Francisco to partner with the residents of the potrero community and literally redesign the landscape that you see here. Together, we embed on the long over due and critical task of figuring out how to figure out the potrero terrace andaneck. Hours of discussion, design charettes and focus groups with the community resulted in rebuilt potrero. An ambitious vision to redevelop the site in a master plan with 1600 Housing Units, parks and open space, new street grid other thanning retail and Community Serving space that grand vision is surely taking shape before our eyes with the development of the second phase with 150, 7 units of affordable Family Housing and infrastructure. [applause]. 1101 connecticut the building behind you, this you see across the street is 72 Family Housing units that opened in 2019 as phase one of potrero. Potrero block b includes a 6,000 square foot child pace and provide a home notoriety Cross CulturalFamily Center a Childcare Provider serving the communities for many years out of 2 existing apartments. In addition the block B Development will include 4,000 square foot public minipark. The first of several parks in Community Serving open spaces that are an important part of this master plan. Our mission is to communities. I have been with bridge for many years. I joined the potrero team earlier this year. This is really personal for me. I upon really want to take this opportunity to thank the residents of the potrero community and all the other stake holders including supervisor walton and his staff. Mayor breed, staff at Mayors Office of housing and oewd. The San FranciscoHousing Authority, i see tonya here and staff. Hope sf for welcoming mow to the team and post in the our collective effort to rebuild potreroism look forward to working with all of you to further our mission. Lastly, a shout out to the small and mighty bridge team. April tale. Susan newfeld. T. J. Bryce. Listen all instrumental in bringing us together. Give everybody on the stake holders the community lets give everybody a round of alaws. [applause] i would like to welcome supervisor walton who has been the champion of the rebuild potrero project. Good morning, first of all welcome to the beautiful district 10 the sun is always shining. Even with the expectation of rain. This is truly a Beautiful Day for us here and community to be breaking ground on another building more housing and Affordable Housing in San Francisco and in potrero hill. My conversations with bridge start in the 2007 and 8 when i was the director of the Family Resource center and talking about development and talking about how we would rebuild potrero we are 24 years later, we have first unitings up. More units on the way. This is what we really call fulfilling a promise. And we will make sure we continue to finish all the units that are going to be replaced here on the hill. When we replace units we are not replacing community. We make sure community can stay, live here in the same neighborhood where they have been raising family and work for the last decades. Im excited to be on the board of supervisors to see this enter fruition. I look at members in communities and folks, note only lived here for their lives and worked here and been a part of making sure we got to this day and thank the community and residents, they have of course had to endure all of the changes and designs. All of the different models before we got to this date and to see the work coming. Thank you for your resiliencey to the community and thank you for showing up today. Looking forward to had this is finished, well be back to cut the ribbon and people are moving in. Thank you. [applause] thank you supervisor walton. I would now like to invite eric shaw to say a few words, potrero with the other hope sf project in San Francisco would not be possible without the on going support of the mayor and certainly her staff at Mayors Office of housing. Eric . [applause]. Thank you very much. And also proud to say im interim director of hope sf. I wear 2 hats and proud of both and want to thank and blessed and fortunate in that initiative as well. Im proud to be here to celebrate the construction of another building of affordable home in potrero hill. It reflects the promise we made to the potrero Public Housing this no residents be displaced as we transform this to a racially and economically inclusive neighborhood. This is a vision of hope sf to create new possibilities and for a city on aging Public Housing cites this anies back years and guess back to previous mayors. Promise deliver on the vision pass friday mayor to mayor. Because while the city and the person in city hall may change the community deserves these projects. Original buildings built 80 years ago and not built to last for as long as they have. We worked to rebuild the community surrender way with residents move in the 72 new homeos 1101 connecticut. This will be here will be the seconded Affordable Housing to break ground as part of potrero hill master plan. Will bring 157 new homes to the neighborhood. 