>> you can see that it is amazing. you can hear that it is refreshing. you reach for it because it is irresistible. and the taste. simply delicious. san francisco tap water. it engages the senses. 311 is an important resource for all san franciscans. shouldld >> hello. is anybody out there? hello. [cheers and applause]

>> that's right. thank you. i figured there was somebody out there. [laughter] >> my name is red blackwell, i am the executive director of san francisco's redevelopment agency. i am going to move us through the program today. but before i do so, i just have to say how excited i am, how great it is to be here today to celebrate a very important milestone not only in the development of the bayview, the development of alice griffith, but the development of the shipyard and this community as a hole. i think this today, the decision, represents their confidence not only in the city but our development partners in the community to do something that is going to be wonderful here today. you will hear from folks at the federal level, the state level. you will hear from people here locally, from our development partners today.

but what i want to do first is start by introducing the regional director at h.u.d., who is going to talk about why we are here today. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. i want to thank you all for joining us today. it's a great honor to be here with the city of san francisco, the housing authority and all the partners who came together to plan the transformation and revitalization of the alice griffith neighborhood. in particular, i want to acknowledge the champions for this community who made this possible. may lee, supervisor cohen, director blackwell, director alvarez, and the resident of alice griffith. [applause]

i also want to extend a special word of thanks to the mayor. mayor lee, i know that you appreciate the significance of the department of house and urban development's new choice neighborhoods program. this transformation will come about because you and the city's partners began focusing on the assets in this community instead of talking only about the deficits that others saw. it is because of this vision of this neighborhood's possibilities that i am please to announce that san francisco has been selected to receive $30.5 million choice neighborhood funding. [cheers and applause] for the eastern bayview neighborhood and revitalization. sfrabs has every reason to be proud as this competition was fierce. there were 42 applicants for

this program. san francisco will join just four other cities, boston, chicago, new orleans and seattle, in this exciting new federally funded initiative. while a new program, it actually built on the successes and lessons that we learned from the h.u.d. hope six program. in san francisco, hope six funded five community projects with over $115 million of federal investment in the city. that is a very impressive record, and we intend to build on that. chase neighborhoods is all about moving beyond bricks and mortar and the pro additional property line to help the residents themselves build a more sustainable community. h.u.d.'s program design focused on directing resources to address three goals. housing, people and neighborhoods. there is an important moment for this eastern bayview community. we all know the challenges this neighborhood has faced and the

surrounding area also, for decades, disinvestment, troubled schools, troubled house, and little economic opportunity. as difficult as these challenges may be in this neighborhood, they are hardly unique. today more than 10 million people live in neighborhoods just like this one. as i heard san francisco's deputy superintendent of schools say during the h.u.d.'s assessment visit, one of the most important factors in determining whether or not children will do better financially than their parents is whether or not they grow up in a high poverty zip code. the fact that we can predict health, economic and education outcomes of children based on their zip company is a -- zip code is a tragic. i am here because the obama administration believes this tragedy should never play out again in communities like this neighborhood. this is why the white house has been pursuing this, to

revitalize neighborhoods and support local leaders like those here today who are here to transform distressed communities into sustainable mixed income communities with affordable housing, safe streets and good schools that every family needs and deserves. [applause] of course successful stable housing is an important step toward building a healthy neighborhood, but it is only the first step. our choice neighborhood competition required winners to provide neighborhood children with high quality educational opportunities and challenge them to use a portion of their award for early childhood education and after-school tutoring. by partnering with c.p. development, urban strategies, the redevelopment agency and the school district, san francisco will use its grant to build on local efforts to turn around poor performing schools

and create cradle-to-career he occasional opportunities. some of the programs include transportation improvements, investment in existing and new housing, retail attraction, and support for greening projects such as the recreational improvement program for the shoreline. when considered as a whole, we are talking about how we knit something together to help people move from the margins of society and addresses the barriers in the way of their success and self sufficiency. as president obama has said, if poverty is a disease that infects an entire community in the form of unemployment, violence, and broken homes, we can't treat them in isolation. we have to heal the entire community. so to all of you, thank you for the successful application, i extend h.u.d.'s congratulations. you came together because you know you have the power to make things better in this

