we have a brand new service here today. we are going to be able to serve about 25 to 30 women, so if i could get a big round of applause for the department of public health being able to bring the service here today. [applause] this is my last project homeless connect, and i just wanted to give a big thanks to both the mayor, the department of public health for giving me the opportunity to be here, but more than anything, i want to say a really big thanks to all of you. what we are doing here is not only helping people who need a hand but creating a community that can be year to work together to help people who are in need. together, we are going to end homeless here in san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> there is another very special person here, home is my great

pleasure to introduce to you. she works for the health department, but more importantly, she was on the 10- year planning council. she understands the value and need for mental health care and also for respite. homeless people leaving hospitals, big issue. that is barbara garcia. [applause] speaking of barbara, you have to have people on the inside that have a strong principal and believe that we can get a job done. in the mayor's race of 2003, i would get up, and gatt and would be sitting next to me, and i would say, "mr. new some, you are going to go to hell if you do not take care of the four and the six -- i would get up, and gavin would be sitting next me, and i would say, "mr. newsom,

you are going to go to hell if you do not take care of the poor and the sick." everything you are doing, every minute of what you are doing right now is what it is about in life, and that is giving back, especially to the sick and the four. this man got it. he got into office, and he worked day and night in an area that is extremely unpopular to the wealthy people that give you contributions. the bottom line is it is very difficult. you can admit it. you are lieutenant governor now. we are statewide. there's a bottom line. you run, and it is about the sick and the port, and you do not get a lot of people sending you checks, but he kept with it, and he understands it

probably better than any elected official in the united states of america, and now, we are lucky enough to have him on the state level so he carries the ball forward. [applause] in 2003, you could have never told me that one of my proudest acquaintances in my entire life is mayor gavin newsom. [applause] mayor newsom: thank you all for taking the time to be here. it is a pretty remarkable thing to look back. yes, angela, at the mayor's race in 2003. for those of you wondering what we're talking about, angela and i ran against each other. it was a time of tremendous controversy and frustration where everybody was pointing fingers in this town.

i give mayer brown as a lot of credit for the investment he made, and i do not think he has ever legitimately got a credit for the investment he made into the homeless delivery system, but he was probably best known for his frustration when he said that there's just no way a city can solve homelessness. at the time, a lot of us jumped on him and said what an audacious and outrageous thing, but i have come to appreciate the frustration. at the same time, i also appreciated we needed to move in a different direction, and so much of that campaign was organized around the issue of poverty eradication, and an expression of that frustration. it was one of the fundamental reasons angela not only got in the mayor's race but got into politics in the first place. it is part of her life and hard of her own struggles to recognize the successes -- reconcile the successes she had in her life with the realities, the frustrations of those that do not have those successes that

need our help. i think aristotle said you cannot live a good life in an unjust society, and i think all of us recognize as well as our life is going, when you see other people suffer, your own life is impacted by that. the bible teaches us that we are many parts but one body, and when one part suffers, we all suffer. that is the spirit that angela brought to the campaign. she did not know if it was some political thing. i wanted to get it straight to her that this was really important to me as a human being. this is why i got into politics in the first place as well. we formed this partnership, and we put together this 10-year council to end chronic homeless, and then she formed a partnership. go figure. the great bomb thrower of modern

political history. the great partisan democrats builds this. becomes best friends with george of the bush's homeless czar, and no one believed it, but it meant a great deal to the city because that partner -- that partnership for tremendous free. the federal funding disproportionately started to come to the city and county of san francisco. she brought this council together and they put a plan together and it was our job to implement that plan, and it was an audacious plan, building more housing than any time in our nation's history at a time when we were struggling financially.

we put that plan in writing and committed ourselves. we went out and we made it so, and we organize ourselves and found the resources, and our critics will never give us anything, but most folks in this town, the overwhelming majority recognize that we build more housing than any time in our city's history. we house more people in the last six or seven years than any time in our city's history, and we brought people together remarkably on this very vexing issue. to wit, my long winded point. it is one thing to talk about a continuum of care. it is one thing to talk about city hall solving problems. it is never going to be installed at city hall. willie brown was right. it requires people like yourselves, the rest of us, to get involved. not just elected officials. it requires us to get a sense of connection to the problem, and

that is when this whole idea was born. it was out of some banks and frustration that i could not answer the question -- how are you going to solve homelessness? what are you going to do as the new mayor? i said water you going to do? i figured i needed a better answer, so we put this together, and alex is here. you need to give a big round of applause to alex who organized this thing and made it if what it is today. alex was tasked with getting department heads together, and we started off in a small gymnasium down in the tenderloin, and a few folks showed up. most of them were protesting us because they did not know what we were up to. that coalition of homeless folks, i love you, but sometimes, you frustrate. you are right most of the time, though. i will give you credit. even if we do not get it. but you were wrong about this.