117 of those reserved for current residents already call potrero home and will create 40 additional Affordable Homes new housing opportunity here as we reimagine this neighborhood. Includes 10 units servesh reserved through the Preference Program so they are not displaced. The building will have on sight Property Management and service. Community gathering spaces and on sight minipark and the public. Affordable childcare approximate this is just the beginning. I am honored gather to break ground on the next step for the community and i cant wait to be here for the grand opening the next decade planning up to 1700 new home in the neighborhood and 65 will be affordable. And as we invest more in potrero and build the housing we the great new community spaces, job ands transit opportunity. Celebrate moment and lift up our communities and create tunes for all regardless of backgroundses. And for recognitions. I like to thank everyone involved in hope sf. Raise your hands. [applause] i would like to thank Bridge Housing and teams architects, contractors and Service Providers took the time to gather feedback from the community. Your work made sure the voices were heard and the needs were met. I want to thank the San FranciscoHousing Authority and are tonya . Who has been an amazing partner through this whole journey. And ultramarathon if we call it that we are coming in mile 25 . Thank you very much for your leadership as well. I want to thank the city departments including all my teams and the Mayors Office of Housing Community development. Can you raise you were hands . Mocd . And our funders it is all about money and by the way we need more. Thank you very much. I always have to ask. The supervisor that was your talk happening points to ask for more money. We will do that off line. I want to thank the California Department of housing and communities development. Provides fund to the california housing accelerator to allow this project to move forward this is one of 5 projects hope sf that are funded. I want to thank you very much. And finally i want to thank the community. You put your faith in us and work for us and without you none of this will be happening. Continue to work to commit it possible as we strife for a San Francisco that is affordable to everyone. And with that i will bring my fellow partner and development and financials from the stage. Ditransition. [laughter]. Hands it over. Okay. There you go. All of us should ask for funding. It takes a village in that space. Thank you very much for your partnership as well. [applause]. Before i start i need to take a picture from up here. I all of you etch raised your hand and i am getting pictures one at a time. Congratulations your victory good job thank you. Of course eric. Good morning, everybody. Im Hernandez Deputy director for communication at the california d. Housing and Community Development. It is my great pleasure to be here today. [applause]. On behalf of governor newsome, yea. Dont record that. Acd director valasciiys wanted to be here today and our entire departmentive want to wish a congratulations and honest low a thank you. I will go off script as i was upon listening to the speakers and eavesdropping on the side conversations, what really resonateed me and is at the core of great investment is community. Theancy displacement efforts for this project are critical, they are so important and they speak to when we really care about that is giving people safe, Affordable Homes for longterm. Thank you for this hard work. Thank you to the community. I know it can be tough to trust government. And work with government. And i hope today you feel some success. We cannot be here without you. [applause]. So as you heard, we invested through our Housing Accelerator Fund approximately 94 million that mean this is project within 6 months went from the, ward to today this. Is unpresident ed, record breaking and critical to keep this project moving. We put in another 20 million with the california Growth Council for investment in infrastructure, bike ways, walkways and making better transit connections the under production of house nothing general and Affordable Housing coupled with historic red lining and other policies made housing unaffordable for far too many in our state and for too long. We need more communities like this. The housing accelerator will provide approximately 5,000 new Housing Units throughout the state they will come online extreme low fast. Developers like bridge and per ins like in the Mayors Office. Want to thank mayor breed, eric, your team. We need that commitment. This project is years in the make. And we need that dedication so no matter who is in office the projects move forward and represent the community who deserve and over looked for too long. Look forward to victim in the city of San Francisco. Look forward to more opportunitiful i will get prishths after this. Im looking forward to. Thank you again and i cannot wait to be back. Our director wants to back when we cut the ribbon and welcome more residents home. