others. i'd like to san francisco that san francisco is a special place. i would like to think that we as a city are better than that. i joined the save lyon-martin community group a month ago. in the last month, i have seen thousands of people, patients, community members like myself, other supporters who have come out and done everything they can to support this clinic. emotions are high. i have seen people crying at the prospect of losing this critical resource. some of us have been fighting with each other over how best to save this clinic. but i have not seen anyone turn their back on lyon-martin. and that is why we are here

today, to ask that you, supervisors, not turn your backs on the clinic, that you not turn your back on the committee that is in such critical need -- on the community that is in such critical need. i think that we as a city are better than that. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker, please? >> hello, supervisors. thank you for your public service and leadership on this issue. i am brian, the executive director of housing and san francisco, and hopefully i speak for my other organization executive directors who could not be here to say we all have to stand together when times are tough. san francisco does not let people fall off the cliff and we cannot let organizations fall off the cliff. that is what sets us apart, part of our values we're here to support today.

a few notes. lyon-martin, five under thousand dollars, that is fifty-five cents per day for health care, and that is a reasonable investment, especially for parts of the population that are extreme risk of hiv infection. if they are preventing people from getting hiv, it is saving the city $660,000 of lifetime medical costs. it is a wise investment. i think if people fall through the cracks, there will be consequences. i am also here to encourage everyone to not hobbled the organization. if we're going to invest the time and energy, let's do it right and put them on solid ground at and not have them living along in a way that does not serve anybody well. also, i come from the local

community. they're very opinionated. it would like to express our opinions. i have not heard one single person make any kind of criticism whatsoever about the quality of the care they are receiving. that is weird, because my people like to complain. i haven't heard nothing. so this is simply an administrative problem, something that needs to be fixed, and we need to fix it. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker? >> hello. the last 10 years of my life i have spent dealing with my health. it started with a broken back and broken feet at the same time. it took me three years to

recover. that led to a series of pains all over my body. when i arrived in this country 10 years ago, i was broken. i had the support from my family, the support from my friends. actually, let me rephrase that, my friends were there. they were here. i found lyon-martin. when i did, what happened to me was simply the light shine. because of the care, the compassion, and the incredible ability these people have shown to percent and give to every single person who walked through the door. there was absolutely unique. it was truly the only place in the world i have been that can make me feel so at home, so that these, and cheerful. the work that the people do is remarkable.

i will use the words that were used by our jewish friend, yes, it is a model. we cannot lose it without losing part of our identity. did i hear the ring? it is time over? supervisor mirkarimi: keep going. >> as i was saying, a piece of our identity will be missed if we let lyon-martin go. money, in matters of health, they are senot supposed to be in the same conversation. the last few years i had a tumor in my liver removed. it was found by lyon-martin. the next year i was found with breast cancer. it was found again by lyon- martin. at this time i had no money to support myself. if it was not for this clinic, i

would not be able to tell you i am cancer free for the third time. thank you so much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. before the next speaker, i will call more names. gloria, james ward, sid nova, and cara. >> so i am glad i voted for you, supervisor kim. anyway. so i have coordinated and trained staff members and volunteers a nonprofit organizations and fund-raising developments. i have trained thousands of the years. in all my years of fund- raising, i have never, never seen the massive amount of money raised and the number of people -- more than 17 other people donate -- more than 1700 people

donate. i think the people of san francisco are fighting for this. i am fighting for this because many of my friends depend on lyon-martin, includingtwo who could not be here today because of disabilities. one said if lyon-martin closes, people will die. another said lyon-martin, is the only place i felt safe enough to get my hormones. if they close, i don't know what i will do. two these folks, queer folks fo of color trainmen school students in transgendered health care, and they tell me or stories about the level of health care -- they tell me horror stories about the level

of health care. i think that lyon-martin patients should not have to leave just because lyon-martin board any sick of the leadership messed up. i think our people deserve the day of seeing their doctors. this is not about charity, this is about justice. we also know that our public health systems are already strapped, and there is not a single clinic that can take on 3500 people. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. next speaker? >> thank you, i am gloria. back in 1991, the clinic received a grant from the tobacco-free project, the department of public health, to start a stop smoking program for lesbians and gay men. when that. and it, that could have banned it. it could have just been a blip

on the screen. but it is an example of how lyon-martin health services has been inspirational and given leadership not only did the city but the state and beyond. the program continues to this day, and when i leave here i am going to a graduation. there have been over 100 classes, over 2000 people who have become the non-smokers, and you know this as well as probably everybody else here that smoking is the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the united states. and lyon-martin has given leadership to this, and continues to give leadership to this, informing their clientele. but they have also made an investment in me because i have become certified to back a treatment specialist. i worked as a master trainer, i work for kaiser, and i still work for the clinics in san francisco and provide classes at

maxine hall health center, southeast health center. that leadership, the investment that you make, continues on and helps other people provide good health to san francisco. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker, please? >> hi, my name is sid nova. i am asking for support to keep lyon-martin from two places. as a low-end, transgendered gay man, i find it difficult to receive competent medical care without simultaneously giving an education to my provider. at lyon-martin when i sought medical care, the things that make me medically interesting or not of interest to my provider. my doctors treated my body as it was, not my identity, and i got

a diagnoses, treated, and i can move on with my life. transgendered people, will not always visible, are in transit part of the san francisco committee. we are your brothers, sisters, health care workers, and our health care should be a priority for the city. second, i am advocating for lyon-martin services as a health-care provider myself. i am the transgender program coordinator at the st. james infirmary and refer clients within a healthy san francisco system. two days before i got word that the clinic was in danger of closing, i got a call from one of our participants. she had received a hormone prescription from us, but as a condition of healthy san francisco to have for coverage, it needed to be written by her medical provider.

