>> i will be the last speaker here. i'm with the chinese progressive association. thank you for listening all day and night to the community. as many of you know, we are part of jobs with justice, progressive workers alliance, also part of the api budget coalition. some of the stores vote for sharing today -- i just want to point out, it is not just the chinese community facing an unemployment and wage that and poor working conditions and have struggling for survival. is a crisis time for working people across the city and across the country. while corporations are making record profits, those have not trickle down to create better jobs. those have not led to support our small businesses. in fact, they are hurting our small businesses, and it is bringing the economy down. as policy-makers, i know you have to make tough decisions about the budget, but we have two suggestions or recommendations. we would like to suggest that

you fund the programs that have been proven effective in helping us either create pathways to good jobs or make bad jobs better. the other suggestion we have is to support progressive revenue measures. two programs of one to bring to your attention, no. 1, a hotel vocational program that we have been conducted for the past six years. we have been helping hundreds of work and be placed into union hotel jobs and be able to leave jobs where they were getting paid below minimum wage and lacking over time or any benefits, at any time a long term stability. the second program that has been affected is the labor agency. they have helped workers recover wages. they have been effective in collaborating with bt groups to make sure workers across the city are getting access to the information about their rights and we are asking for an increase to the funding to this agency to give to their work for enforcement as well as expanding the out reach to more workers

who need this information and support to come forward and fight for their rights. thank you so much. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is levitan and baum. i am the director of health services. i am asking the board to restore 5 under thousand dollars for funding for hiv-positive you that lots due to cuts. as you know, the mayor restore the ryan white part aid funding and we are hoping the board will restore the part b funding for youth and insure uses for positive you remain intact. larkin street serves about 80 youths every year with a conference a set of services designed to keep you healthy, connected to medical care, and to help them to transition into adulthood. we survey the record of class with a high level of need. if replacement funding is not secured, there will be no youth- specific h.i.v.-testing in san francisco.

we anticipate this will mean you would get tested later, know their status later, and put their and their partners held at risk. if this funding is not replaced for hiv-positive youth, we risk losing war greatly reducing our nursing care mental health care, and here at the service. we'd dissipate this will result in more to having difficulty stabilizing their help and less coordination between mental health and primary health care and more emergency services. it is crucial that youth- specific hiv services in the city remain intact. the youth that we serve would not use adult services. the bears seem insurmountable to a young person. we know for you, what works best is services designed for their age and development. we have a very successful model of care in san francisco of working with young people living with hiv. these cuts represent one-third of our budget and would significantly dismantle the model. i really urge you to restore the funding. i have several young people with me who will briefly speak about

why the funding is important to them. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am 29. i would like to thank you and remind you that the fight for hiv is far from over. i think -- basically, we have the money. things need to be streamlined so that these things do not happen again. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is junior. i am here on behalf of the larkin street assistant care. i just want to -- i love this program. they are very supportive, they give us all the medical needs that we need, as far as making healthy choices. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> i have been in the program for about one year now, and i

was actually diagnosed a year ago. i had originally moved to the city as a student. when i was diagnosed, i would disowned by my parents, who live in southern california. i was kind of stranded until i was directed to acac, a part of larkin street youth services. with their assistance, i have been able to apply and qualify for medical, and in back in class, and incur the living in a group home. i have my life together once again. supervisor chu: thank you. >> clearly, the services are vital for the young people we serve in our program. your support would be much appreciated. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> randy shock, director of the

tenderloin clinic. i know you have heard a lot about the la voce latina program. we were transferred after being funded by the city in 2007. in 2010, we were transferred against our will without dissipation or consent to the first five consortium. they put an rfp out for contract this spring that changed the scope of services for something we were not even doing and then give the contract to something else or did someone else. obviously, it was too late. we got word from the rfp the last week of may, so we could not go to the mayor's budget and ask to be included in the budget. all of you know about the problems we face in the tenderloin. i'm down here all the time. supervisor cohen, i know you are aware with the struggles at the bayview hunters point. big steps backwards are heartbreaking. they are heartbreaking because progress is so difficult, so arduous in places like the tenderloin, that when we see the