they were out giving fliers telling people not to participate in this. weeks became months. months became years. one of them became five and 10 and 20 and people started realizing we were onto something. as angela said, 226 cities now. three countries have replicated this model. it is an extraordinary thing, and it is so simple. it is about connecting people not just to a problem but to solutions, and it is about building bridges and creating a different set of expectations. i have always believed that you have got to believe something is possible in order to conceive it. first, the proverbial dream. we came together with a great idea. we believe we could do something better and more special, and we started getting these partners. we started out with two or three, and now, you get eye exams and free eyeglasses and medical attention and dental now attention. wheelchairs' repaired.

that is an extraordinary thing. they did not have a way to call their families, so sprint said we got the podiatrist -- susman said they would help with the long distance. we got a podiatrist there. they wanted a massage, so we got a massage there. they said acupuncture is the real stress reliever. so we got acupuncture. and folks said they got a new holistic thing that they were trying out downstairs and others came for music and art and kids and all that. it is just an amazing thing. the evolution was directed by

the great judith. this is in a frame. we saw today would be appropriate, all the work that has been put into this and all that extra energy. she wanted to demonstrate success. that is the difference between interested people and committed people. she found a way to get the -- interested people find excuses. committed people find a way of getting things done. judith is the definition of commitment. it seemed only appropriate. today will be ever known in san for the cisco as judith klein day in our city. there you are. finally. thank you, judith. [applause] thanks for everything you have done. we are proud of her. she is not going far. barbara garcia -- angela manchin barbara garcia. she is the new health director in san francisco, and if anyone

really wants to know how she got the job, the interview consisted of one question -- you think it is the -- one of the biggest health departments in the world, and we can talk about cultural competency and all the issues of primary care, long-term aging and all those things, but all that i already knew. i cared about one thing -- i said i'm out of here. not particularly because i want to be out of san francisco but because i want to continue to serve and my time was coming up, and my passion is this thing called project homeless. she said she knows and she committed to making sure it continues well past my time, so, barbara, we are holding you to that. i want to know this is going to

continue on. i also want to thank our homeless czar, the person we call and text, and he has fans, or at least a family member here. but he deserves to look good. this is a guy out there until midnight or 1:00 in the morning, and he is getting this text messages from the above folks down in south van ness that need help, and i could not be more proud of his work and his advocacy. he has been the delivery system to pull all these things together, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts. unbelievable. the best of the best. truly amazing. we will recognize him later. i'm going to do that somewhere else, though i now regret not doing it here. to all of you, this 37th project

homeless connect, and we are about data here. companies like salesforce that, it gave us all this free equipment and free software. i can say this definitively -- 31,944 and duplicated clients have been served since we started this. almost 32,000 human beings. that is amazing. 21,644 of you. that is not folks that came back. many of you come back. 21,644 individual volunteers like yourself. that is amazing. big round of applause to all of you for making this happen. it is just amazing. truly. so you made a difference not only to people you are serving. you made a difference across this country. we are making progress.

we used to be going this direction. we know that success on homelessness is not a place, not a definition. it is a direction. we know there is no having made it. we know the challenge continues to grow. we are providing services for people all over this region, the state, and this nation, and i'm proud of that, and we will always keep our doors open to help the most vulnerable and most impoverished, and we know this needs to continue and we need to continue our passion and advocacy, so thank you for everything you have done, and let me just and by recognizing the person i began recognizing because in so many ways -- i wish we had a tape recorder of the conversations angela and i have over the years because sometimes, she did not think i was as engaged as i should have been and she let me have it. other times, she was inspired and would call and make me feel good like maybe we were doing the right thing, and that is

exactly what you need. that is called love. in that spirit of love and that spirit that is angela alioto, this thing is framed as well. this is a certificate truly recognizing angela and everything she has done over the last six, seven years over her life and all the work that she will continue to do. thank you very much. on behalf of all of us, for everything. [applause] and that will be framed. to the 10-year planning council, to our entire staff, to our state partners, our local partners, kaiser, blue shield, all those folks out there doing work every single day. we are proud of you. thank you for continuing this, and we will see you back here at the 38th project homeless connect. [applause] >> thank you, everybody.