neighborhood than they currently are. you have proveen that in our projects. person by person, community by community, you have always been on the side of helping communities overcome barriers and achieve success. more than anything else, this is the foundation of the choice neighborhoods partnership, the basis for how we will move forward to continue creating change and benefiting our communities. congratulations and thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now well hear from mayor -- we will hear from mayor lee. [applause] >> good morning. >> good morning! >> isn't this a beautiful day? >> yes. >> all right. you know, i have been trying to think about what kind of words could express the deep-felt

appreciation that i'm feeling today on behalf of all of you. i know there's a lot of people to thank, but let me spend a moment just to express my personal feelings. it has been a long, complicated road to get to where we are, and years of people making promises, promises year after year, decade after decade, to try to get here. and so i think my theme today that i want to talk to you about is there is a delivery of hope that is reflected in this decision that h.u.d. as made with us. i felt that hope with all of you when we were here right in this opportunity center earlier this year. we brought everybody together, and the minute i felt it was when the team from h.u.d. in their inspection said to us, "it's one thing to have a great

application on paper, but we are going to do something different. we are going to get out of this building, and we are going to walk this whole place. we are going to talk to the people who live here." i sensed that when they said that, they were going to say to us the real decision is if they feel the people here feel the same hope that is registered on the piece of paper. and if they talk to people, people who have lived here for decades, who have seen the bullets fly, who know the community's setting here, felt the isolation for many years, felt the need to talk to their representatives, to hear that for years. leah has heard that as she has grown up here. and they have said to city hall, bureaucrats like myself, get your rear ends out to the community so that the feeling

is not just on a piece of paper. they went to the residents of alice griffin to see whether or not that hope is going to really be there. and yes, they felt people do care about it. there is a care reflected in the planning that we have. because people like fred blackwell, people like naomi kelly, sophie, all of them working with people right here with the housing authority, with the henry alvarezes, with carlos, working together with our community partners and said years ago that we don't want to just talk about hope. we want to deliver hope to this place with you so that we have a program that is committed to not only on paper, signed with our signature to represent a contract, an agreement with all of you here, that when we we build alice griffin, it is not

a physical rebuilding. it is a community rebuilding with everybody, so that people who live here know there is no displacement going on. they are going to actually help with our city-build program, our partnership, our labor unions, build the housing for themselves on-site with that help. that is the major difference. i think that got through to h.u.d. it got through to ophelia's seem and other teams. i think it is registering with president obama, because he put out that notion we've got to do things better. we have to get right into our communities. that is the hope that he has been representing. that is the hope we want to deliver in this whole organized collaborative approach. so it is natural for us that we should thank people who got us here. senator feinstein, leader pelosi, they have been here for years helping us get the money, the hunter's point plan, the

ship yards. gavin newsom had that vision. he sat down with me and with dwayne jones, and fred blackwell and the people in our office for many years and henry, to say you know when the federal government was giving up on hope six, we had san francisco hope. we had hope s.f. we are going to self-create that program, because it was a good program. it was one that invested in people. and we rebuilt it with the commit from the city of over $90 million on paper with the board of supervisors. each of them agreeing with us. we are not giving up. this is the first of many projects of our public housing. the worst housing in our city we are going to rebuild in the same way with the requisite degree of hope, with the community, with residents, with jobs for everybody to rebuild. that is it number one.