she was being told that there would not have an appointment open for her and another two months. the public health system is already stretched thin. if we are thrown back into the system, how can that fragile network picked us up? how can the clinics to pick us up continue to provide competent care with the added burden? for that reason i'm asking for your support, thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. next speaker, please? >> good evening, my name is james award. i am a current patient of lyon- martin, and i am asking your support and keeping the doors open. before i came to lyon-martin, i had the most horrible experiences in the medical field as a trans person. i stopped saying medical care on

my gun and started using the internet. somebody pointed me in the direction of lyon-martin over a year ago and ever since then i have been treated with the most amazing care and respect and dignity i did not know existed for trans people within the health-care system. i don't know where i would go without lyon-martin, so i ask for myself and seven other people who rely on this, not only for economic purposes but just being able to be served as a human being in receiving health care, i ask that you show your support for all of us. we are part of your community. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker? >> i am an organizer with power. i want to thank supervisor mirkarimi for holding this hearing and supervisor kim for coming out and supporting the community events and all of you for taking the city initiative and your own hands.

i think this context right now around health-care is critical because increasingly health care is looked at as a business. yes, this is a question of our health and finances, but fundamentally, there is a moral question. we all know the reality that across the country lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people don't go to the doctor because of the discrimination we face, and countless studies have shown the correlation between breast cancer and lesbians was because they were not getting medical care until so late in the not aware they were getting cancer and could not the treatment. the fatality of that illness. -- that connected the treatment to stop the fatality of that on this. i am a past client of lyon- martin, and it was the best experience i have ever had. i never go to the doctor. i have experienced such bad things at the doctor that if you

don't have a crisis, you don't go. i think that lyon-martin is an incredible resources, which is why we are willing to fight for it, and i think the city, up $150,000 is insignificant, but it is so small compared with the resources we have and will save the lives of people. if the clinic does not exist, they will not be absorbed by other clinics. they will just not go to the doctor, and we cannot afford that. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. i will read more names. sandra, estevan, jackson, and deborah. >> hi, my name is cara, and i have been an employee of lyon- martin the past three years. i court in a public health, which is a collaborative

program with the transgendered law center. lyon-martin works to provide improved health care in this state and has achieved unprecedented results for the transgender community. we have worked with over 10 community clinics, helping them create a safe base for transgendered clients and providing staff competency. we just helped launch a clinic in humboldt county. we provide medical training at ucsf, the general, kaiser, stanford and others to name a few. at lyon-martin we have trained over 35 students who come from as far as the u.k. and as close as ucsf to get hands-on experience and training. we offer the only transgendered rotation and the u.s. students are able to serve

trans-identified people. thousands of trans people are receiving, but it health care. the cutting edge work that lyon- martin is doing must continue. please help lyon-martin lyon- martin -- please help lyon- martin and a larger transgender community survive, thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. >> my name is sandra. i'm a mental-health provider at lyon-martin. i am on to speak to the mental health piece of the clinic, which has not got a lot of attention, but i think it is crucial. we currently provide individual and group therapies, psychiatric services, and case management for approximately 100 clients every week. it is also a training facility for social service workers to

take the knowledge they have learned from the clinic and they go out to other private practices or clinics and provide services to the clients who cannot have the benefit of living close enough to san francisco. we provide a short-term model of 12-20 sessions to clients. to be as accessible to as many people as possible. what happens, often, they go out into the committee and try to find other therapists or providers that can give them the support that they need that and not treat them like they are an anomaly. what happens is the request to return to lyon-martin for their mental health care, because i think they find that we not only accept them but i appreciate them regardless of their income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, a plymouth, sex practices, parenting practices,

etc. it isthe trans community ha lifesaver in fund-raising. but there is a huge percentage of our patients not represented in this room. and there are many people of color, many spanish speakers who have yet to join the fight in this, who i think would want you to do everything you can to save this clinic. by granting our financial request today, you can send a critical message of support to all of our patients who have faced abuse and organizations throughout their lives. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. >> my name is as the bonn rodriguez. i worked at the dimensions youth clinic, housed in castro mission health center. thank you for having this meeting today. when you have a population of people who are used to hearing