i could get you to stay here one minute, we will run through the logistics and get the doors open. about 400 people are waiting to get services, so we will get you going real quick. thank you. >> really quickly, judith. >> my name is phil williams. i'm one of the early volunteers. the mayor was on the radio in february, january 2005 and invited people to volunteer and live their values. i signed up in february 2005, and since then, i brought my wife, two best friends. i have met all sorts of people. i do the transportation. we created the story table. we just keep doing. he said if you can think about it, do it. do not shoot a lot of fat about

it. get it done. well, we have done it. so mayor newsom invited me. judas' inspired me. from the clients, the volunteers, the staff people in the office, from joe ramos, the wonderful photographer, and my wife and through this together, we are giving to it something we hope means something to her. she means an awful lot to us. we love her, and she has made it possible for me to live my values. i came here in 1983 looking for something, and if she made it possible. [applause] >> ok, thanks for coming. we are moving on to the training portion of the day so we can get

on the floor and get the doors open on time at 10:00. if you have already been assigned, it should be written on your name tag. you can get up and go.

>> good morning. welcome to st. francis memorial hospital. note welcome -- welcome to the fifth annual tree lighting. we are recognizing the role that the burn center played to us in the community of st. francis and the whole region and wished to demonstrate for you today the risk of christmas trees -- the danger that they present to us. we have a couple of guests to speak to us on behalf of the burn center. i wanted first introduced the centers assemblywoman. >> thank you. growing up, show and tell was one of my favorite things, and this is the ultimate show and tell. this is the fifth annual tree

lighting, burning ceremony. and i want to thank the san francisco fire department for keeping us safer. also, st. francis memorial hospital. and they are the only burn center here in the bay area counties. we want to thank them for all the work they are doing. they have many patients that they see every day. all of the doctors as well. all the staff here at the hospital, thank you for what you do everyday. for the holidays, do not overload extension cords, turn off holiday lights before you go to bed. never leave candles unattended, especially around the christmas tree.

water trees daily so that they do not dry out. recycle your tree. do not put them in the fireplace. keep charged fire extinguishers in central locations. thank you all very much. we hope everybody has a safe holiday season. [applause] >> thank you. next, i would like to induce a woman that really needs no introduction, our own fire chief, joanne. >> thank you for being here, everyone. this is the fifth annual christmas tree lighting, different from other lighting, but just as important. we want to show you that holidays can be safe for us all, however, a tree can quickly go up in flames and cause damage to property and lives.

i want to thank st. francis medical center for partner with us every year. the care that they have for each and every patient walking through the door is amazing. the burn center does great work for people who are burned, either through fire or scald injuries. it is the holiday season and we want to ensure a happy holiday season, so we have this demonstration for you. we want to make sure during the holidays you do not leave those candles unattended. certainly, you want to keep those trees hydrated, as they can cause great damage. i want to thank engine company 38 for coming out to provide the vigil. we have the fire chief battalion here with us. once again, have a healthy and happy christmas, holiday season, and 2011. thank you very much.

>> next from st. francis memorial hospital burns center, we have our medical doctor. >> thank you everyone for coming here this morning. i also want to thank assemblywoman mauck for being here this morning. i also want to thank the wonderful firefighters that keep our city safe. as we celebrate this holiday season come as a reminder from the st. francis memorial hospital burn center, we would like you to keep your family's safe and free from fire. take a moment to think about the safety warnings and please take care of your family. this time of year, we see increases in the incidence of structural fires, especially in

spalding's. make sure you check your christmas trees, that they are well hydrated, and with the kids, make sure that they are well guarded from dangers, including candles. we want to wish you a very safe holiday season from here at st. francis. thank you very much. [applause] >> okay, we are going to let the burning begin. our fire department personnel will keep us safe. they will be letting the tree as well. -- lighting the tree as well.