perspective i think would be a good -- another voice in that dialogue. so, i'd be interested in talking to you about how to work that out because it has been a very challenging dynamic. yeah. >> sure. and i dare to say that actually there is a lot of coexistence of some sort of mental health condition and chronic exposure to poverty. just by the basic trauma thing, trauma exposure. >> yes. >> we can talk off line. thank you. >> all right, i have a couple of public comment cards. first, ken hornby. in addition to the hopa situation, we also have people who are aging with hiv and aids who are in rent controlled apartments and they are on

currently ssdi. and when they become of age to collect social security, they are going to be getting a smaller income and subject to eviction and, so, there will be a big wave of people being evicted if there isn't money set aside for that issue. >> and mr. dennis, did you have a comment on this agenda item? is this hopa? >> no, this is about the -- the agenda item is the five-year plan from the mayor's office of housing. hello, my name is keith dennis. i'm a long-time resident of san francisco. i say, god bless you, commissioner, and god bless the city and county of san

francisco. now, i've talked about this since last year. i was a patient at laguna honda hospital. i was lucky enough to move out into the community of the fillmore, he okay. and the rest of the patients moved to the new hospital. and, so, that left the old hospital dormant. nobody is in there, okay. but now the nurses and whatever, they're starting to use them for offices. some offices are warranted, some offices aren't. i suggest that the old laguna honda hospital be made into an assisted living facility, okay. you're talking about it right now. you know it's needed, so, i think it's something that should be taken a strong look at. thank you very much. >> thank you.

walter paulson. ♪ it's good to take a housing stand good luck with your five-year plan and i hope the money comes to you renting like sand but i believe in housing yesterday why the rent has to go, i don't know it went so high then i sure would like it to get better would you give it a housing better try yesterday, rent was such an easy game to play now we need a housing rent that will -- item money stay

oh, i believe in renting yesterday [humming] ♪ >> thank you. (applause) hi, i'm larry edmonds and i would like to start off first by saying -- [speaker not understood]. our climb will be steep. we may not get there in one year or even in one term, but america, i have never been more hopeful than i have tonight that we will get there. but promise you we as a people will get there ~. that's a presidential welcome. i wanted to get here at 1 o'clock, but i'm a [speaker not understood] ambassador of hope. when it comes to housing, i would like you to look at this. whether i live in a house or an

apartment or s-r-o, i think -- i've been going to the mayor's new care council and letting them know that we really want to be safe. what we're going through and like bullying, like today san jose state is making sure they have a racial bullying task force. what often going to happen to american blacks, gays, [speaker not understood], i used to have hopa. now i'm on shelter plus that's run by mr. trent lott -- not trent. he he run the human service. what's going on, a lot of our property managers, they are not like community housing projects that really work with their tenants. we want to make sure no matter where we stay, whether it's a shelter or an s-r-o or a house or apartment or condo that san francisco stands for no bullying, for people to be safe in their house. what i'm dealing with in san

francisco, i've been -- a year from now, i got out of jail because my people called the police on me because i was watching the view in the tv room. and a lot of people -- we are a crack city in the t.l., you know. a lot of people have the [speaker not understood] after before doing it, they abuse us and the landlord said do not take our stand. so, we hope in the new house that the mayor's five-year plan that it consists we will have task forces. the people which cause question in s-r-o's were getting money from shelter plus and government and new hud houses. they're not protecting us. they're not letting tenants have their own board to say the money is there for tenants to have their own meetings and then get back. we want to make sure in the future that san francisco stands like the president has stood up for so many different

things our country have today, that it's important we have those independent bullies as residents. we know how to make the system better for the people who are homeless coming in or coming out of prison. we are often the forgotten people who are not there. thank you for being here for the mayor -- i seep him at the earthquake. i didn't make t. weird day. thank you. [laughter] >> all right. we're going to move on. thank you, teresa and mr. chu. okay. we're going to go on -- juicy edmonds. thank you. i forgot to say that. >> okay. moving on to item number 4, the independent living resource centers, jessie lorenz.

>> good afternoon, councilmembers and staff, members of the public. my name is jessie lorenz and i'm the executive director of the independent living resource center san francisco. i want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today. i'm going to talk to you about my organization. i'm going to talk to you about why independent living is important. and i'm going to talk to you about our upcoming move. but first i want to talk to you about what happened on our way here today. i was on the bus -- take the bus a lot -- and this woman sat down next to me, an older woman, kind of a small woman. i'm using my, my -- all of my senses to make the presumption that this woman is probably homeless. and she said to me, ooh sweety, you're so brave. i would hate to have your life.

and i couldn't help but smile because i realized that this woman, this homeless woman on the bus and i, we share a lot. this homeless woman on the bus and i, we're both part of groups that society tends to under value and to marginalize. and to value our contributions in a very limited sense. now, let me tell you something. i don't consider myself brave at all, and those of you who know me certainly know that that's true. and i might, you know, knock you in the teeth if you call me that to my face. however, the point of this story that i'm trying to tell you is us folks with disabilities, we're not just folks who can't see. we're not just folks who can't walk. we're folks who are part of a much larger, broader, beautiful tapestry of a community. and in part, independent living

centers are how that community gained its voice, gained some political power. and it's that community i think can take us into the next precipice of disability rights. so, what is independent living and what's an independent living center? well, there are independent living centers all over the entire country. there's about 400 and i think 19 independent living center. we are funded through a combination of state and federal money, and also we're largely funded by donations from the public. just giving you a heads up. my program manager said i have to say the following thing six time. so, here's number one. we are funded largely by individual contributions. one way that you could help us is by texting the word "access" to 202 22, and that will donate $10 to our organization. that's the first one.

