$40,000 of this will go to 20

existing businesses. it's this is like a dragon house. -- businesses like dragon house. [applause] others that have been identified. i want to thank ellen and debt been played -- that the little. that is right. al harris and others that have worked in the exocet ashcelsiorn group for so long so that we can make a difference. we want these grievance to make a ground level difference. that is why paying attention to everyone here. it is a struggle of a lot of our commercial corridors right now, so that is why the work we have been doing in mid-market, the experience we are bringing out there with the arts programs and business loans we want to do

right here to help out as well. i also want to thank mary and flemings from family connections. thank you for being here. -- maryann flemings. i also want to thank beth rubenstein from out of sight. thank you. you are in our collaboration. you also know as well as we do before we do anything, we have to work with existing business in people already out here. that is why you have been such an instrumental part, because if we do things right it is because we listen first. they did not want us here to invest $50,000 in one shop that may not make a difference. we spread that out to everybody. everybody feels the city is paying attention. i think that is why we're doing it well here. i also want to think marcihank .

the corporations out here guide us as to what we can do better. i know you've been out here with the community challenge grant doing all of the small business improvement stuff. we're just the beginning. $40,000 in the grants and for the businesses will help go along way. we're making our business mark with llamas cafmama's cafe. they have been successful in mid-market on clemens. and irving streets and all around. when you create these park? klets people come out and use the sidewalk and a more productive way. using our sidewalks in the most creative way, that is how we get more positive attention on to

these areas. i am gl's cafe create a more exciting sidewalk in these areas. these are things we can do in all of our commercial corridors so the businesses cannot only sustain themselves, they can create local jobs to sustain all of our neighborhoods, and that is how we are creating my vision for the rest of the city. we have to work to revitalize every part of our neighborhood. that is how we work together, and i am one to continue doing that and bringing out the expertise we have at city hall. get them out to neighborhood out here. we will walk these corridors with each of the elected officials so they know we're working together, and we're going to keep city hall in communicating with every one of our neighbors. thank you very much. amy, think you for your great work out here, and thank you for everyone joining us together. -- thank you for your great work

out here. >> thank you. gardner speaker iour next speaka gilete. it is through the mayor's office, the cities targeted effort to improve commercial districts, particularly in this more struggling area. the idea of the door front cleaning project, the beautification project is really just additional go on a lot of projects that have been done over the years, really exciting ones, including the good will tower, which you can see it. that was restoration that was a partnership between our office and the excelsior action group. >> hi, i am a member of

excelsior active group's steering committee, co-chaired fort excelsior beautification. of the excelsior action group mission is to revitalize excelsior corridor. these funds, which support the local merchants, will go along way to enhancing the vitality and appearance of the excelsior corridor. we welcome the opportunity to partner with local merchants on behalf of the excelsior. with those of you -- for those of you not familiar, we are a community action group that was founded in 2002. one event we sponsor each year is that the excelsior music and arts festival. we celebrated our ninth anniversary last sunday, and we had a great festival. it was a great community event that celebrated diversity through music, art, and food. excelsior action groups to support local merchants.

this past year excelsior action group completed 10 murals, partnering with local merchants and artists that were installed with lighting. it does not only beautified the corridor, but also serve to make it safe at night. we are also engaged in a community process to recondition the overpass near roll over 2mu. excelsior action group will continue to work together with our community to identify ways we can support local merchants, attract new businesses coming in beautify the corridor. we know this funding will help leverage other much-needed resources and support for the excelsior. we would also like to thinake this opportunity to thank

supervisor avalos. we would be remiss in not acknowledging our all outgoing director, ellen googvenele. , who has demonstrated a real investment in making sure the project led by excelsior action group has the input of excelsior residence. we look forward to partnering with out of sight on the project, and we know this public space will benefit all. i would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new manager of excelsior action group, nicole. [applause] nicole is a san francisco native and a native of the excelsior district. she graduated from ucla with a degree in international development and in our mental systems. she has worked with multiple bay area's small businesses on

environmental business development, as well as construction management. her dedication to the community where she grew up will be the heart of her upcoming effort with the excelsior action group, and thank you so very much. [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> next, we would hear from the owner of the business hosted the event, jong lo. >> hello, everyone. first of all, thank you to everyone for showing up. thank you for the mayor being here. it kills your action group are fantastic. dragon house has been in san francisco for over 15 years. we've been located in excelsior my fourth year. anall of these nice gardens basically put down by the excelsior action group. they are awesome. i am hoping to see them keeping

the funding from the city, keep doing great things for the neighborhood. all the neighborhood people will keep the teenagers coming down here and keeping them out of the street, keeping them say. for the past four years i have seen this neighborhood changing dramatically. people are nicer. nighttime is much safer, and is much greener on every corner. i would like to see the excelsior action group doing the the great work and keep being funded. thank you for coming down every day. thank you. [applause] >> we have one more speaker from mama art cafe. the number one thing people said many years ago was we need a gathering place, at cafe, a place that people really want to come.

it has become more and more of an opportunity for people to gather, and i think the parklet will really add to that. [applause] >> i have to tell you i am very nervous because the mayor is next to me, and i would like to tell you i am very proud to be the owner of the mama art cafe. i would also like to say thank you to beth for making the youth so eager to work to create the parklet. i also would like to say thank you to all of the businesses -- most of them i know. i really feel inspired to be part of the community of its ulcer. and i am very proud to continue to create businesses.

i would also like to say my mother is not here right now, because she is making the best coffee, and i really hope all of you come and see her, because she is a beautiful smile and shake it tugs for free. thank you so much. [applause] >> i think that wraps up our speakers. i think that there is time to walk down to the cafe, if that is okay? that has been proposed. in

there are so many ways that the internet provides real access to real people and resources and that's what we're try to go accomplish. >> i was interested in technology like video production. it's interesting, you get to create your own work and it reflects what you feel about saying things so it gives perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has

a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has access to the internet, especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three, the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is

knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to them, plus they don't know what is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still is around lack of knowledge or confusion or intimidation and not having people in their peer network who use computers in

their lives. >> the important thing i learned from caminos was to improve myself personally. when i first came to caminos, i didn't know anything about computers. the second thing is i have become -- i have made some great achievements as an individual in my family and in things of the world. >> it's a real issue of self-empowerment where new immigrant families are able to communicate with their families at home, able to receive news and information in their own home language, really become more and more connected with the world as well as connected even inside their local communities. >> if we value the diversity of our city and we value our diverse neighborhoods in the city, we need to ensure that they remain economically viable. equiping them and equiping residents in those areas wi