progress that la voce latina has made to make our neighborhoods safer, to involve youth, and we thing that could be eliminated, that is why you saw all those families here today. it is a frightening thought and it is a depressing thought, and it is psychologically debilitating to think that we keep struggling, pushing the rock up the hill, and it gets rolled back down on us in the tenderloin. i know supervisor kim will fight for us, i know the mayor, who loves this organization -- he got in turkey's last year for thanksgiving -- but we need the 150,000 to restore the program and make it better. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm with the native american aids project. happy pride. it is not a happy pride for the lgbt native american community this year. san francisco has the highest number of native american game and in the country. while native americans represent just under 1% of the hiv

epidemic in san francisco, the prevalence rate among native came men living here are estimated at between 24% and 31%. we know native americans have one of the lowest hov testing rates and the highest aids mortality rates, indicating extremely delayed hiv testing behaviors. this coming january will mark the first time since 1994 that the san francisco department of public health has not funded hiv prevention efforts targeting native american game then. the san francisco hiv prevention plan designates native americans as a priority population citing disproportionately high hiv infection rates. dph has set aside funding to directly target band of american, latino, caucasian, asian, pacific islanders, intravenous drug users, but has permitted -- prevented funding if the americans. if the city moves forward with only organization's for the

contract into 2013 and beyond, the cisco will be disbanded in hiv prevention efforts for the native american community. this would be a tragedy, and the city of san francisco would become like most governmental entities leaving behind in american communities. i urge you not to let that happen. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning, supervisors. i come before you today as a gay man, from my case worker in the field, a person living with hiv, and the concern member of the native american community. as of january 2013, that will mark the first year since 1994 the city and county of san francisco would not be funding and the hiv prevention services for the native american communities. without any funding for culturally prepared services, our community will continue to suffer and demonstrate high rates of std. at a time when we are reducing convictions in the city, we

cannot afford to leave communities to fend for themselves. dph has set aside funding for other populations, including the african-american and latino communities, due to their representation in this epidemic. when taking account of population size, the americans are ranked third highest. we urge you not to repeat history and turn your back on our community. our lives matter. $129,000 would go a long way into funding critical services for our extremely vulnerable communities. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning. my name is david howell. i'm a client for the native americans aids prevention. i am here to tell you, i am a gay man, a long-term survivor. i went to so many agencies before i discovered nap, who did not have the services i needed. i would miss their confidence

with staff and how they handled their clients, native american men with hiv, and they provide so many services. one of the most important ones in my opinion is, i do not know how many of you read the article in the chronicle about how depression affects longevity in overpopulation. it is certainly the same with people who have hiv. this agency provides a home with people -- for people with hiv. it does so much to make people feel they are still part of the community. i'm here to support them. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is gail burns. i work and native american aids project. the figure that intervention, the $129,000, i think we have that five years ago, so we need to add on some money if you're able to come up for the cost of living increase. i am from the muskogee creek

drive. we are proud people. i appreciate what you said in the beginning of that you would stay to run the whole meeting until you heard everything that everyone had to say. the one thing i hate more than anything else is to feel like i am begging. i do not like to beg. i am going to speak for the clients in our community and for the game men -- i started working in 2000. i know that with the department of public health, they have to look at hard core data, surveillance, and evaluation. from 1994 up to 2012, we have lost 45 native american gay men. i have kept a log from 2000 up to today, every day, everyone that crossed over. the one thing that really stuck out in my mind was that we have multiple numbers of families in san francisco with two or more people living with aids in their

family. that is really sad. i think it would be very devastating to the native community for the next year when this funding ends in december if we are not able to have prevention dollars in order to serve the community. the way i look at it, i know with a national strategy, it is about getting people tested and for them to know their status, but most people besides the native american community do not come in for services looking for an hiv test or looking for prevention. our community members come in for other things that they need. that is the way to get them in and find out what is going on. hopefully, -- i know we have been fortunate to have one-on- one meetings with the board of supervisors, and we really think you for that. take a hard look at this. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> hello, i am enrolled member

of the omaha tribe of the president -- nebraska. when i first came to work for naps, i did not know what goes up against. i am one of those people that set by the beds with the men that are passing away from aids. i made a promise to myself three years ago that i do not ever want to see that again. our fight against hiv is not done. we need culturally specific services in order to help them cross over in a good way. we just need your help. i implore you to support us. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> hello, my name is michelle. i am a native san franciscan of my family is from arizona. i am here to ask you to please not cut any hiv testing. our community needs it.