jobs, right? >> yes. >> i hear it. and we are going to rebuild it in a way that is never isolated, that is connected up with different incomes. store fronts, villages, jobs, developments. that is how we do it. in the rest of the city. that is how we should do it here, in bayview, hunter's point and alice griffin. that is what i got taught with my good friend. he came here and taught double rock. [laughter] >> we cleaned up out here, and we know people refer to this place. there is pride where people live. no matter what the condition is, there is pride. all we want is for people to feel the hope, to rebuild, to restructure, to gain new

relationships. that is how we get out of poverty. that is how we transform or kids' hope in this city. create new relationships, the new relationships that our housing authority is there for, and the redevelopment committee. i want to thing the commissioners and others for your commitment. a new revised committee working with everybody. [applause] ted hunt, angelo king, thank you very much for your project and committee leadership in being here. roberta, thank you for not only being here. your guidance constantly, you have never given up. you have been automobile over the place, but you are here giving us the guy ands and the policy level we will not

forget. thank you very much. michael cohen, you have been helping for so many years. [applause] you're still here, too, and we are here to announce this with you. you have spent incredible hours working with our team at hunter's point to make this thing happy and successful. we thank you for your incredible contributions. [applause] >> our housing authority. we have had many conversations, and we continue to have those conversations with hope. you keep reminding me, don't just keep talking about hope. deliver it. my privilege. we join you, and commissioners here today delivering on that hope. it is not just about promising. we have to deliver. we have to deliver. and we are creating new partnerships along the way. did you know about this capital campaign that we are doing? it is not just on h.u.d.

h.u.d.'s contribution is just $30.5 million, but that is just the beginning. there is a group of people working behind the scenes that gavin newsom asked to come together. that is the hope s.f. capital campaign group headed by james, the vice president of programs for the s.f. foundation. pam. thank you for being here. she is there. rich gross, from the enterprise community, he is here. dr. hernandez, thank you for your many contributions. you are here along with david freedman, board chair. they are raising another $25 million to contribute to the five other sites we are trying to rebuild. private dollars from people and companies who join in the delivery of hope for this city. they know that the companies who are willing to contribute

their investment and their dollars to a city and to a community can only and will only do that if the residents here have that same degree of hope. so they feel the hope, and they are going to help deliver that $25 million. to our community partners. gosh, you know the story of collaboration has to do a lot with our community partners because they deliver every day on projects. our friends in labor, our friends in the center for youth wellness, nadine burke. green streets, and city build, along with rhonda and her executive directorship. lena miller from hunter's point. bayview, ymca, and the

multi-purpose center center. these are people who have been part of this great administration along with the house authorities and the redevelopment agencies. but i think the most thanks again comes back to the residents here, the residents of alice griffin. the people who have helped put this opportunity center together saying how do we bring hope? how do we put a muriel on there that expresses these kid's hopes to have a better future? how do we do that? we begin by now, you know you have a mayor that will be spending all day and all night, as long as i can come to deliver on this promise because that is what we do here in san francisco. that is how we build partnerships, how we get our elected officials to be on the

same page with all of us working together, but it begins with residents here, sharing in that, believing in it. that is why those interviews resulted in $38.5 million. i go along with carlos and hydra through our school districts with our kids, telling them to complete their college education because they get to join the million dollar club because that is the difference between a college diploma and a high-school diploma. we're getting a lot of kids who believe that here today, i want to invite them to join the $30.5 million club. [laughter] [applause] on behalf of the city, thank you. again, thank you, residents, for being so much a believer that we will deliver on all of our promises. thank you very much. was it -- [applause] >> thank you. next, i would like to bring up

the president of the board of supervisors, david chiu. [applause] supervisor chiu: anybody think today is a beautiful day? anybody think the sun is shining on bayview today? anybody think $30 million is shining on alice griffith today? [applause] i want to thank all of you for coming. the mayor has given all the specific banks, and i, of course, want to add my words. we are here to celebrate, to appreciate, and to anticipate. we are celebrating the successes and, of course, hud, thank you for your generosity. we are here to appreciate the thousands of folks that came together to rebuild our village. we represent san francisco. we are white. we are black. we are browned. we are yellow. we are pink. we are green. we're coming together to make sure that the future of san

francisco here in the southeast neighborhoods is taken care of. we are also here to anticipate where we are going. i wanted to come down this morning because i was thinking about that tough vote from a year ago, and i want to thank sophy maxwell for helping convince me to cast that vote. thank you. [applause] i remember the hundreds of conversations i had with many of you here. but i have to tell you -- the one conversation i remember most was the one that i had with the tenants of alice griffith, and i want to thank all of you who are here. could you please raise your hands? could we give it up for the tenants of alice griffith? [applause] you are why we are here. you have been the present, and you are the future of our city. we view, we're going to keep this going. thank you for being here. let's get it going.