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you. We appreciated both the state and the Mayors Office of housing for the funding they have provided this and other projects. I would like to invite jonathan, executive director of j. P. Mother abchase. Chase bank provide financing for block b. In addition to the subsidy funding reach out to the banks and our investors always to get more funding and we want to thank you for your support. Thank you. Jonathan beach with Chase Community development bank. An honest torto be here thank you for inviting me. Just to start, i joined chase 4 months ago. Prior i managed santa clara Affordable Housing department of i want to admit i have didnt least amount work of anybody here but get the honor of speaking at the ground break. That said, i want to thank bridge. And all of our partners here today and congratulations on the ground break. I have been a fan of bridge for a long time at the city and at chase. And i could not think of a Better Development team to tackle a complicated and Master Plan Development on a site like this the oldest Public Housing sights in the city. You know chase roll roll was to provide 150 Million Dollars in Construction Financing and 50 Million Dollars in permanent financing and despite the big number there is is no may the project is feasible without the Mayors Office, Housing Authority. Monica mentioned, this project here is an example of the success of the states Housing Accelerator Program to Fund Projects that would have been stuck in the bottle neck to get tax credits. This projects this otherwise may not have been funded. Who knows where the project would be today without the accelerator program. Chase, we funded a number of fais phases through hope sf. We are prud to be a part of the broader initiative. But what is happening at potrero. I want to thank bridge for having us here today and block b is part of the larger goal to the larger goal to increase access Affordable Housing for everyone. I think we are looking forward to seeing your vision realized here. And come become to see this Master Plan Development fulfilled. Thank you and looking forward to communities thrive here. [applause]. Thank you. I would be remiss if i did not mention the Housing Authority as always one of the providers for all the projects here. Housing authority [inaudible] and i want to reach out and thank my colleague, tonya, for her leadership and partnership and looking forward to working with you to expedite when we have here. Thank you. [applause]. And last but not the least, i want to invite april tality tow come and say a few words. And acknowledge and village of folks you tell we partnered with to make it happen. I want to thank april for her dedication approximate hard work in piecing together the financing, you all just heard how much it takes to put the projects together. And as monica said, and i think eric you mentioned this and jonathan; we applied multiple times for financing throughout state under a Different Program and not successful. And the govern obviously upon his priority is to increase the amount of Affordable Housing and expedite building housing. I want to thank april she was curating the applications and trust mow they are not easy. Lots of details. I dont know april how many times you applied, twice. Okay. I really would like for to you come up here and say a few words about the projects, your experience and we want to acknowledge everybody. Instrumental to work here today. Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. I think we can do better. Good afternoon, everyone thank you. Im april tally senior project manager at bridge. I am delighted to be here as it has been a challenging and yet rewarding time. On behalf of Bridge Housing i would like to take a few moments to thank several team members for make thanksgiving development a reality. I like to acknowledge the residents of potrero Public Housing. Thank you for your patience with this process. We also like to acknowledge the neighbors of potrero Public Housing as well. We looic to thank our Community Based organizations that support and uplift residents such as the chant shanti project, care. Stand in peace, Neighborhood House and rdj. Our architects paul, jeffrey, alisa and anthony for the creative design. Thanks to gary string and the team at gls for landscape design. I like to thank our consultants at ph pc for financial consultation throughout the predevelopment through construction closing. Next i like to thank acc, sunlight and power. Concord group and way point our Construction Managers on this project. Thank you to matt irwin. Robert and the kay hill team for partners in the redevelopment of potrero. You all know kay hill was the gc for connecticut as well. We appreciate supervisor walton and his staff for supporting the project and a huge thanks to the California Department of housing and Community Development for helping us yes. Helping us put your funds from the california housing accelerator. They were in lieu of traditional 4 tax credits and bond [inaudible]. This project would not have been able to Start Construction and create jobs without them. Once again, thank you to the Mayors Office of housing and Community Development for providing both predevelopment and gap funding. I want to thank ryan. Sailor abrendzon dwyer. Sarah, lydia and eric shaw. Additionally, i like to thank staff at oewd for support and asisterance with needlement approvals and the permit process which can be crazy. Special thanks to hope sf staff for your Community Development effort. Thank you to our construction and lendser chase bank for funding the development. I