdoubt, i think ive been try to remember that the action is about helping our community, whether thats making sure the community is housed, making sure they have access to health care, and using kind of my access and privilege to make change. I would like to Say Something about clair farley. She has really inspired me. I was a nurse and became disabled. Before i transitioned and after i transitioned, i didnt know what i wanted to do. Im back at college, and clair farley has really impressed on me to have a voice and to have agency, you have to have an education. Mayor breed has led this effort. She made a 2. 3 Million Investment into trans homes, and she spear headed this effort in partnership with my office and tony, and were so proud to have a mayor who continues to commit and really make sure that everyone in this city can thrive. Our community has the most resources, and im very happy to be here and to have a place finally to call home. Thank you. [applause] one, two, three. [applause] even in those moments when i do feel kind of alone or unseen or doubt myself, i take a look at the community and the power of the supportive allies that are at the table that really help me to push past that. Being yourself, its the word of wisdom i would give anyone. Surely be patient with yourself and your dream. Knowing that love, you may not always feel that from your family around you, but you can shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of San Francisco. We help San Francisco remain unique, successful and right vi. So where will you shop and dine in the 49 . Im one of three owners here in San Francisco and we provide mostly live Music Entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and its not a big menu, but we did it with love. Like ribeye tacos and quesadillas and fries. For latinos, it brings Families Together and if we can bring that family to your business, youre gold. Tonight we have russelling for e community. We have a tenperson limb elimination match. We have a fullsize ring with barside food and drink. We ended up getting wrestling here with puoillo del mar. Were hope og get families to join us. Weve done a drag queen bingo and were trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. This is a great part of town and theres a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. Theres a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hanhang out at. We have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. Some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and its exciting. We even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. Its in the San FranciscoGarden District and four beautiful muellermixer ura alsomurals. Its important to shop local because its kind of like a circle of life, if you will. We hire local people. Local people spend their money at our businesses and those local mean that wor people willr money as well. I hope people shop locally. [ ] [ ] [ ] so i grew up in cambridge, massachusetts and i was very fortunate to meet my future wife, now my wife while we were both attending graduate school at m. I. T. , studying urban planning. So this is her hometown. So, we fell in love and moved to her city. [ ] [ ] i was introduced to this part of town while working on a campaign for gavin, who is running for mayor. I was one of the organizers out here and i met the people and i fell in love with them in the neighborhood. So it also was a place in the city that at the time that i could afford to buy a home and i wanted to own my own home. This is where we laid down our roots like many people in this neighborhood and we started our family and this is where we are going to be. I mean we are the part of San Francisco. Its the two neighborhoods with the most children under the age of 18. Everybody likes to talk about how San Francisco is not familyfriendly, there are not a lot of children and families. We have predominately Single Family homes. As i said, people move here to buy their first home, maybe with multiple family members or multiple families in the same home and they laid down their roots. [ ] its different because again, we have little small storefronts. We dont have Light Industrial space or space where you can build highrises or large office buildings. So the tech boom will never hit our neighborhood in that way when it comes to jobs. Turkey, cheddar, avocado, lettuce and mayo, and little bit of mustard. Thats my usual. Mike is the owner, born and bred in the neighborhood. He worked in the drugstore forever. He saved his money and opened up his own spot. Were always going to support home grown businesses and he spent generations living in this part of town, focusing on the family, and the vibe is great and people feel at home. Its like a Little Community gathering spot. This is the part of the city with a small town feel. A lot of mom and pop businesses, a lot of family run businesses. There is a conversation on whether starbucks would come in. I think there are some people that would embrace that. I think there are others that would prefer that not to be. I think we moved beyond that conversation. I think where we are now, we really want to enhance and embrace and encourage the businesses and Small Businesses that we have here. In fact, its more of a mom and pop style business. I think at the end of the day, what were really trying to do is encourage and embrace the diversity and enhance that diversity of businesses we already have. Were the only supervisor in the city that has a permanent district office. A lot of folks use cafes or use offices or different places, but i want out and was able to raise money and open up a spot that we could pay for. Im very fortunate to have that. Hi, good to see you. Just wanted to say hi, hi to the owner, see how hes doing. Everything okay . Yeah. Good. We spend the entire day in the district so we can talk to constituents and talk to Small Businesses. We put money in the budget so you guys could be out here. This is like a commercial corridor, so they focus on cleaning the streets and it made a Significant Impact as you can see. What an improvement it has made to have you guys out here. For sure. We have a significantly diverse neighborhood and population. So i think thats the richness of the mission and it always has been. Its what made me fall in love with this neighborhood and why i love it so much. We have private and Public Gardens throughout the garden tour. All of the gardens are volunteers. The only requirement is youre willing to show your garden for a day. So we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. Its a variety all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. I have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. In the early 1800s the portola was farmland. The regions flowers were grown in this neighborhood. If you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. In the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the Garden District. One of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of San Francisco so they can share that history. When i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. We started doing this as a fundraiser. Since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. The Scholarship Programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a winwinwin situation all around. The Scholarship Program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. I was not sure how i would stay in San Francisco. It is so expensive here. I prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in San Francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i dont know where else i would have gone to finish. The scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [ ] [ ] you come into someones home and its theyre private and personal space. Its all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their Outdoor Living room. Why are you here at this garden core . Its amazing and i volunteer here every year. This is fantastic. Its a beautiful day. You walk around and look at gardens. You meet people that love gardens. Its fantastic. The portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. Mark your calendars every year. You can see us on the website