like the statistics say, we are the third highest rate of hiv infections. it is very important for our community. many of our community members will not go anywhere else to get tested, and that is a scary thought. i am asking for your support to please do not cut the hiv testing for our community. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning, my name is -- i member of the apache nation. i am coming to you -- it was surprising to me when i heard you had excluded americans in this city from the hiv prevention funding. i'm also a volunteer at the native american health center. i hope i provide a safe and welcoming quietly competent environment for my native american community. one of the issues, as they spoke before us, in our community, we are a proud people, but also we

will not go to out reached for services if we do not feel welcome or at least culturally welcome or safe in those spaces. when you cut base funding, it just leads me to wonder where my community members will go to receive this help, or if they will receive any help at all. thank you. this community is also very aware of the word epidemic. i want you to be conscious of that. when you are thinking about the prioritizing what is important for this community that you think about my people and our community. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is rodney. i am the person that has lived for 33 years with the virus. i'm here on the one hand to congratulate the board of supervisors for the working have done in the past in keeping the prevention funding alive and going for native americans. i am here to bring that message

to you. has worked. the money that is allocated for prevention, education, and to inform serving the area of keeping people safe alive and well from the virus, from contracting the virus, as well, they get the information not to we infect themselves. it is a broad based front through which san francisco has placed itself. i have lived here for 40 years. i contracted the virus here. i survived here. i'm still alive. i have lived through the impact of the virus and have lost literally everyone. everyone died. through no fault of the board, of course. in those days, we were still struggling to get information to help the community. i am a member of the american indian community, lgbt community, and of the city college community. i'm a long living member and i'm here to congratulate you, to encourage you to continue to fund. that is what san francisco is all about. that is the duty of san francisco politics. we do take care of the

residence and week to reach out to be disenfranchised groups to make sure that they have the information they need to stay safe, alive, and be well. thank you very much. supervisor chu: thank you. are there any other speakers from your group? >> my name is mary jane robertson. i am a co-director of the elite profiles project. the bologna are the original people of san francisco. i just want to say that i am enrolled member of the cherokee nation and my father always told me that i had to support the people whose land i live on. that is why i helped to start the profiles project. we are trying to develop a cultural center here in san francisco. there was a human rights report that was given to the board of supervisors called "discrimination by omission." once again, it feels like the

native americans are being discriminated against by omission. i just wanted to support my brothers and sisters in the native american aid project, and my brothers and sisters looking to have a place where they can have a safe place to be, to gather, to commune with one another, to have meals with one another. we are trying to plan for a native american cultural center. we need your help. the san francisco arts commission is the only people that have really seriously supported native american culture activities in the city. i want to thank you for their support as well. and for supporting them to continue to do that. i also wanted to say, we are having ongoing plans to meet with you all to have several ceremonial information and several places to me in the war

memorial for the veterans at yosemite slew, to honor the toxicity of the people who are coming, to do a healing ceremony for the toxicity of the area. i just want to say thank you for what you have done. hopefully, you will continue to fund the americans. supervisor chu: thank you. any other folks from this group? >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a member of the sioux tribe from south dakota. i have been in san francisco for 25 years. this morning, my partner of 25 years had a meeting to renew his -- to see if he qualified to receive his aids medication assistance program. i just wanted to let you know that i am hiv negative, and there is a reason. that is because of the phenomenal efforts by the native

americans aids project and its education and testing programs. thank you very much. supervisor chu: thank you very much for your testimony. any other speakers from this group? >> good morning, my name is daring english. i am the board president for the native americans with aids project. san francisco had been on the forefront as the battle of hiv, gay rights, and it enjoyed the reputation of being the most liberal and progressive city in the world. however, san francisco dph is the funding funding for gay native americans and sends a clear message @ san francisco does not deem the help of gay american indians to be a priority. these funding test -- cuts will be devastating to the project, to our clients. devastating to the community here in san francisco, as well as worldwide. will have a direct impact on our native communities, reservations, families, from