would like to thank acknowledge henry, Wendy Richardson and linda for their hard work and next i like to thank the staff at bridge. We could not have reached such a mile stone without you our accountant. And also a some thanks to our community and residence dents Services Team for their work to support potrero residents. Thank you to Jeffrey Mccormick and bpmc for letting the potrero hosting and available to answer questions. And finally i want to lynne and ellen for host thanksgiving events. Thank you all. [applause] ing events. Thank you all. [applause] music music [music] first let me acknowledge paul we left outside. He is under the tent, which is good. He is an ambassador. Cudos he is amazing. [applause] thank you and to acknowledge another doctor carol tang director of the childrens creativity museum. Put a nice roof over our heads appreciate it, carol welcome to the yerba buena gardens a beautiful garden im scott ruiz the new director for the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District and the gardenace conservesancey. Thank you for having me both organizations are dmited improve thanksgiving yerba buena neighborhood. Yerba buena is a u neefk neighborhood. Culture, convention and community meet. We have world class museums like this amazing childrens creativity. The amazing Moscone Convention center. Hotels. Educational snoous institutions the yerba buena gardens. Small businesses, restaurants and live work senior housing, et cetera. Yerba buena is a diverse and unique community. I want to highlight this museum bring your kids back. I have young kids it is an amazing place for 2 to 12 year olds to experience education rotating common when is you are done here today. I was going to send you out to the carousel we can do the carousel is outside and check out the museum. Look at the mufb lab if you can it is neat. A couple other things i want to acknowledge mandy hall from the sftid and paulita eliot. [applause]. And paulita eliot from block by block. [applause]. Those 2 amazing individuals create third degree program. We are honored have this program and this here a year later. We all know and you will hear more. The oranges jackets are amazing and they make such a presence in our community. Yerba buena and everybody in the city. Thank you for your hard work. I know you are not here to hear from me. Most important person. London breed, our mayor. [applause]. Thank you, scott, it is great to be here and you know i should have worn my orange jacket today t. Is actually in the car now. Sometimes when i want to go out there and support the community and have conversations with just visitors and i will 3 it on when im out cleaning up the streets i wear that orange jacket. People will stop and ask me questions. Which is nice. They dont ask because im mayor because they see that orange jack and it is really something this i will tell you is one of the things im most proudest of as mayor. Because i had a chance to talk to some of you over the past year. And what i was most excited about is number one, so many of you who have grownup in San Francisco and your love for San Francisco. And how you have told people like the best places to eat. Not the places that typically tourists go to at the whar and downtown but places in neighborhoods that still exist. Places all around the city. You give them a different perspective of San Francisco. When i travel, i wish i could find someone to give me nadifferent perspective. I gotta say, i get so many letters not always good letters but for this program, it is probably the program this i gotten the most good letters from visitors and people who travel to San Francisco from downtown. And i make my staff give me them to read because i want to have i good day. And i have a good day when i hear about the stories where i think i dont want to say names but there was an ambassador who someone had an experience with a Family Member approximate a medical issue they let them use their cell phone ask stayed with them to make sure that that family got connected with another Family Member. And it is just things like that that make this Program Unique you alwaysment to help. I see you all talking on the talking to visitors on the corners. Walking with people. Trying to point out the directions to go in. And the thing i love most you always have a smile on your faces. And makes a difference. You know, we have been through a challenging time this Global Pandemic hit us hard. Can you imagine having a really bad day and you walk up and you see someone and you just smile and how good that makes you feel. It makes you want to ask for directions even though you can use your phone. It really invites you in to have that conversation. That conversation leads to a great experience in San Francisco. We are not going to let everyone determine what the story is of San Francisco with all of the posts that oftentimes target and focus on the negative things. When we will do is elevate the experiences of what the Downtown CommunityAmbassador Program has done in neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. That is the story of San Francisco. Talking about the personal experience that you have about our city and also making the recommendations to the people who live