safety. last year when i was working on the lawyer's committee for civil rights went had several incidents happening on third street, you know, ed lieu zhang, malia cohen, many leaders of the african-american community came together to talk about how can we bring our communities together? when we talk about a safer neighborhood, a safer neighborhood is a united neighborhood. we can't improve our neighborhoods, we can't bring -- we can't make this a neighborhood for everyone unless we're a united neighborhood. i know c.y.c. is committed to doing the community building and community bridging. our communities have more in common then less. and it's something i know as asian-american that's really important to me is the importance of african-american contribution to this country and building our civil rights. we would not be here if not for that movement. and it's really important as communities of colors come together living in the bay view that we acknowledge our common history and our common struggle. i know c.y.c. will be a part of that dialogue. thank you.

>> thank you. to make this branch office possible can't be happening without funding support. we first must acknowledge the california endowment for supporting our vision of the establishment of this branch office. and we must acknowledge and thank the mayor's office for the continuing staff support we have received over the years. at this time i would like to interdue brian chiu, director of community development for the mayor's office of housing, to say a few words. >> i just wanted to say what a pleasure it was for our office to receive the community development programming for the city and be able to offer c.y.c. a $50,000 grant, seed money really, to kick off this program. i have been familiar with the great work c.y.c. has done since my community activist days in the 1990's. for a number of years, sarah and i have been talking about the need to bring c.y.c. into the

southeast, to recognize the changing demographics of the city. and we were really looking to support and agency that was really committed not just -- not to just bringing the same kind of programming that c.y.c. has been doing in chinatown but to actually create a new model of interaction. and we feel that c. dwrrks c. -- c.y.c. at a part is a model of a social aggressive organization that could really take the leadership of all of the people in this room and change it i think into a dynamic model of what this city needs it to be. again, we're really honored we can be a part of this great celebration and we look forward to seeing you next year when we have our one-year anniversary and we hope this room will be even more packed with excitement for the great work that sarah and her team has done here. thank you. [applause] >> at this point i would like to introduce friends and c.y.c. supporter to give a brief

remark. >> thanks. thank you, sarah. i'm proud to be joining many of my elected city officials here today and just begin thanking c.y.c. for coming into this neighborhood and really offering much, much needed services. if you look at how much need there is in district 10, district 11, throughout the east of san francisco and then map out how many agencies and how many community groups are here, it really doesn't fit nearly the amount of need. i'm here with anybody nells our city government to just celebrate and thank c.y.c. for their wonderful work. we know during these very challenging times, youth need a place to go. youth need activities that they can participate in. positive, focused. conservative workers. i'm so proud and happy to support it. thank you, sarah. >> thank you. we're rare very fortunate to have staff that work tirelessly to make dreams a reality.

please welcome c.y.c. project manager, eddie zhang. >> thank you very much, everyone. i'm very grasteful for all of your presence because all of you represent the models that we need to follow as city officials, as community based organization leaders and as he people who want to make positive results in our community. because without you, there will not be any one of us left y? we have to come together. this is definitely an historical moment for all of us. one of the things i know is that there are a lot of historical drama in this community. while many of the people don't know about the suffering of african-american communities, suffering of asian community and the latino community, who really are the nucleus of this community, then we don't know about each other's history. we don't know about what we go

through all the time. starting the youth, hopefully they will lead by example to really create this program grow and as we want to step forward and create racial harmony. the philosopher with the journey of a thousand miles to begin with a single step. this will be a single step to reach out to the community, to create racial harmony, to provide resources for our underserved youth in the community. so i hope that we will continue to have this partnership with our african-american community leaders in our community. also i want to introduce one of our youth advocates, who will be joining us to make this happen. and i want to welcome brandy wyndham from our baby youth advocate program. [applause]

>> hello, my name is brandy wyndham. i'm 15 years old attending thurgood marshall as a junior. have i been living in bay view all of my life, witnessing and experiencing many thing that's have taken place in my community. what i like about my community is we're able to relate to one another with similar views and do our best to stick together as a community. bay view is facing bad publicity because of the thing that's go on within it. i can personally say bay view needs a huge change. this community lacks support in different areas. teens walk around streets with low self-esteem and no hope so they decide to run to the streets with their friends. they barely have anyone to go to for help, guidance or encouragement. violence is also one of the main problems in bay view since jobs and programs aren't really available. they have nothing to do besides run to the streets and the

things that i believe can be change dd and improve with the help from the community and government officials. also, i feel like we don't have no one to really believe in us. like there's no type of encouragement, and we basically being let down because of the things that are happening and there's not really many people to help us bring it up into a better living, in a better now. my community, i can't help impact my community by showing there is a way. c.y.c. can influence this neighborhood to try a different path if they are willing to. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, brandy. it's young people like brandy who will be the future of our community. she may be the next board of supervisor after malia cohen.

but truly, we can be able to open this office right now without support from all of the community leaders and all of the people who work so tirelessly to make the community better for years and years. i want to acknowledge chief surwho is helping us to give us opportunity with the support and leadership you provide us. the other thing is i want to thank all of my staff who work in the c.y.c., especially a leader who will be project coordinator and multiculture youth leadership program here and i want to thank him for that and thank all of you for being here today. this is truly an historical event. with all of you, we will be successful. [applause] >> now, i know there are many other official represents here that would like to present authorization of certificates. can i ask they all come forward as well.

oh, ok. >> i know how to make an entrance. my, everyone -- hi, everyone. first off, congratulations. i will quickly echo what everyone said. i'm emily. i'm here on behalf of senator leland lee. i will echo basically what everyone has said here. he's a longtime supporter and colleague to c.y.c. and its various sites as everyone indicated. on his behalf, i wanted to quickly present this to sarah on behalf of the state of california, we honor and recognize the community youth center on the occasion of the grounds opening of the branch in the bay view office. we dedicate this to the young in san francisco and specifically bay view community and we're very excited to work with you moving forward. congratulations. [applause] >> thank you.

this you so much. >> thank you all for coming. this ends the press conference part of this program. we will head out to do ribbon cutting and have our very own c.y.c. line dance to kick off the party. thank you.

