also to see the arts. >> for more information, visit >> for more information, visit sfartscommisis i was just driving around minding my own business... when it came out of nowhere. suddenly, there were lights all around me. i'm like, "they're coming for me!"

yeah, it was crazy. i just never thought they'd find me. not out here. it doesn't matter where you drive. if you don't buckle up, you will get caught. cops are cracking down all across the country. click it or ticket. >> i need your executive director of cnbc. -- i am the executive director of cnbc. i want to welcome you to this truly joyous occasion, commemorating the completion of the rehab of civic center residents. we bought this building 38 years ago, and it has been through a couple of partial rehabs before now, but before now, this had leaky plumbing, inadequate electrical. it was just one, slow elevator,

and a dingy community kitchen. you can see what a beautiful space it is now. we raised $30,000,000.20% of that came from the mayor's office of housing. -- $30 million and 20% of that came from the mayor's office of housing. the department of public health is providing subsidies for the 100-plus homeless households' living here. housing and community development, enterprise. hundreds of staff people coming together to bring this beautiful project to fruition. in that sense, this is our model for preserving affordable housing in san francisco and throughout the country. for another 30 years, this will

provide an affordable home for generations of low income people. with that, i would like to introduce our mayor, ed lee. [applause] >> thank you. don, it is my personal pleasure to be here, in a community that i care very much about, and that we know has a history of struggling to exist. now we see something that reflects a lot of my values, the history that i have had with this city, having been an attorney who represented tenants who live in a lot of run-down places, to now be able to walk into these well-managed places, sro's, half of which are focused on our homeless or formally- homeless persons. i also want to recognize the

incredible efforts by some in the different people who have come together to make this happen. i know a lot of these people personally. so many of the entities in between. when deraa was describing the entities they came together to forge a $31 million it took, he named seven different agencies that had to combine themselves in different ways, including redevelopment, housing, state, and all of these entities have to work together. i am so glad that we have a mayor's office of housing that can help with a reputable community-based agency to forge

this kind of relationship. because, when you are working in a building where you also promiseall of the construction g on, and when our goal is to make this building seismically safe, and when every unit gets a working bathroom, accessible showers on every floor come and that people can live here while that is happening, that is an incredible, complex thing to do in the heart of our city in the tenderloin. tried to do that in another community, -- try to do that in another community. it is hard. you need a tight-knit community. i was walking around here this morning. it is all smiles.

though they know that they have got a great place to be, for a long time. the significance of this rehabilitation has other aspects of our wealth and human for the city. its seismic upgrades. extremelif you know me, one of my passions is to be sure we are ready for the next earthquake. for folks who could not move elsewhere, to feel safe in the building they were a part of, helped to contribute to making seismically safe, and our earnings and ability to have earthquake insurance cover them, we have a fantastic story to tell here. in addition, it has added 105 units to the whole 10-year end homeless program that we

committed to. this helps to achieve 1800 units of those 3000 that we committed to building. i am sure the people that helped us write the program would be proud. these units are not just high places for people. it is also a service. services from our department of public health and from the human services agency. a collaboration that this building represents. we have a lot to celebrate because not only is it a complex thing to do, in a needy community, but it accomplishes so many other goals that the city has articulated that are really important.

i look forward to many more with the tndc. there is a lot more to do. i walk in and marvel all of the amenities that we have, and units are so precious in this community. i can only thing, how many hundreds of others wanted to be in this situation? and they would want to have a mayor, board of supervisors, city and state agencies all working together in a less political setting, more in a community, social goals setting, where we can collaborate and put our money together and work with wonderful banks, like wells fargo, and others who are contributing to the financing of this building. it is not politics that rules the day. it is people that have great objectives that put down the barriers they can. the biggest barrier is the barrier of poverty.

to put that away and to just people can live in decent housing all their lives, and the city can benefit to that goal. i want to thank everyone here who worked together on this. those that had to move tenants around in the building, keeping everyone safe. and while the construction was going on, there was a fire in the tenderloin a few months ago, and the president needed to have an emergency place. you are standing in the very place that tndc opened up for those victims for a couple of weeks. that shows the tremendous heart and bellevuevalue that tndc hasr this city. i am so fortunate that i can be here to share this with you, and

to make sure that i acknowledge all the people that put this together, all the people that will run this place. we need more of these examples in the city. so with that, congratulations. congratulations to everyone here for putting together a fantastic project. [applause] >> thank you, mayor lee. please welcome to the podium, richard gross from enterprise community partners. >> thank you. i was told by three different people leading up to this that i should speak for two minutes, and two minutes only. but as you can see from the program, i have a couple of people down because some other people are not here, so now i can speak for 45 minutes. i was trying to figure out what