and visit. We have a Convention Going on now. And many of those convention goers sent letters in the past about this program. And how they had a great experience. Because i will tell you there were conventions that were having second thoughts about whether or not they would come back to San Francisco. And because of you, they not only came back to San Francisco but are looking toward the future of returning to San Francisco after their conventions. This means so much support. This means the ability to pay for programs and do all the great things we do in San Francisco. You are an important part of this work. I cant thank you enough for your commitment, work, for your advocacy, for everything that you have done to really turn this area around because last year, you know and this year to an extent; there was uncertainty whether or not people would return to work. And we are still struggling with that. But people still come to San Francisco for skroengzs and to visit and to ride the cable cars. Where i always see an ambassador at the cable car location. Where do i get a ticket. What do i do. Where are the best stops . I appreciate mta but not mta answering the question its is all of you that are telling folks where to go and how to get to lombard and look over and the beautiful views of San Francisco park and the Golden Gate Bridge that is meaning. This has not happened before. We did not have you all over a year ago. And the experience was much different even before the pandemic. Im glad to be here with so many folk who is believe and support this program. But im glad to be here with the people who show up every day rain or shine. To be of service to the city that you all know and love. I cant be more proud to celebrate a year of this program and hear here is more years to come. Thank you very much. [applause]. Thank you mayor im matt dorse the district 6 supervisor. For those of you visiting welcome to district 6. This is a district that credit includes high traffic and visited destination in our south of market neighborhoods including mosconi. West Field Shopping Center yerba buena gardens. These destinations attract thousands of visitors a year. Remind people how important that is. In 2019 San Francisco had a record shattering year in tourism it was 26 million visitors that is the state of texas. Coming to visit our city. 10 billion dollars in economic activity. And supporting 82,000 jobs for San Francisco. This is really important. And the work that our ambassadors do is bring us back. You know the thing they think about you know i know that we can be down sometimes as we come out of covid. If you look at the seal of our city t. Is a phoenix. We come back. That is the civic creed of San Francisco. And we are on our way back and doing it, i think one smile at a time. What i love about the Ambassador Program, happy anniversary to all of you. I will say as a new interiors it is niez to know how popular you are. The k bds are well regardd and it means so much to residentses and as well as to our visitors. To see a smiling face, welcoming presence, knowledgeable person who can answer a request where something s. That is how we will come back and i do feel a little eni havous im on the board of supervisors the least popular there is a Public Comment caller who every week reminds us that the 12 think we are competence. It is humbling and i really appreciateow popular you are and i hope you see it. And i do. To say to the public. When you see people out here ambassadors whether in orange or blue or white or green. You am see a lot of them and you will see people pick update street who is work for the Community Benefit districts. Say hello and thanks. It means the world to our city. We are coming back. And i want to say how grateful i am as a supervisor i will do everything i can to stand with the mayor to make sure we have the funding for this we need. And we are funding our cbds and bringing our city back to get better the numbers we had in 2019. And with that, it is my pleasure to welcome John Anderson the general manager of the marriott marky. Thank you very much. I appreciate your leadership in district 6. I get to chair the [inaudible] and the general manager of the san San Francisco marriott marky. This neighborhood is important to the ambassadors. A year ago we stood here not far from here in yerba buena and introduced the San Francisco welcome Ambassador Program. Thanks to the support london breed, it has been successful, would you agree . Good. Today over 4 million welcomes later it is i pleasure to say and celebrate the success of the program to see how far we have some on the road to recovery. In quarter 3 of this year San Francisco recorded the best tourism quarter since the pandemic started the San Francisco market achiefed 70. 