funding for all affordable housing programs geared not just for ours, but for all of them in the city and county of san francisco. because we stand together in serving the clients, the low- income citizens of san francisco. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> i am from manila town heritage foundation, and i am the affordable housing coordinator. your story here to appeal to fund our program, and it is a very small fraction of money we are asking for, but it is a great help for our community. what we do -- we provide education and information and how to fill out housing applications, and we tell them to fill them out completely. so this kind of information, education, and also information

about any affordable housing that is available in san francisco, since we all now -- we all know that there is not really a citywide housing database available, and we want to be accessible to our community about this kind of information. also, when there is a new building coming up, we reach out to our community. in some cases, we provide our time with our volunteers to call people on their house phones and tell them the information about the affordable housing, and when there is no new affordable housing, there are all these waiting list, but our clients or our communities do not know how to navigate on those, do not know how to look on this, so we also become a resource for them. and since our community is mainly speaking tagalog, we try to provide them a linguistic competence and culturally sensitive information with them,

and we try to be with them one- on-one in assisting them with housing applications. we also provide the resources, so our community really needs your support. we are basically the only organization for the latino communities for housing assistance. and we have our clients here that can support our program. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. the heritage foundation affordable housing subprogram needs your support to continue the program for the families, seniors, and low-income. all these people are hard- working and sacrifice for the clients to find affordable housing programs.

thank you very much, supervisors. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker. >> i will be presenting for the manilasound foundation and appealing to all of you to please not cut the budget of the asia foundation. the only person we can come to in moments of frustration. there are difficulties in life. it was them who will help out. i am appealing to all of you because the suffering of one of the members is the suffering of the others, and the joy of one is the ecstasy of the others. please help us. it is impossible to operate without money. money has been important.

but in case we will be rejected, i say the for every bomb, there is a time, and forever hardy, there is bleak -- for every heart ache, there is bleak -- glee. i hope you will have a big heart. it is impossible to turn around everything, especially when the times are tough. it is impossible, really, for underprivileged people to go around without funding and without the support of all the people around this room, and i am is still very doubtful that through of assam, we are able to have social security and everything, and thank you. i still think america is the best country throughout the

world. thank you, supervisors. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you today. i am the director of excelsior family connection. our center is located in the heart of excelsior neighborhoods. and the community i serve has the highest population of youth and families. the excelsior family center is the only family resource center. we offer quality family support resources that not only benefit the individual but the family as a whole and as a result, the entire community. we use a holistic approach to meet the needs of each member of the family peer the approach we use allows us to provide financial literacy, computer literacy, job training, school readiness, parenting class is offered in three different languages, support for victims of domestic violence, case management, and much more. these are services requested by the community with the community, and for the community. every year, we survey our

families for their needs and priorities and modify our services appropriately to reflect their needs and what they have requested. for example, earlier this year, we offer free tax preparation program services to low-income families. with our train and certify volunteers, we collected a total of $80,000 to low-income families, which is more that they can use the benefit not only their own communities, but san francisco as a whole. next year, we hope to increase the amount of families we serve, double the amount of tax return monies we hope to bring to low- income families, and continue to provide vital programs and services to our families. we ask that you support us and not take away any of our funding and please restore the funding that we have requested. on behalf of the family, use, and staff, we ask that you restore all of that so we can continue to provide vital programs to our neighborhoods -- on behalf of the family, youth,

and staff. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here as a board member of hospitality house, an i am asking you once again -- i will repeat my comments that i made -- to restore funding. there are a couple of reasons. you need to understand that we are not only losing city funding but our federal funding and state funding is also challenged. the collapse of the community, and the source of the funding there are also increasingly difficult. as we demonstrated, there was a parade of people who could speak to you about the meaningful contribution. i am asking you to restore funding because it is the right thing to do. as a resident of san francisco,

i'm asking a supervisors, maybe not in the tenderloin, but across the city that homelessness is an issue that affects us from bay to breakers, and it affects all of our quality of life everywhere. lastly, i am asking you to restore hospitality house of funding. it is the prudent, financial thing to do. hospitality house provides a crucial role in stabilizing people's lives in a crisis and helps them get them back on the path toward a more sustainable, productive life, by cutting our funding, the opportunity for those people to recover has diminished. they spend more time in our emergency room, more time in our ambulances, and more time taking more expensive care. thank you very much.

supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello. i am chairman of the public safety committee for the hayes valley neighborhood association committee. we meet monthly to discuss the public safety issues in the western addition, hayes valley, and the lower haight. i consider magic to be one of the best public safety programs in san francisco. last year, the board of supervisors honored two of the members of the team with certificates. the mayor's office provided a certificate for the summer safety success. double the drop in crime in our neighborhoods last year. what are we talking about? $75,000. that is less than the cost of one officer. what are we having? we have 400 youth at field day. 600 at conable. 250 at the black and white ball for young adults. we give away 1200 backpacks last

year. it is a program that works for public safety. and if the supervisors believe in public safety in san francisco, they will restore the money. the people, the youth in san francisco will thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. [applause] if i could ask members of the public to refrain from clapping so we can move forward with public comment. >> hi, supervisors, ross mirkarimi. i am case manager for westside community services. i am here on behalf of my agency to advocate for our community management program. program provides free case management and mental health services to young adults ages 12 to 24 in the western addition. when the program began, african- americans in the western addition were already apprehensive about receiving

mental health services, even though the community identified this as a need and a walk. because of this, our staff had to find a way to connect with the community said that they could gain our trust and become interested in our services. we found our way into the community through mo magic. we attended community events and were allowed the opportunity to work with their kids, providing life skills, violence prevention groups, case management, and recreational activities. that the collaboration and the dedication of our staff have, we would not be able to provide vital services to the community. we are in the homes, in the communities, and in the schools, bridging relationships and forming bonds with kids who do not normally have a stable person they can count on. why take away money from a program that has had more than 500 youth graduate, to improve school attendance, 12 get jobs, 16 receive mentoring, and over 10 families receive mental health services?

with your help, we can only increase these numbers and our services. thank you, and please restore our funds. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. before i start, i want to a knowledge and thanks supervisor ross mirkarimi for his support and the efforts he has put into building collaboration within the community. and just the efforts around that and the impact it has had on the greater community. i stand today first and foremost andkia just spoke about west side. dealing with the stigma of mental health is important, and we need the services and funds that support getting services the help that they need. west side has done a great job of building relationships and getting into the homes and the schools and building those partnerships and helping to address some of the issues

around post-traumatic stress disorder and the issues faced with truancy that really are deeper than having issues in school. the other one is a city wide service that is huge. in a community where children are suffering with mental health issues that they do not really have identified and in a community where sometimes alternative ways of earning money are at the forefront, programs like this are important in terms of having the police having a place to refer students and you, and those programs that are supportive in helping them get rid engaged and finding positive alternatives. it is really important, not just for the western addition, but for the entire city. and one thing we would like to see restored is this idea of workforce development and relief job development programming. money put into getting that transitional age youth and those

24 and up, not just doing internships, but some type of paid internships where people understand that the skill set is a little bit lacking, but they will support them and help them get to the next place that they need to be. again, thank you. those are the three areas that when we had our community meeting were important. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello, and good afternoon. i would like to speak on behalf of mo magic organization. cheryl davis makes programs for the teenagers of the western addition so they can better themselves. she is constantly giving back to the community, and she takes the children and treats them as if they were her own. getting them towards the path to

go to college and teaching them work as well as life skills. thank you for your time. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. her commitment and dedication inspired me and showed me that you can be anything i live with a little hard work. her effort and dedication to help clean up the streets and have helpful programs that changes the lives of our youth. when funding gets low, she uses the money out of her own pocket, and that tells me she really cares. if it were not for her, i would probably be around the neighborhood causing all sorts of trouble and commotion.

i appreciate all sister davis has done for us in the community. i needed help, she would have both hands out. sister davis is a phenomenal woman, and i am grateful for all she has done. thank you for your time. supervisor chu: thank you for your time. >> good afternoon. on behalf of the mo magic organization and its participants, i would have to say sister davis loves the community with all her heart. she demonstrates is becoming to the community center and interacting with the children and helping them better themselves physically, emotionally, and mentally by sharpening their academic skills and social skills. she is an individual i recently encountered, but she has made an impact on me for life.

her selfless acts are uncanny. he has brought many people together and given them a place for people in the community to enjoy themselves and feel safe -- she has brought many people together. thank you for your time. >> i am director of opportunity impact in the western addition. want to thank supervisors mirkarimi for his support, in particular of the neighborhood, the youth, and the challenges we face over the past several years. while you have been in office, you have been a tremendous asset, and you will be missed, but we will keep an eye on you. a lot of folks spoke to sharyl, and she does not want or enjoy the attention, but i think what it speaks to is a woman and an agency stepping up and filling

the needs wherever they are. they are absolutely around youth and serving teenagers as well as the traditional age that cheryl has taken on more than a dozen and given them jobs recently. even the 25 and up in our neighborhood -- they really need some work force development, and that is not just more training. that is actual jobs and business opportunities, and she is always seeking new opportunities for those folks and making it happen. in addition, education, youth programs, summer services, keeping our community centers alive for our community, working together and building collaboration. you hear her name over and over again because those are needs, and she finds a way to get it done. so rarely does she speak on her own behalf or let any of the rest of us do it, but we would love to see the services that she is trying to make happen get the support that they need. thanks. supervisor chu: thank you.