to say yesterday. i have been doing a number of these and i do not want to repeat myself at these things. there are some standards things i could say. we have over $100 million invested in the tndc projects, over 200 million in the tenderloin, south of market. we are proud to be invested early on and these projects, committing to the work that tndc and other nonprofits are doing. i always say that these groups are the real heroes. they are the ones that sweat blood. they are the ones that deserve the real credit. more than any of us standing up here today. i was reading the newspaper this morning, and there was an article in the paper. i said, that is my chance for a

soapbox. so i will speak for two minutes, starting now. it was an article about church street -- turk street. there is a tndc project there on the corner. i want to make sure i get this right. the author who wrote this column misses the point, as he often does. it misses the point in a number of ways. 178 affordable units, services on site. probably the bright spot on that block. if tndc had more money, the entire bloc would be in good shape. this is a fantastic project. it is also adjacent to two other large projects.

there is the ambassador. so the author of that article misses that and talks about the liquor store on the corner and more police presence. granted, those are problems, but getting rid of a liquor store and having more police does not solve a problem of poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of housing. it does not solve the problem for the need of human services for low-income people. that is the point that needs to come across. the city of san francisco is more committed to affordable housing than probably any other country. we have redevelopment agency that, despite all of the difficulties of redevelopment agencies, this one put more effort and money towards great

projects. this city has done a lot for affordable housing and human services. nonprofit developers in the city that are better than almost any other group in the country. we have innovation, skills, a commitment to the city. the real problem that is missing, what is mornini want ts morning, it is time for the government to step up and match the resources for the economic crisis we are in. we should be blossoming more projects like this. so that is my soapbox. thank you for the opportunity for enterprise to be involved. [applause] >> please welcome supervisor jane kim. [applause] >> good morning.

it is really an honor to serve as a district supervisor for the tenderloin neighborhood. one of the things that is the greatest honor is being able to post some of the best non-profit service providers and affordable housing agencies in the city. it is something that i am proud of. the mayor's office, board of supervisors, works hard to squeeze everything out of every dollar we can, to make sure that organizations like tndc can do everything they can to create more opportunity for the residents of san francisco. it is really the work of these organizations that make a real difference for the people of san francisco. really excited about the rehab work that is happening here. the answer is not just housing that people can afford, but quality housing that people can afford. the tenderloin has long been a haven for our most low-income

and poorest residents. something that we have seen in the recent census data is that the tenderloin continues to grow in population, density, and is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, hosting tons of languages and ethnicities. i am looking forward to working with tndc as they continue to be a pipeline for affordable housing. we have a 10-year plan to build housing units for the chronically homeless. it is great to know that we are halfway there. we still have more to go, but it is with partners such as these -- and as rich mentioned, some more sophisticated and smart developers we have. it is great on days like this. thank you to the hard-working staff, here at tndc. we look forward to working with

you. [applause] >> please welcome mark trotz from the department of public health. >> hello, everybody. it is free to be an event like this. tndc has been such a great partner to the health department. there are a lot of things that i love about them, but what i truly value from them is, a lot of people are concerned with the tenderloin, talk about improved safety, quality of life, improved health for the residents, but tndc is there on a day-to-day basis, and for a long time. i cannot think of another organization whose work on the ground is actually changing the character of the tenderloin.

look at the ambassador. it took a hike -- an iconic hotel that was here at the beginning of aids crisis and have turned it into how many units? 105 units of gorgeous housing. this building has been here for a long time and got its second or third rebirth, and looks beautiful. this project, in particular, has meaning to the health department. essentially, 80 of the 200 units are part of our direct access to housing program. tndc, early on, helped us with 60 chronically ill seniors. another thing about tndc,

whether we have bombs in the road, disagreements along the way, they are one of those organizations, when you work with them, they will sit down with you and problem-solving and come to a solution at the drop of a hat. we really value that, and that is the way the collaborative should be. i am certain tndc will be alive and kicking for some time. they are a solid organization. one final thing, i am really excited about our future collaboration. the ymca down the block will be 174 new studio units, 100% linked with the health department. we will be referring homeless clients with health issues into that project. we will decoupling it with an 11,000-square-foot health center on the ground floor. so for me, this is an extremely

innovative project. tndc is a great partner on it. so with that, congratulations to tndc, and good luck on all of our future collaborations. thank you. [applause] >> please welcome margaret strand. [applause] >> thank you. wells fargo is very pleased to be here. wells fargo has a commitment to invest in the communities in which it has a presence. this is our headquarters city. wells fargo takes significant deposits in san francisco, and therefore, wishes to give back to the city. unlike rich, i always have to say that in my talks, but that is an important part of how we do our business. we are a financial institution.

