people have watched the sea lions bark, roughhouse and play king of the mountain on the docks below. we are so proud to have been stewards of this amazing group of benefits and for the work of our partners at the bay and sea lion center. i want to thank all of you for coming today to help us celebrate these amazing animals. i would like to invite president and ceo of aquarium of the bay to the podium. george. [applause] >> a quick two-minute video on how we got here in the last 18 months. >> this is a truly compelling example of how they intersect to create one of the bay area's most vibrant, visual, engaging and educational public artwork. introducing sea lions of san francisco. our celebration of 30 years of sea lions in the bay. sea lions are fascinating and much-loved marine mammals. they have a unique gift for san francisco. in 1989, they mysteriously began a arriving at the bay. they set up permanent residence and were soon making a big splash. the aquarium of the bay provides programs to educate and engage thousands of people around the world. despite being covered under the marine protection act, our much-loved neighbors are under threat. they are currently classified as endangered. we want to generate awareness of the largest threat to our planet. no blue, no green. we selected 30 bay area artists to paint these sea lions, one to commemorate each year of their presence on pier 39. visit the sea lions today. follow the trail to discover each stunning artwork and learn about the animal, the artists and their messages. join us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of our cherished marine friends. [applause] >> i know that time is pretty tight. excess nitrogen creates an al ash algae bloom that affects the sea lions. stories like these, i'm really happy to see the artists today. the youngest is nine years old. and please scan your qr codes, and you can learn about sea lions. they can hit speeds of up to 25 knots. they can dive up to 900 feet. and they have hearing that can go up to 40-kilo hertz. there are conditions in the bay in terms of mic -- microplastics. this would not be possible without our sponsors. i want to acknowledge a few other people. dan from the port of san francisco helped us with the permitting process. thank you very much. i'm delighted to have the president of the port and commission kimberly and our board member, our partners from s.f. environment, s.f. travel and golden gate parks, partners from the u.s. army corps of engineers. and our friends from the media from b.b.c. to new york times, thank you for being here. and lastly but not least, our wonderful mayor, london breed. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, george. and with that, i would like to introduce and thank the honorable london breed and have her join us at the podium. [applause] >> i was in high school during the 1989 earthquake. i went to the high school right up the street. i actually spent a lot of time at pier 39. in particular, sometimes we used to maybe leave class a little bit early and come and hang out in the arcade. but i also remember the time when one of my science teachers proposed it was like this period, it was right after lunch, and as an extra credit period said if we came down here to see the sea lions that we could get extra credit, we would all have to meet down here. he actually came down here as well. and we didn't understand the significance. we know they were loud and they were barking, and we were like doing the same thing. but then we started to study it. we had to write about it u we had to talk about it and its significance, and it was just odd that this didn't happen before until after this earthquake. and just understanding, really endangered species and really studying science in a different way and looking at the environment and the planet and animals and so on and so forth, that's the kind of thing that really sparked a lot of my interest in really changing how we address the challenges around the environment. in fact, i drove my grandmother crazy, because i came home and wanted to recycle everything. and we didn't have at that time the blue bins and green bins and all of that stuff. and there were places you had to go to take those things. but it was really an incredible experience. and pier 39 has been just really an institution for so many years, so many visitors from all over the world come here on a regular basis to just not only enjoy the incredible restaurants, the aquarium by the bay and many of the great stores and also the places that you can buy wonderful candy, including pink popcorn which i'm very excited. if -- if you know what pink popcorn is you are probably my age. it also, the sea lions really created a different kind of feeling, a different kind of warm. you see them, you watch them. and i don't know what it is about watching the sea lilyons and listening to them, but sometimes minutes go by, then sometimes even an hour can go by before you realize that you actually have to go. but it is so fascinating and great that for the past 30 years, they have continued time and time again to come back to pier 39. and people not only do the tourists who visit san francisco look forward to coming here, san franciscans look forward to coming here during that time as well. so i'm really grateful to be here, excited about what this continues to do to really engage the community and really support the sea lions and call attention to what we need to continue to do to protect the bay, to protect our environment and to make sure that they do not become an endangered species. it is so critical we do a better job as stewarts of this earth. so i want to thank so many people here today including the pier 39 marina staff. the marine mammal center, the aquarium of the bay, marina operations, bay.org and port of san francisco. so many organizations continue to make sure that our port and our pier are attractive, are also