>> i am and activist in the western addition, and i have been with the mo magic program from the beginning. i am very glad that this summer, that we were able to restore them. we have parents bring their children in, which was not happening before. we have young men that, in, which they were just talking about. we do need services for those young men. they are being very patient. they are asking for training, asking for jobs. we really need this to happen before stuff starts happening again. things have stop happening, but we want to make sure that these young people between the ages of 19 and 25 get the opportunity to get some type of training. when i tried to go through training, it was always we get

the training, but we never got jobs place. we need something -- somewhat like sheryl that works in our community. all the times they have given people the opportunity to do these things, but it is not happening, and we really need it right now. right now, with the kids and stuff, it is going well. now we have to make another step for those older transitional people. thank you. thank you all for helping us all these years and making mo' magic a reality. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here representing hospitality house. i am the manager of the tenderloin self-help center. i want to thank supervisors kim for your recent visit. i like the fact that you came by to see the work that we do.

the last time i was here, i spoke to the fact that hospitality house saves lives, and i'm here to reiterate that point. just this week, two weeks ago, when my case managers was able to finally get housing for one of our program participants who has been homeless for over 10 years. i have to say, after it happened and he came and thanked me and thank my case manager and simply him saying that there was anything he could do in return, let him know, and it is always really touching to me when i have to let folks know that it is ok, this is why we do this type of work. hospitality house is a crucial safety net to our program for dissidents, to the tenderloin neighborhood and obviously to the safety of the entire neighborhood. everyone has been watching the news and seen the spike in violence and in desperation simply from our program for dissidents and people in the neighborhood. i want to reiterate the fact that we are desperately needed in the community, and we do a

lot of good, and once again, hospitality house saves lives. i really appreciate it. because we are needed, and with the state of the economy, the state of our state budget, as well as our city budget, things will only get worse. we need facilities like this to make sure that those in greatest need can, at the very least have the opportunity to have their opportunities -- to have their needs met. >> good afternoon. i want to first acknowledged the supporters of hospitality house. could you stand up or just wait, everyone that is here? i have a special friend right here that is with me, a participant of our program. i just wanted to, if you guys do

not know, to tell you about how important this program for our programs are to the community, being on sixth street. there are a lot of changes going on, and i know for a fact that the services that we have and the services we provide are vital for the development of sixth street. we are a safe haven. i was at a meeting last night, and that is one of the things we talked about, places that are safe havens for the community, and it is so needed for the community to have us there. we're the only place in the neighborhood where people can actually use the bathroom. and when you take a car ride some place and cannot use the bathroom, imagine that being your everyday dilemma. we are a place where people can come in and have their humanity restored. be a place where people can socialize. we are a place that has case management, and we are trying our best to work with the mental

health issues in the community. i know for a fact that without that kind of help for the community, that the violence is not going to go anywhere. especially when we are in a time when every last one of us or almost all of us are one check away or one step away from being homeless. we definitely need our programs. we need our budget restored. lastly, one of the things that i want to share -- our staff and our participants -- we are all one community and all one family, and all of us have gone through trials and tribulations in our lives. i have been where my participants are, and i know that we are all -- [bell rings] so what we would like to do is just ask you to restore our funds back so we can do the work that we need to do in our community that we are in. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> i would like to say that how

they serve the homeless people, the low-income people, and the middle income -- the mental people, and i think we really need the hospitality house and all their support. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good afternoon, budget committee. i have a three-pronged message for you regarding restoring the funding to central city hospitality house. first, as a san francisco voters and residents of district two, i have to tell you how much my neighbors and i are looking forward to enjoying the revitalized market street arts district. we know very much how central city hospitality house figures into those cleanup efforts. hour drop-in centers offer a place to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water. that is allowing the sidewalks and fountains of market street

to be free and available to neighbors and to the taurus. second, as a public health doctor and faculty member of the department of family and community medicine act -- at ucsf, i could cite endless boring statistics on how each hour a drop-in centers closed, the risk to a homeless person's health and safety is exponentially increase. such places are indispensable sites of refuge and sanctuary, and, as elvis said so eloquently, they save lives. third, as president of the board -- i am very proud of that -- of hospitality house, my fellow board members and i are committed to coming to speak to you as often as it is necessary to remind you that the measure of a civilized society is the care it provides to its most needy citizens. i also thank you for your

service because i know you have a hard job. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello. how are you doing this afternoon? i am speaking as a client over 10 years, dealing with substance abuse. all aspects and different levels, through the organizations that you have provided for us. ok? i am going to tell you a little bit of substance abuse rehabilitation and how important these organizations are -- important to keep. from hitting rock bottom -- i do not know if you have been there or not, but i have. i had nowhere to go, no where to eat, no where to live. these organizations, my life has progress. housing, knowledge of my addiction, to my recovery. also, personal counseling.

also, a foundation of stability where i can be responsible in the community today. this made that happen for me. i do not know how important it is for you, but i think it gave me my life back, and i am willing to give my life back to these organizations. i provide an volunteer my time with these organizations, and i feel that is important, too. this is what we do. help one another. they help me grow, and by the growing, i can give back to the next person in line that is in the same situation i am in. so i ask that you keep these programs open with all the funding that they need, and i challenge you as individuals to visit these organizations, and then you would know how important they really are to society and the individuals that live in the city and around the world. so i thank you for this time.

have a good day. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> [inaudible] as state representative, i would like to say that cutting all these programs and stuff like that because what is going on is not helping. your and all over the place. drugs all over the place. i'm not comprehending this. you know what i'm saying? it is a big problem. so we need to get the funding right. that is all i want to say. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you.