we could not invest in the city unless we had partners like tndc to work with. like everyone else, we are pleased there is a community organization that knows but they are doing. we feel comfortable with them. they are on solid ground financially, but they also know how to develop these particular types of rehabs which are actually very difficult to do. they have a very strong population that they manage and they do so with a great skill set. we are pleased to work with them. as mayor lee mentioned, these projects are of tremendous partnerships with many partners. this project would have never occurred, unless it was in san francisco and had the support of the mayor's office of housing, redevelopment agency. i was reminded how many times they have reached into their

pockets to support this particular building. this has had many infusion of dollars through the years. i agree with don. they probably will not need any more for 30 years because we really gave it to them this time. it is all a partnership that we have to trust each other in order to do these transactions well. finally, we were pleased to be involved in this. i just want to congratulate the tenants living here. what a wonderful opportunity to have this great housing. thanks [applause] you very much. -- thank you very much. [applause] >> please join me in welcoming the wonderful elijah glassberg,

tenderloin tenant and tndc board member. >> hello, my name is eli. i have been a resident here at tndc since march 20. that was a wonderful day for me. being homeless, i came here, and i was able to work with other seniors -- ok, i talk too much. anyways, i am pleased to be here, being in which to meet with these folks. i am glad to see that don has

helped to enable seniors to get together. this is a community on which we all hinge. i am glad to see that they remodeled the place. i do not know -- i am pleased. i am happy to see these board members, and then working with the people here. especially for the seniors. since i have been here, i have been with seniors organizing seniors, an organization we put together to help as many homeless people as pecan -- we can. helping to teach skills and what not with the senior action network. i enjoy being a part of this group.

i want to thank everyone here that participated in helping to remodel the place. it is wonderful to be here now. i have a roof over my head that is solid. thank you very much. [applause] thank you, don. [applause] >> now please join me in welcoming the project manager of civic center residents, serena sheller. [applause] >> wow. so i am not really the public speaker. i take a lot of notes so that i can stay on script. i am quite verbose and i can just get off script. i will be what keeps you from

lunch. good afternoon. as the final tndc manager to work on this, i have the honor of concluding today celebratory events. this project has had a very long shelf life, from initial meetings in 2004, to construction completion in late 2010. as a result, this project has touched many people's lives in multiple ways. it is with great pride and appreciation that i today work for an organization -- i'm not going to get emotional, i promise. it is with regret pride and accretion that i work for an organization with a mission to provide safe and affordable housing. when i was 5 years old, my family was surviving on welfare, and we lived one step away from homelessness. my mother eventually found safe

and affordable housing. it was this intrinsic step that stabilized my family and allow for our dreams and aspirations to take root. nearly three decades later, i now have the opportunity to be here to show my gratitude towards an organization, like tndc, and to those who contributed building cr. while the thank you list is quite long, it is easy for me to identify the list of people who deserve the biggest thing to today. the residence and the on site staff who lived through all of our efforts, and patty boyle. residents and on-site staff experienced among the following inconveniences', and i'm only naming a few. early morning jack cameron, fire alarm testing, roof fumes,

planned blackouts, and of course, sharing an old, rickety elevator with subcontractors. who knew that it would take 50 minutes to ride an elevator just eight floors, but we all did. in all seriousness, i want to thank the ccr residence and the on-site staff for allowing us to piece by piece transform this building into what it is today. later on today you see pictures of the tndc residence, and representational snapshot of those who were here during the rehab. an artist has installed a permanent piece of work to moralize is building in history. now i want to thank the people who were a part of this journey. thank you to attend -- tim. dorian.

scott alan. mandy grossy. emily lynn, my supervisor. and the director of housing developments at cnbc. i have now added 5 new tool to my project manager tool kit. number one, always be patient. number two, never panic. the problem is really not that bad. number three, always trust your team to find the answers. number four, try to find humor and irony in every situation. no. 5 -- which is pertinent to today -- take time to celebrate the miles talents and recognize the achievements of others. i would also like to take a moment to highlight our founder's spirit without their financial contribution and support, ccr would not have had