-- with you, we're going to keep this going. >> next, district 10 supervisor, malia cohen. [applause] supervisor cohen: thank you and goodbye. [applause] -- [laughter] i am kidding. i hate speaking after the mayor. he steals everything. everything you could possibly think. i guess that just forces folks like myself and david chiu to keep our remarks very brief. i have just really come to express my gratefulness and how really moved i was. [applause] it is a blessing. how really moved i was when i got the text message that we had

received the award. i put it on facebook. somebody is watching my page because i got a message 20 minutes later to pull it off, that it was not public information yet. [laughter] but that is how excited i was. because we need to continue to share the words. you heard in a lot of the remarks one central theme -- you heard thankfulness. it is those things that continue to drive me every single day. i am very thankful and grateful to serve. it is true gratefulness and thankful less that have brought us here today. many people may remember when the seeds were planted over there in the garden. it is parallel to where we are today. the seeds we planted several years ago when i was not even on the team. the mayor was not the mayor. david, you may not have even been the president.

the seeds of hope were planted, and now, they are starting to bear fruit. some of the comments you heard today about here we are, we made it. $30 million -- that is great, but you're so eager to say that the only means it is time for us to roll up the sleeves because now comes the real work to make sure that we are thoughtful and diligent in how we allocate and spend the money, where the resources are, and i also want to work knowledge that we are standing here not only on the heels of this wonderful garden, but we are also standing on the forefront of a fantastic child care center, and that is exactly why we're here they come to talk about hope. we're here to rebuild the community and inspire people, the young children.

that is a beautiful thing about me. one of the younger members on the board. humbled enough to take some coaching. but also young and limber enough to do the work that needs to be down. that is what i am here to talk about and convey, that now is the time that we begin to do our work. i want to thank also the clergy, each and every one of the clergy members that are here. labour could not do without your tireless commitment here and also wanted to give a specific shout out to the commissioners here not just from redevelopment, but also from the housing authority. it is through those bodies that were also influential in helping to bring us here today. so thank you very much, commissioners, both past and present. i want to acknowledge you, and i also want to acknowledge president shaw, who is over

there. [applause] this has been a project -- no doubt, the city people -- we get paid to do this, so we are kind of just doing our job, and it feels good to stand up here and receive things -- thanks, but i also need everyone to understand that it is the residents here on the front lines. they are the ones that call. they are the ones that remind me. they are also the ones that hold us accountable and keep us -- keep these important projects in perspective. the purpose of why we are here, why we serve, why we get up and do what we do every single day. i am forever grateful. do not stop. continue to stay committed pirie trust me -- i know public service can be tiring and hire some and sometimes thankless, but it is days like today where we begin to really begin to acknowledge the fruit from the

seeds that we have sown, and it is up to us to continue to build positive and healthy food for not just our soul but for our community, and i also would like to read knowledge that the funding will revitalize not only the physical structures in the area but will invest in the health and education and advancement of our community as a whole. this funding also includes fantastic youth programs. i think we all have heard the cliche, "the children are our future." lets put those words into action -- let's put those words into action. care providers are seeking to provide health and physical well-being.

[applause] that is exactly why -- the purpose of today, and, of course, the local agencies. our partners in a public safety, thank you very much for coming and being with us today. that is about it for me, folks. time for us to get to work and continue to move this program along. sorry, i am about to close out the program. that is what happens when you are the supervisor. i am ready to keep this train moving. but i want to assure our folks that we definitelar