know, as somebody who works in a clinic certain -- serving these people, saying there is nowhere to go is the worst thing you can do. the saddest thing is people are not really surprised to hear it. lyon-martin is one of the places where people not eligible to come to a youth clinic that i can send people. no is not the end. without this clinic, people will fall through the cracks. the wedding at castro-mission right now is 400 people long. folks are not going to be jumping through these hoops to see somebody who they do not trust to begin with. i just want to urge you to do everything you can to save this clinic and to save the people that use this clinic. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is deborah benedict. i am also a client of lyon-

martin. related to the profile of some of the other speakers who have been here, i can tell you that i have never received health care at the level that i have at lyon-martin. completely non prejudiced, completely compassionate, and willing to listen to complaints that other doctors have dismissed. i had two biopsies for skin cancer on my face that other doctors repeatedly -- i think approximately 10 different times, i have tried to get medical care for the growths a recognized were not normal on my face. i was repeatedly told it was nothing. it was only lyon-martin that listened to me and heard me say there was something unusual going on. i was able to get treatment. i have never had a situation

where the health-care provider has been so proactive and listened to clients about actual issues we have. i believe no person is a better expert on their own health, and knowing what is going on in their body when something is wrong. without community support, there is not going to be a possibility that others who have difficulty expressing issues related to their health are going to have a venue. it is important to note that lyon-martin, which was a nonprofit, never had an open-to- the-public board meeting, as required in the city charter, which requires that open public meetings be had twice a year by any organization that receives funding from the city of san francisco. if there might have been open meetings, this might not have happened. thank you.

>> i am allan jensen, and i am a past patient and current volunteer at lyon-martin. i am here to ask you to help save the clinic. i originally came to lyon-martin a few years ago as a patient. i have had significant health problems. i have a history of depression and mental health issues. i also had been unable to receive transgendered-related care elsewhere, because people would look at me and turned me away. i also have an autoimmune disorder which desperately needed treatment and was dismissed as psychosomatic. at lyon-martin, i was shown nothing but respect. i had been taken -- taking black-market hormones. dawn got me off that and was sure to follow up with me to make sure how was doing. all of the providers and all the

staff are absolutely respectful and wonderful. it was this that made me decide later to come back as a volunteer. i volunteered at other places, but this is probably the first place i have ever heard anybody say, "i am so looking forward to coming to my appointment tomorrow." if you days ago, i got into a bicycle accident and from my arm and got broken up. i have private insurance now. i call the nurse to book me for an appointment, and she almost did not do it. when she pulled up my record, she saw i was transgendered and had a mental health history. it was marked as psychosomatic and i was asked a lot of personal, in basic questions. it was an awful experience. that contributed to me not getting the health care i needed. i was essentially home with a splint for the weekend, in pain. when i got back in on monday, i

was seen by another provider. she saw how nervous i was. she asked me out of curiosity where i was going when i got into an accident. i said i was going to volunteer at lyon-martin. she said that was where she got all her training. it was because of lyon-martin that i continued to receive good health care, you could say. >> before the next speaker comes up, and want to invite laura collins, and victoria grace, may toolin, sonya lively. >> my name is jackson bowman. i am part of the coalition of community members. i want to speak about -- as a

service provider. for the last four years, i have worked with the transitional dutch age use -- with transitional-age youth population. a do not think people familiar with this population would be surprised to know that usually when homelessness, hiv, or mental health needs, or substance used problems are at play in someone's life, that is not the only problem they are faced with. most people who are experiencing one kind of mental illness may be experiencing more than one. people who are experiencing mental-health problems are also often having problems with substance abuse, having problems with access to education, employment, housing. san francisco does a good job of providing services for young people.

however, i think it does less of a good job providing services for adults. because of organizations like mission-castro, i have places to refer young people for services. i do not have a place to refer those transitioning from youth services into adult services. this has been important in being able to offer care to the youth i work with. they can meet the multiple means that they face for young people who are transgendered who need that kind of health care. there are also able to receive services around mental health, substance use common diet, smoking cessation, and other things that lyon-martin does. there is nowhere else to refer to the young people i work with. i think the $150,000 the clinic is asking for is the minimum the city can do. i would encourage you to do as much as you can. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you.

next speaker, please. >> thank you, supervisors. i am laura thomas. i am a former patient of lyon- martin. i access services there about 20 years ago, when i first came to san francisco as a young woman looking for health care. i am also very proud to be a part of the amazing community response that has been the "save lyon-martin" experience. i abort in nonprofits in the city for a long time. -- i have worked in nonprofits in the city for a long time. i have never seen this kind of response in crisis. i am proud to be a resident of san francisco, which has an amazing investment in ensuring that everyone in san francisco has access to health care and

culturally-competent health care. we take cultural competency to the next level in this city, teaching the rest of the world how to provide that care. i am proud of that. i understand this is a difficult time to be keeping a safety net together. i worry that the holes in our safety net are getting larger and larger. i fear that if we lose a clinic like lyon-martin that the holes will be so big we cannot repair are sifted that again. there are going to be a lot of strong health-care organizations facing cuts this year. we have more to lose if lyon- martin closes. i challenge the board of supervisors to come up with funds to help match with the community has come up with. i think $150,000 from the board of supervisors to match with the community has already raised would be only fair, given the work that so many peoplve