economically vibrant but also stuarts of the environment. and i think that's so critical to the success and future of our city and of our planet. and so thank you all so much for being here. and i invited the sea lions love to get attention. i invited the king of the sea lions to come here today to accept this proclamation, making it sea lion day in san francisco. [laughter] [applause] king herbert said you know what? king herbert couldn't lose the weight to come up the stairs this time around. as you know they weigh hundreds of pounds and it's very challenging so instead, i want to ask -- who do i want to ask to accept this proclamation. why don't you come up? and you can deliver the proclamation to the sea lions so they can know that today as we celebrate 30 years, it will always be remembered as sea lion day in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, mayor breed, that was wonderful. next i would like to inshiite the director of marina -- to invite shina, the director of operations here. >> thank you. i'm not particularly used to doing public speaking. so here goes. when i heard our honorable mayor mentioned she was in high school when the sea lions first game to pier 39, i have to say i thought i had already been working here as master of pier 39 marina for four and a half years when that happened. so before you all do the math, i'm going to launch into this. so as taylor had mentioned, we had really been hit hard by the earthquake. i felt like i was working in camelot when i was working at pier 39. it was so marvelous. we hadn't sustained a lot of damage but getting the visitors back proved to be pretty challenging. so it was really a momentous event when this one animal that came up on to the end of j dock had some line around his neck so he got nicknameed sleek holder y some children. that he he he heralds the most e arrival. this didn't happen over a protacted period of time. this happened very quickly. we went from maybe ten or 20 animals to 1400 on k dock within a matter of months. so it was a very overwhelming and incredible event. and we didn't really know how we were going to deal with it or what we were going to do. and eventually the marine mammal center came out and they said you have to close down k dock. we have been trying to maneuver our way through hundreds of sea lions to allow our boaters that were there to get through it. and it was just proving a nightmare. so we closed it down, and we located our boaters to the east harbor. and that's when we started to talk about ways that we could accommodate them. because by then, it was so obvious that this was a huge attraction, not just as taylor said, to our local community, but also to international and national visitors. what i want to share with you very briefly is my own experience of what those first few months were like, because it was incredibly bizarre and strange, all of a sudden we had gone from having no business on the pier to having 1400 sea lions and about the same number of press all converging on our property. and this turned out to be an incredibly happy and vibrant event that everybody wanted to record. and they wanted to make it humorous. and they wanted to make it something that everyone would enjoy. so every national, international news person came here and were filming. and we were treated to a burst of what i can only describe as ill literation. so there were headlines that trumpeted something fishy is going on, lion tamer sheila, the boys of blubber are back in town and so on. and my voice mail at my office actually it was a machine in those days, was full every morning with very miscohesive recordings. we didn't have a caller id so i never was able to track them down. but it was sea lion barking messages and lots of versions of i left my art in san francisco. it was a humorous time, and it transformed our business. in addition to having to escort our boaters and then having to relocate them, we actually really just had to think about how could we make this, keep it a natural attraction. you don't want to make it some kind of artificial event. we had been blessed with this incredible opportunity, and we needed to manage it well. and we needed to manage it safely, and we needed to make sure that the public had safe access. so you've seen how that's evolved over the years, we have this beautiful overlook, the sea lion center. but at the time when i was making those decisions, along with the executive group at pier 39, there was some very helpful suggestions that were coming in from the more quirky and whimsical members of society, which was a truly terrifying insight at the time into some people's minds. but those who thought we still maybe wanted to get rid of them would suggest things like detouring them by putting broken glass on the dock or some versions heavily designed cattle prods that would work and things like that. but on the fun side, some people designed all kinds of lovely attraction-style floats. but what we ended up doing, of course, was building floats that looked just like the normal dock. so we tried to keep that very natural attraction. anyway, it's been a phenomenal ride for all of us. it's completely changed my job description. because i never thought i would be an expert, if you like, in representing the sea lions. so i just want to say this last thing. excuse me. we have a wonderful array of marine life from sea lions to dolphins, we've even had whales in the bay. we have pelicans. and it's all showcased, a lot of it is showcase in our lovely aquarium here. but you can also go out on the end of the pier and see all of that. so while we enjoy this phenomenon, i want to reiterate what our mayor has said. let's take this moment in history and continue that environmental stewardship and vigilance so they can thrive and keep coming back. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. to close the presentation, a couple of notes. as you leave pier 39, please make sure to look at the new sea lion taupe area that will be a permanent installation going forward, and we can't have a celebration without cake. so we invite you to stay. here comes the sea lion cake. a couple photos and then we will all share it. so thank you all very much for coming. [applause] - is -- >> our united states constitution requires every ten years that america counts every human being in the united states, which is incredibly important for many reasons. it's important for preliminary representation because if -- political representation because if we under count california, we get less representatives in congress. it's important for san francisco because if we don't have all of the people in our city, if we don't have all of the folks in california, california and san francisco stand to lose billions of dollars in funding. >> it's really important to the city of san francisco that the federal government gets the count right, so we've created count sf to motivate all -- sf count to motivate all citizens to participate in the census. >> for the immigrant community, a lot of people aren't sure whether they should take part, whether this is something for u.s. citizens or whether it's something for anybody who's in the yunited states, and it is something for everybody. census counts the entire population. >> we've given out $2 million to over 30 community-based organizations to help people do the census in the communities where they live and work. we've also partnered with the public libraries here in the city and also the public schools to make sure there are informational materials to make sure the folks do the census at those sites, as well, and we've initiated a campaign to motivate the citizens and make sure they participate in census 2020. because of the language issues that many chinese community and families experience, there is a lot of mistrust in the federal government and whether their private information will be kept private and confidential. >> so it's really important that communities like bayview-hunters point participate because in the past, they've been under counted, so what that means is that funding that should have gone to these communities, it wasn't enough. >> we're going to help educate people in the tenderloin, the multicultural residents of the tenderloin. you know, any one of our given blocks, there's 35 different languages spoken, so we are the original u.n. of san francisco. so it's -- our job is to educate people and be able to familiarize themselves on doing this census. >> you go on-line and do the census. it's available in 13 languages, and you don't need anything. it's based on household. you put in your address and answer nine simple questions. how many people are in your household, do you rent, and your information. your name, your age, your race, your gender. >> everybody is $2,000 in funding for our child care, housing, food stamps, and medical care. >> all of the residents in the city and county of san francisco need to be counted in census 2020. if you're not counted, then your community is underrepresented and will be underserved. >> thank you so much for joining us here today at 888 post, the site of a new transitional age use navigation center, right in the heart of your district, supervisor peskin, congratulations. i know you've had to endure a lot of challenging community meetings along with the teams from our group and others but thank you so much for your leadership and your work to make this possible. many of you know that in october of 2018, i set an ambitious goal to build 1,000 new shelter beds by 2020, which was one of the most ambitious goals of building shelter beds in our city's history. this is the largest expansion of shelter beds since 1989. we know that we have a real challenge with homelessness. and along with building more housing, it's important that we have more places for people to go to get the services and the support that they need. and i got to tell you, i set this goal, and i didn't realize how challenging it would be to meet it. you know, we talk about what we want to see in san francisco. but i don't think sometimes we realize how much work goes into making this possible. and i want to just take this opportunity to really express my gratitude to so many folks who are standing here behind me, because it really does take a village. as a result of the work of so many folks which i definitely want to highlight and mention today, we are going to not only meet our goal of 1,000 new shelter beds this year, we are going to exceed it, and we are expected to at least open 1,065 shelter beds this year, and we already have a number of those shelter beds underway. since i made this commitment, we've opened 566 new beds. we have 299 beds in the pipeline. the bayview, safe navigation center right here at 888 post street. and today, i'm announcing a new opportunity which i'm super excited about. 33goff street where we will provide 200 new navigation center beds which will take us over our goal. this is absolutely incredible. [applause] and let me tell you, i would like to say we could wave a magic wand and this could happen, but it can't. it takes a village. the village of the people who are standing behind me today. there's work that goes into constructing these places. there's the people who have to manage the facilities 24/7. there are so many people to thank for helping us to not only maintain the shelters that we have but to also raise their hand and say we are with you, we are here to help, we are here to do whatever it takes to support this effort, and they have stepped up. our amazing, amazing shelter partners, many of our community-based organizations, including five keys, the episcopal community services, st. vincent depaul society of san francisco, community housing partnership, p.r.c., the lower street community services, providence foundation, hospitality house, larken street