north and south america. these budget cuts will also tarnish the image of our city. how will the city be remembered in the 500-year history of institutional systematic genocide against native americans? will san francisco be remembered alongside the distribution of small pox blankets, or will it continue to be a chicken for human rights and health? the help of our people, the reputation of our city rests in your hands. supervisor chu: thank you. any other members from this group? thank you very much for coming to speak. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am with a multi program and house program providing more telling what you programs, senior programs, employment development, and community engagement in several neighborhoods. last year we served over 2007 siskins in our programs in

affordable housing sites to 35% of whom are disabled. 45% are unemployed. 34% are immigrant. the majority of our program participants are from various sectors of the low income spectrum. i am attributing a lot of the success of our programs to our linguistically and culturally skilled staff were able to provide every year over 1300 hours of translation and interpretation work in cantonese, mandarin, spanish, and other languages, and that is why we support the language access campaign, to ensure the language access ordinance is complied by agencies to the fullest extent. i have a few more numbers. for each of our sites, we have received over 250 applications from you who are 13to 15 years old interested in getting employment skills. we have 50 slots.

250 applications, 50 slots. at the excelsior site, we have served 800 seniors, and we are funded to serve 400. as an employer, i'm concerned about the sustainability of our staff, who are very hard, the backbone of our organization. they go above and beyond what they need to do because of their commitment to the community. definitely, an increase of 2% additionally for the cost of doing business will help a little bit. besides that, revenue measures such as the small business release and economic recovery initiatives, that supervisor avalos, king, a lawyer, and campus have put forth, are the kinds of things that are good solutions to begin creating a sense of stability for our organizations and city. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here to speak about district 11 and the youth and workforce development issues. my name is that rubenstein, 92nd

director of the out of sight youth arts center. we are based at the fulcrum of the excelsior neighborhood in district 11 and we work with teenage youth from the south part of town. we are also a part of the omi community collaborative, excelsior planning group, and we have partnerships with internal fights and so on. site in our name refers to the work that comes out of our place, our neighborhood. our programs respond to the challenges and assets of our neighborhood. as you know, district 11 has the lowest per-capita income per city and the highest population of youth, and very high unemployment rates. our youth are from low income and working-class families and they have little access to productive and save after-school activities. because of generations of cuts to the school district, they also have little access to arts education. all the research shows that both of these are predictors of success in college and beyond.

our work is driven by a two fold notion, one that all of you, the matter their economic status, should have access to caring adults and people who help them understand what is important to them and how to articulate it. we also really believe the community need to take another look at teenagers. a lot of our work is try to china's the way the larger community views teenagers. teen-agers can be an agent of change. i spoke about the assets. one of the greatest assets in our neighborhood is the collaboration that is happening among organizations, particularly, the omi community collaborative have been using action grants procured by supervisor at avalos and the mayor's office of housing to do its own workforce development in the city. we have not had any workforce development dollars and we are asking that the city gets $300,000. without that, we have already been able to set up programs. thank you for supporting the district. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please.

>> good afternoon. my name is gina young. i am the principal of you a chance high-school. we are in district 6. it is located inside of the embarcadero ymca. we circuits from all over the city and district. i will not take up your time. i will let you speak to one of our students. she can tell you about her experience at the high school and some other students experiences. thank you. >> my name is monique. i am 16 years old. i am speaking on behalf of the high school at the embarcadero ymca. i want to thank supervisor scott wiener and john papillose for their donations to support the high school. we serve kids and all sentences for districts. we serve kids that have not very well in mainstream high school. the monthly cost to educate a

student is $2,500. the state of california monthly cost is $7,571. the annual cost to educate an inmate in our state is $15,780. i would like to share our story. she is 17. before she came to the high school, she was a truant and did not care about school. she came and turned her life around and became the salutatorian of this year's graduating class. next is jonathan. jonathan, while being at the high school, got off do not probation, and graduated this year. we're asking the city for financial support. two of years ago, we were receiving dcyf funding. that funding was cut. we were able to stay open to the ymca annual fund-raising

campaign but we need your help. the students need your help. finally, i would like to leave you -- supervisor chu: thank you. is there somebody else that can finish reading that? >> finally, i would like to leave you with marvin's story. a high-school saved his life from the streets. he graduated and is currently working at dpw. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> [speaking spanish]