5 occupancy, daily rate of 230 dollars. Last year in quarter 3 it was 51 occupancy and 168 dollars of average daily rate. We have a ways to go to reach 2019 record tourism year it is important to celebrate mile stones the program has been successful and measures to support the Economic Growth in San Francisco. I want to thank all the ambassadors for important contributions to make the visitors and residents feel welcome are safe and cared for in San Francisco. The Ambassador Program is well received by planners and convention goers. It has been crucial in helping bring book conventions to San Francisco. Last 12 months we received e mails raving about experiencing with the ambassadors. Who are thrilled receive cal travel endorsement of the welcome Ambassador Program when they awarded at this time 20 upon 22 Visitor Experience award last month. Congratulations. [applause]. This would not have happened without the support of mayor breed and the welcome Ambassador Program. Thank you, mayor breed, we appreciate it. [applause]. Before i turn the microphone over to rodriguez i encourage the Business Community representatives to open your doors to the ambassadors. They are walking the streets and greeting guests they use the restroom. Of kick feet and up get a drink of water. Welcome your doors to anybody in orange. We appreciate you, thank you very much. [applause]. Thank you, john. Im Marissa Rodriguez the Union Square Alliance the heart of our city thank you very much our ambassadors. We dont beat without your support i receive e mails telling us the great stores. We are the part of town that is home to hotels, theatre, restaurants, visitors. It is not without the support of our ambassadors that we will not be able to receive back all of the San Francisco. Of you reminds them it is safe and the accomplice to come back and celebrate the greatest moments i want to thank patrick who kept me dry moments ago. It is acts like that that i hear about. The small things that people appreciate you feel welcomed. The Community Feels welcome and feel like they are stepping into San Francisco living room they have you to ask questions and talk to which i want to thank all of the individuals here today this is a racial fabric you may not realize ambassadors you are supporting. I want to thank block by block. Handy hall for her program. I see ken with the conventions without which our heart would not beat. Thank you and supporting them. I see our hotel and cbd community. And there are so many people here that count and rely on you. We cant do this without your support. They are all here to support you. I cant imagine. This is one year that you have been here and changed lives. And right observe the Holiday Season come again. We are excited for a big blow out in union square. Of course, winter market and the ice rink is opening today. Yes it is opening today i know you will all be there i want to thank our mayor for all of her support and all of you. It does not happen without great vision. I want to thank you, mayor and certainly to our board of supervisors for recognizing the importance of that, too. We do better when we work together. Our ambassador in blue appreciate you in union square. Thank you so much. With this i like to welcome up moanna. [applause]. Hello im moanna saul [inaudible]. And i have been with the welcome Ambassador Program since the beginning. One year ago. When i applied for this position, as a welcome ambassador i did not know what to expect. All i knew was i was going to make a difference i look forward to greeting commuters on their way to work. School kids crowding the 30 and 8 bus. Saying hello to cable car conductors and welcoming our visitors to the great city of San Francisco. I think that this program is important because we help a lot of people. We give dreksz. All types of recommendations. And also guide many folk who is are in San Francisco for a convention to the mosconi center. We also offer and provide different resources for the homeless and just anyone who is in need. Although i have been in an San Francisco all of my life this job helped mow to be kinds always. Many visit because of the diversity and we are the heart of the bay area. To the current and future welcome ambassadors, thank you for your hard work and your dedication when you are out in the field. Rain or shine, our orange still is bright. [applause] thank you, mayor london breed and the city of San Francisco for funding this amazing program. It is making a huge difference for visitors, locals and businesses in the areas we cover. Also, to all of us ambassadors that enjoy the job. Thank you. [applause]. Thank you everyone for coming and thank you for staying here even though it rained heavy out there. Im mandy from the sftab the director of the welcome Ambassador Program. Thank you to our speakers to mad am mayor, maona. Supervisor dorsey, john and scott and your team for hosting us today. It has been a privilege to work with and get to know the team overnight past year. It is gratify to receive all the fantastic e mails that i get. And to share them with the team. These are a reminder of the amazing work they are doing. And i know that it shows how much they are appreciated. Thank you all of you for all that you do. All your hard work. . This includes paulita the director of the program near block by block. [applause]. Before we close the proceedings and you will get to ride the care set, hopefully and cookies we have cookies to share. I would like to recognize the upon 20 team members been with us from the beginning the guys that you see behind us. Not all 20 are here but [applause]. Thank you all of you for all your hard work. And thank you also to everybody else on the team of in the office or out on the streets every day you do an amazing job. Thank you. [applause]. And then just to conclude my bit here, one person has been chosen as ambassador of the year. Uhhuh. This is i surprise to everybody. [laughter]. She was chosen for strong work ethic. Being a great example to coworkers. Always as a smile and goes above and beyond to provide Great Service and also share her knowledge and enthusiasm with fellow team members. Moanna, would you like to stem forward. [applause]. [applause] so, thank you, moanna. Congratulations. This is your certificate and will be goodies as well you are being recognized as ambassador of the year for 2022. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause] there is a lot of unique characteristics about visitation valley. It is a unique part of the city. We are off in a corner of the city against the San Francisco county line 101 on one side. Vis station valley is still one of the last blue color neighborhoods in San Francisco. A lot of working class families out here. It is unusual. Not a lot of apartment buildings. A lot of Single Family homes. Great business corridor. So much traffic coming through here and stopping off to grab coffee or sandwich or pick up food before going home. A lot of customers are from the neighborhood. They are painters or mechanics. They are like blue color workers, a lot of them. The community is lovely. Multiracial and hopefully we can look out for each other. There is a variety of businesses on the block. You think of buffalo kitchen, chinese food, pork buns, sandwich. Library, bank of america with a parking lot. The market where you can grab anything. Amazing food choices, nail salons. Basically everything you need is here. A lot of these businesses up and down leland are family owned. People running them are family. When you come here and you have an uncle and nephew and go across the street and have the guy and his dad. Lisa and her daughter in the dog parlor and pam. It is very cool. Is Small Businesses make the neighborhood unique. New businesses coming. In mission blue, gourmet chocolate manufacturing. The corridor has changed and is continuing to change. We hope to see more businesses coming in the near future. This is what is needed. First, stay home. Unless it is absoluteliness scary. Social distancing is the most important step right now to limit spread of virus. Cancel all nonessential gather everythings. When the pandemic litly land avenue suffered like other corridors. A few nail salons couldnt operate. They shut down. Restaurants that had to adapt to more of a take out model. They havent totally brought back indoor seating. It is heartbreaking to see the businesses that have closed down and shut because of the pandemic. When the pandemic first hit it got really slow. We had to change our hours. We never had to close, which is a blessing. Thank god. We stayed open the whole time. We were kind of nervous and anxious to see what was going to come next hoping we will not have to close down. During covid we would go outside and look on both sides of the street. It looked like old western town. Nobody on the street. No cars. It was a hard eight or nine months. When they opened up half the people couldnt afford a haircut. During that time we kept saying the coffee shop was the living room of the valley. People would come to make sure they were okay. We checked on each other and patronized each other. I would get a cup of coffee, shirt, they would get a haircut. This is a generous and kind community. People would be like i am getting the toffee for the guy behind me and some days it went on and on. It was amazing to watch. We saw a perfect picture of community. We are all in this together. Since we began to reopen one year later, we will emerge stronger. We will emerge better as a city because we are still here and we stand in solidarity with one another. When we opened up august 1st. I will not say it was all good. We are still struggling due to covid. It affected a lot of people. We are still in the pandemic right now. Things are opening up a little bit. It is great to have space to come together. I did a three painting series of visitation valley and the businesses on leland. It felt good to drop off the paintings and hung them. My business is picking up. The city is opening up. We have mask requirements. I check temperatures. I ask for vaccination card and or recent test. The older folks they want to feel safe here. I feel like there is a sense of unity happening. What got us through the pandemic was our customers. Their dogs needed groomed, we have to cut their nails so they dont over grow. This is only going to push us forward. I sense a spirit of community and just belief in one another. We are trying to see if we can help all Small Businesses around here. There is a Cannabis Club lounge next to the dog parlor to bring foot traffic. My business is not going to work if the business across the street is not getting help. In hit us hard. I see a Bright Future to get the storefronts full. Once people come here i think they really like it. If you are from San Francisco visit visitation valley to see how this side of the city is the same but different. November 15, 2022 hybrid virtual meeting