youth services, hamilton families, homeless prenatal programs, dish, compass family services and catholic charities. all of these organizations do not only tremendous work of working with us on our shelter system but they also work with us on our wrap around supportive housing system here in the city. they do amazing work, and we are so grateful, because we couldn't do this work without them. so thank you to our nonprofit providers. and also thank you to many departments in the city who work together to make this possible, including the department of homelessness and supportive services, the department of public health and dr. grant colfax is with us here today. the san francisco public works department, the real estate division, the san francisco police department, the human services agency and the port of san francisco. many of our department heads are here today. and we are grateful for their leadership and working with us to identify locations to negotiate the lease and the terms to staff, to provide assistance and especially the department of public works, because they oversee all of the buildout. as you can see, many of you are probably tired from that three-flight stairs that you climbed to get here. did he tell you a commitment. i got my steps in so i'm excited about that. but part of their role is to put in the elevators necessary because standing on this space will be where people will reside. the second floor will provide the services and support the people need to wash their clothes and to eat and to come together as a community and to get the services and support that they need. so right now, you see an open, empty space, but it's going to be an incredible space for the people that we plan to serve. i want to thank the neighbors and advocates who have championed these navigation centers in various communities. i know it hasn't been easy, and oftentimes, there have been a number of challenges. everyone is into thed to into t- entitled to their opinion, and we understand there is a lot of uncertainty and people are concerned, but i'm hoping that we fulfill our promise to make sure we provide the support that the folks who are homeless need while maintaining the safety and other issues that people were concerned about in the communities. i want to thank members of the board of supervisors who work with us to open navigation centers and more specifically, i want to thank our state partners. the legislation that state senator scott wiener helped to lead in sacramento is why we were able to open the navigation center on the embarcadero as quickly as we were able to open it. so it's give up us a tool that has just really made this goal a reality. so thanks to senator scott wiener, assemblymember david chiu and hill ting who has been necessary to providing the funding necessary. so it really is a village that has come together to make this possible. so we are meeting the goal that we set. and we are hoping that we see a difference and we feel a difference. and ultimately shelters are helpful. but we also have to get more housing built in this city so that we can get folks into a safe, affordable place to call home. nothing is more important than ensuring that there is housing opportunities for all people, for all levels of income. that is really ultimately where i'd like to see our city go and what i will be striving to make happen. what are the next steps after meeting this goal? well, it doesn't stop because we met a goal. it's time to set a new goal. it's time to do more work. so i know the folks who have worked on this including power who really is my policy director but has led this effort and worked with his team and others to make this a reality, i know a lot of them are saying oh, my god, mayor, what else can we do? we are working hard every single day to get this done. and we have more to do. people are counting on us to do more. and doing more means that we have a place for people to go. yesterday when i was out at the embarcadero and the hot team, they were out there talking to people, they were able to fortunately get three people to commit to a shelter bed at the embarcadero navigation center, but that was three people. there were a lot of other folks that refused service. and some of those people were having a number of challenges. and as a result, we needed, of course, to do more. and doing more means that we meet people where they are, whether there is a mental health challenge, whether there is a substance use challenge, we need to make sure that we have a place for everyone to go when we're offering assistance. so part of my goal is to provide 2,000 additional placements. and when i say placements, i don't mean navigation center beds, i just mean placements. meth sobering centers, safe injection sites, places where people can go to get a hot meal or wash their clothes or take a shower. meeting people where they are. so for example the woman that we ran into who clearly was struggling, clearly needed help and support, was hungry, probably needed a shower, had a lot of things and refused to accept the service that we provide. what do you do for that person? she said she was hungry but did not want to go to the navigation center. so having an alternative, having a place that meets people where they are is also important. so when we talk about the next steps, the next step is to provide 2,000 additional placements for people, whether that is navigation center beds or sobering centers or safe injection sites or mental health stabilization beds, whatever that is, we need to expand those opportunities so that we can really make sure that we make an impact of what you see on the street. drop-in shelters a number of other issues, and i want to make sure that we are prepared to make the investments to do just that. we are already looking at locations throughout san francisco that could hopefully be, even if they are temporary pop-up locations like restaurants