>> cents and cisco's buses and trains serve many writers -- san francisco buses and trains serve

many riders. the need to be sure they can get off at their intended stop. the digital voice announcement system, which announces upcoming stops, can help these low vision riders know where they are, but only if set properly. >> it is a wonderful piece of technology, but in practice, it is a little bit more tricky. oftentimes, i find that the automatic announcement system is turned off or turned down so low that i'm unable to hear it, or it is turned up so high that the sound is distorted. >> most of the time, it does not ever seemed to be on. or is it is, it is a really quiet. occasionally, it is so loud that it is distorted. >> driver, may i have california st., please? >> no problem. >> whenever the announcement

system does not work properly and a driver does not call out the stops, and i'm totally lost as to where i am. the announcement system calls out the stops, but to help the customer, i caught the destination, transfer points, and requested stops. and it is the law. >> i use the p a system to make sure everyone on the bus here is my announcements. >> i have had both experiences with the loudness and the to stop for the announcements. you are never going to have it exactly balanced for every trip because your level of noise changes. the announcement system ranges from 1 to 10. 10 would be too loud, a little distorted. eight is a good number. not too loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear and understand what is going on. >> i think bus drivers might not be aware of the fact that if you let a visually impaired person off at the wrong stop, number one, they may be absolutely

unfamiliar with the area they are in. >> the driver overshot the stock that i wanted. i decided to get off and find my way back, but it was very disorienting, not exactly understanding how far i was. number 2, it might be a potentially dangerous situation if they do not know the area and are attempting to make crossings that they are unfamiliar with. >> they let me off somewhere else. i had no idea where i was. i missed the stop, and the bus was gone. then, i look around. i tried to find someone to help me, and i cannot find anybody. i would have no way of knowing where i am at. >> [inaudible] i asked why he did not stop when i asked. we did not panic.

we do not know where we are. we do not know what is going on. i get over there, and right away, i almost got killed. >> #3, it's the person in question is trying to get somewhere, it is going to make them late for whatever they are doing. >> i had to find my way to a corner and ask someone where i was going to and how to get there. i eventually made it to my appointment, which was with social security, but i was very late, and they almost did not see me. >> i was very late former doctor's appointment, and there was concern about whether or not i could be fit in. >> when i get off i stock that is unfamiliar to me, because i have no sight, i cannot just automatically orient myself off to a new environment. it takes a lot of training, a lot of work. there are a lot of skill sets involved when i am first

introduced to a new area. to get off at an unfamiliar bus stop for the first time and to do it unintentionally -- it can be a really disorienting experience. >> i think there is a sense that it is ok, that person is going to find their way, and did they do not know where they are, you are potentially putting them in a seriously dangerous situation. >> i always appreciate when the drivers are proactive in asking questions like, "where do you want to get off?" i appreciate when they help find a seat for me. i also appreciate when everything is working properly as far as the voice announcement system. they make sure that it is turned on, that it is loud enough for everyone to hear, not turned down so low that it helps no one. >> excuse me, driver, what stocks are we at?

can you remind me when we get to venice and broadway? thanks. >> what we're talking about here is full participation and inclusion. i want to be able to lead a full life. the only way that i'm able to get from place to place this by using a fully accessible public transit system like meany -- muni. >> the americans with disabilities act of 1990 is a wide-ranging federal civil- rights law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. title two of the ada addresses access to public services, including public transportation for persons with disabilities. it requires transit operators to call out stops at transfer points, major intersections, and major destinations, and to announce particular stocks

requested by customers with disabilities. stop announcements are especially important for passengers who are blind or have low vision. these individuals cannot travel independently if they are not assured of getting off at their intended destination point.

>> i have been a cable car grip for 21 years. i am a third generation. my grand farther and my dad worked over in green division for 27. i guess you could say it's blood. >> come on in. have a seat. hold on. i like it because i am standing up. i am outside without a roof over my head and i see all kinds of people. >> you catch up to people you know from the past. you know. went to school with. people that you work with at other jobs. military or something. kind of weird. it's a small word, you be. like i said, what do people do

when they come to san francisco? they ride a cable car. >> california line starts in the financial district. people are coming down knobbhill. the cable car picks people up. takes them to work. >> there still is no other device to conquer these hills better than a cable car. nobody wanted to live up here because you had to climb up here. with the invention of the cable car, these hills became accessible. he watched horses be dragged to death. cable cars were invent in san

francisco to solve the problem with it's unique, vertically challenged terrain. we are still using cars a century old >> the old cable car is the most unique thing, it's still going. it was a good design by then and is still now. if we don't do something now. it's going to be worse later. >> the cable cars are built the same as they were in the late 1800's. we use a modern machinery. we haven't changed a thing. it's just how we get there. >> it's a time consuming job. we go for the quality rather than the production. we take pride in our work and it shows in the end product.

>> the california line is mostly locals. the commuters in the morning, i see a lot of the same people. we don't have as tourists. we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the