do pop-ups, so why not in this particular case, take something innovative and for the moment, provide an opportunity to support people in need and meeting them where they are. i'm really excited about the next step that we are going to take, because ultimately, along with these shelter beds, along with the investments that we are making, along with building more housing and opening up more places for people to live, we are going to see a difference. and, again, thanks to the support from members of the board of supervisors, we have identified locations, we have been able to open up more locations. but also we have been able to make investments in master leasing a number of buildings that have provided much-needed housing. last week we broke ground on the abigail over 60 units of wrap-around supportive house. you all know about the bristol and others. we are talking about over 300 new units of supportive housing in our system that we did not have before, which means transitioning people out of shelters into permanently-supported housing. that is so key to the success of what we are trying to do here today with adding more shelter beds to our system. and so i want to, again, thank supervisor peskin for being here today and continuing to work with us and to be an advocate for supporting navigation centers, including the one right here in his district. and at this time, ladies and gentlemen, the supervisor for district 3, supervisor aaron peskin. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. i think mayor breed has said just about everything, but i will add a few things. as somebody who has been on and off the board of supervisors for 20 years, i remember the battle days when san san francisco's government denied the fact that we did not have enough shelter beds. there has been a change in recent times under mayor lee followed by mayor breed, and i am dried to be a part of that solution. i also want to say to the folks who live in this neighborhood, that we will hold ourselves accountable, and you have to hold us accountable. i want to say to chief scott and to the folks from there that we make sure this is the best-run facility that does not adversely impact the folks who live here and call this home. we have done that in the case of other navigation centers, and we have to make that be true here. i also really want to thank a community that wants to be a part of the solution. we have had a number of meetings here in the neighborhood, and i will be quite candid, they are not without controversy. people are concerned and rightfully so. and it is my job and the mayor's job and our department of homelessness' job and our police department's job to make sure that we do it right. i am committed to that. and we will make that come true. and i really want to thank the lower polk neighbors, lower polk community benefit district for their support and their trust in the city and county of san francisco. and now let's get this done, 75 beds here. we are going to have more community meetings including next week, and i want to hear from folks in this community. and like i said, we are going to get this thing right. thank you, mayor breed. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor peskin. and jess could not be with us today because he is in school right now along with a number of other department heads who are working on ways to improve what we do in san francisco so that we can make sure that we are working together to produce the results that our city deserves. but whittle, the deputy director of the department of homelessness and supportive services is here today. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed and thank you supervisor peskin. i'm horned to be -- i'm honorede today. when the department of homelessness was born three years ago, we identified a gap in our city's housing and shelter system. we were able 1,000 beds short of the demand for emergency shelter. today thanks to the vision and leadership of mayor breed, the commitment of our hsh team and all of our city departments in our fantastic community-based providers, we are closing that gap. [applause] whoo! the 1,000 bed initiative represents the largest shelter expansion over the last 30 years. the built upon the work to shelter 3,000 individuals every night. temporary shelter is a core component of the city's homelessness response system, but it is only one component. we recognize that housing is the solution to homelessness, and we must create more permanent exits from homelessness through all creative means possible. with that in mind, we begin 2020 having fully deployed coordinated entry, allowing us to match resources to the individual needs of our clients. we begin 2020 with the stronger partnership across city departments to reach the hardest to serve individuals on our streets. we begin 2020 with new permanent supportive housing units opening up this year. and we begin 2020 by expanding problem-solving interventions that empower people to resolve their own homelessness. yet we recognize that our unsheltered neighbors are suffering on our streets and all of our residents, our businesses and our visitors demand more us. today marks the milestone in that direction. it is an honor to be here today with justin vazquez, who you will hear from shortly. [applause] and whose inspiring journey to exit homelessness. a special thanks to each and every one of you across our city who volunteered our time to serve food and bring dignity to your neighbors who operate and work in these valuable programs who everyday advocate for bettes into your community like this one, who work tirelessly for the city and county of san francisco and to all of you who commit yourself to our shared vision of ending homelessness in san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now someone who has been an amazing partner with working with our transitional population has been five keys and they are executive director steve goode, is here to provide remarks. steve. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. it's truly an honor to be able to be here to speak to everybody about the work we are doing at both the embarcadero navigation center and at 125 bayshore. our work at five keys and i'm sure the work of the other providers is informed by the fact that homelessness, in fact everybody affects everybody in san francisco whether it's a child having to walk past a homeless encampment or myself having to work to my office and seeing a body and wondering if they are alive. most of us at one point in our life have been one paycheck away from being homeless. unfortunately for so many of -- and fortunately for so many of us we had a family member we could lean on. but when you face substance abuse, a woman escaping a violent partner, those options become fewer and far between. that's why five keys came truly applauds mayor breed and supervisor's efforts to get homeless as the number one priority in san francisco about 1,000 beds and now the initiative for 2,000 more places. we strive at five keys to provide a safe and welcoming and dignified place where we can help stabilize guests with their work. we work with them to get them off the streets and address the core issues of homelessness. we are working with h.s.a. and our city partners to navigate through the complex matrix of city services to truly help our clients and guests get the services they need, the essential services, including housing, permanent housing and healthcare. this is accomplished by a coordinated system of city departments including the hot teams and shelter guests are assigned a care manager that works with each guest on their core issues that led hem them to homelessness, where we work to address the problems in their lyes, in particular, mental illness with our partner bayview foundation and their great work in dealing with mental health issues. the goal is to help our clients get the services they need, whether it be access to medical care or needed medication. our number one goal of operates is to provide a safe and dignified community for the resident of san francisco that are without shelter, provide a respite from the streets for a place to live until housing becomes available. in our view, there is no greater urgency than getting people off the streets and providing a safe, stable place where they want to be as an alternative for living on the streets. this helps to restore dignity and helps those without shelter. if our guests do not feel safe with us, then we are not doing our jobs, and that's our number one priority. thank you. [applause] >> and now someone who can speak to their experience and how the navigation center and the bayview has supported and helped them, justin vazquez. [applause] >> hi, what's up, everybody? so basically i was incarcerated for about nine months. in incarceration, just getting there, i had no sense of direction. not a very good attitude, you know? and immediately my head turned to education to do something different with my life to stop living paycheck to paycheck, to stop the inconsistent lifestyle and hurting those around me and myself. and as soon as i fully invested in five keys, everything changed. community, it's like a huge word right now, like what's happening with the people surrounded that want a change that want something different that isn't being homeless, isn't involved in drugs or, you know, several of the issues that just cause a lot of problems. so upon getting released, captain was my case managers patrick in custody, helped me set up everything with the navigation center. and wanting to move forward, staying out of the streets, staying out of trouble and attending school and prioritizing. so with that, i was at the center for about six months. great, everybody's super extremely supportive, very positive, willing to help with whatever. and if you really want it, it's there for you. and i truly believe that five keys implements that to the people. yeah, so moving forward, i did get the support with school, got my g.e.d., enrolled into city college. so currently attending that. and i live right up the street. got a place and staying out of trouble. it's great. [laughs] [applause] and i just want to verbally thank everybody that's on my support team, donna, patrick, aisha, meg, jeff from the navigation center and the department of homelessness and mayor london breed. the whole community that's putting this together. thank you. i really appreciate it. best of luck to everybody else too. [applause] >> justin, thank you so much. it's so great when you can actually hear from someone who had the experience and to see all of the amazing people who are part of justin's village and what they did to support him and now it's really amazing. so i'm really happy for you. and we are looking for good things to come. so thank you so much for sharing your story. [applause] now at this time i would like a community member who is a general manager of music city s.f., peter jacobson, to say a few words. [applause] >> first i would like to say thank you to mayor breed, to supervisor peskin and really to everyone else who has been just so welcoming to us throughout this process. my name is peter jacobson, i'm the general manager of music city. we are located at bush and polk. we are committed to supporting local developing musicians in san francisco. growing up, to me san was a place of creativity, of community and of empathy. our neighborhood here is rich in community and creativity but for an empathetic person, it can be a disspiritting place to be. homelessness is the defining issue that our city faces today. and in many areas like this one, it's one that's impossible to ignore. my heart is broken every day working here. the proposed navigation center in this building represents critical resources for 18 to 24 years old. these are young people who have already been failed by our system. the question i would like to ask is what happens to an 18-year-old who is experiencing homelessness who is denied the help that they need? denied possessions, hygiene, denied the guarantee of a safe place to sleep. realistically, the best case scenario is a 30-year-old experiencing homelessness. we live in a city with a $12 billion annual budget. navigation centers like this one alone will not solve the problem, but they are a massive step in the right direction. i know there are hundreds of people who would like to have their opinions heard. our organization has been blessed with being in communication with supervisor peskin's office on this project for over a year. as a member of the board of lower polk neighbors, we have been doing everything to make sure the feedback reaches the right places. every department involved whether the mayor's office, the department of homeless, sfpd, every department is committed to making sure this project is a success. my plea is this, for all who involve themselves that we may approach this crisis, not with appear apathy but with hope. the moment we accept the suffering of others is the moment it becomes inevitable. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, peter, for that perspective, especially just really calling out the importance of why this particular navigation center is important to young people who if provided this sort of opportunity, anything could be possible. and i don't take for granted that everyone is fortunate enough to have a network of people that they could rely on for support or to just get them over that hump. and we are grateful that we have opportunities like this and incredible service providers that work with young people every single day. and i'm excited about this navigation center and what it's going to do. it not only will house transitional-age youth to help them transition to hopefully permanent housing opportunity with our uprising campaign, is that what it's called? rising up. thank you. our rising up campaign where we are on a mission to make sure that we raise enough money to provide support to transitional-age youth in this city so they can get permanently housed. and larken street has been really at the forefront of that particular program. and i'm excited about what that's going to do. i'm also excited about our partner in this effort, good will, who down stairs along with i think is it google? google and goodwill? anybody remember? no? oh, just goodwill. oh, sorry. they will probably be using the search engine of google to find jobs. [laughter] but downstairs, good will who provides incredible services, provides opportunities for people to get a second chance at life, will provide a employment and training program for those young people. so the way this building is about to be used and what it's going to do to support young people to help them not only succeed but to thrive is going to be incredible. so i'm looking forward to it. we are going to work hard to get it open sooner rather than later. and in addition to the places that you all know, we are opening up as navigation centers, we also have supervisor safai who is here today who was instrumental in opening one of our first navigation centers for parking for people who were living in their vehicles. he worked really hard to get that location open in this community against fierce opposition. so we want to thank supervisor safai for joining us here today in his work in his community as well. so a lot has been done but a lot more to do. so, again, thank you to all the department heads, the service providers, the people of this community, the lower polk merchant association and so many incredible folks who really support these efforts. i want to lastly say that as much as i wish we could wave a magic wand and make great things happen for the city and improve the quality of life and the condition of people's lives, there is no quick fix. there is no one thing that's going to solve one of the most significant challenges that we face as a city. but this, along with other efforts that we put forth together, are going to really improve the city for the better. and i'm looking forward to doing many more things like this throughout our city. and i want to thank all of you for being here today. thank you. [applause] -- >> i lived in the mission neighborhood for seven years and before that the excel see your district. 20 years a resident of the city and county of san francisco. i am the executive director of a local art space nonprofit that showcases work that relate to the latino community and i have been in this building for seven years and some of my neighbors have been here 30 year. we were notified from the landlord he was going to sell the building. when we realized it was happening it was no longer a thought for the landlord and i sort of had a moment of panic. i heard about the small sites program through my work with the mission economic agency and at met with folks from the mayor's housing program because they wanted to utilize the program. we are dealing with families with different needs and capacities. conversations were had early in the morning because that is the only time that all the tenants were in the building and finally when we realized that meda did have the resources to buy the building we went on a letter writing campaign to the landlord and said to him we understand you want to sell your building, we understand what you are asking for and you are entitled to it, it's your land, but please work with us. what i love about ber nell height it represents the diversity that made me fall in love with san francisco. we have a lot of mom and pop shops and you can get all your resources within walking distance. my favorite air area of my homes my little small patio where i can start my morning and have my coffee an is a sweet spot for me and i

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