you're going to hear it five more time. so, we're funded in large part by federal and state grants. we also operate largely on donations from individuals like everyone here in this room. and our function -- our mission is to ensure that people with disabilities are full, social and economic partners, both within our families and in the fully accessible community. and that's a pretty big mission and vision. that means a lot of the issues, or most all of the issues that come before this council are issues that also touch our agency. so, housing and access to housing is for folk who use wheelchairs and also folk that have disabilities meaning they are only able to afford housing that is affordable for someone on public benefits such as social security. housing is a big issue we're involved in. technology, and people's

ability to access assistive technology. so, that may mean a really cool wheelchair. that may mean technology that allows you to read braille, or could also just mean a computer with skype on it so if you have a hearing loss, for example, you can actually see the mouth of the person you're talking to as you're having the conversation. my organization operates a device lending library. actually, one of your councilmembers, derek, is the lead on that project. and we have technology that people can essentially try before they buy. one of the big equalizers, i believe, that does allow folks with disabilities to function and live life of freedom, choice and autonomy is assistive technology. we know he it's expensive, so, we have a mechanism to let people come in and try stuff out. check it out. you can learn more on our

website about that, irlcsf.org. so, housing, highly involved in housing issues. we're highly involved in assistive technology issue. but one of the biggest barriers to the full integration of people with disabilities is around employment and economic empowerment. you know, we hear a lot on the radio, or i hear a lot on the radio. it's on tv, too, about the jobs reports and what's going on with jobs. well, unfortunately, the latest jobs report had people, adults with disabilities -- so, people between 18 and 55 -- are work force participation rate is 19.5%. ~ our work we're not even hitting 20%, folk. that's a real problem. ~ folks that doesn't mean 80% of folks with disabilities aren't able to work. some people are, some people are unable to work. that's absolutely true. but in large part, that number

is based on people, in one instance -- think about how we talk about this. when someone is disabled later, like in their career, we don't talk about someone developing a disability. we say, oh, he was out on disability. well, one of the failures in our system is that that sort of has become the expectation. if you are working and you become disabled, you go out on disability. just the language we use leaves the taste in one's mouth that there's no -- there's no expectation that you're going to come back. we know in independent living that that's not necessarily how it has to be. we know in independent living disability management, reasonable accommodation in the workplace and assistive technology are thing that can be instituted that can keep people employed or back into the work force. so, we do a lot of work around economic empowerment and trying to get folks into jobs who

actually, you know, they want to work. we would be lost without the support of people like you. so, as a reminder, if you want to make a $10 donation to the great work we do at independent living, 202 22 and if you text the word "access" that will make a $10 donation. ed roberts, and ed roberts, he's seen in many circles as the fa their of the independent living movement. what was unique about ed, he was student at cal u.c. berkeley. and when he was enrolled and was accepted, he he had the grades and so forth, but they had no place to put ed. so, while you can live in the hospital room of u.c. berkeley, and ed said, okay. and ed hired other students to help him get through college. he created in his own little sphere of influence his own in-home support service system. he then took that model to the

larger berkeley community when you graduated because ed realized the only home for me is a nursing home and that's not cool. ed use this had model while he he was at cal, hiring his own assistants starting the [speaker not understood]. it was largely started because of the thinking and vision of someone like ed. when ed was asked later in his life how -- what is independent living, how do you define it? he he was very clear. he said, you can define independent living in three ways. are you ready? advocacy, advocacy, advocacy. and ed, ed really -- he had a point. a lot of what we're doing in

our work at the independent living resource center is reacting and responding. for example, we're currently in the middle of a campaign regarding new cars on the bay area rapid transit system. bart has purchased a new fleet of cars. they are showing them off to the public. they have not yet been put on the train lines, and a lot of folks with disabilities, including myself and the organization that i work for, are trying to get bart to remove a pole that will be installed between every boarding door on every train on all of the cars. we see this as a step backwards in the ability of folks who use power chairs, skooters, or who have mobility devices to be able to enter and exit the train easily with dignity without having to apologize for

bumping people or hitting knees. it is a whole lot of interest. we protested on wednesday. we'll be at west oakland part again today between 4:00 and 7:00, a press conference at 5:30. and we're asking bart to remove the poles. we know that that's going to cause a lot more havoc in the boarding and disembarking process from bart trains. bart -- bart seems to think that our needs need to be weighed against the needs of everyone and, you know, we're sort of in the middle of this wonderful process. if you agree that bart should eliminate the pole in the boarding doors, one way that you could help us out is by coming out to the protest today at 4:00 in west oakland. another way is to let the board of directors know by e-mailing board of directors at bart.gov, and remind them that disability rights isn't an interest group. this is about civil rights.

for my people, civil rights is being able to move freely in the environment. again, okay, i think this is number 3. again, if you want to help us in our efforts, one way that you can help is by making a $10 donation by texting the word "access" to 2022 2, that will make a $10 donation toward the center and the work we are trying to do. i'm excited because joanne asked me to speak about our upcoming move, and we are slated to move on july 11th. we will be having a grand opening celebration on july 26th to coincide with the 24th anniversary of the ada. mark your calendar. any of you who donate $10 by texting the word access to 202 22 will get -- will get an invitation to our grand opening ceremony.

let me tell you a little bit about the place. so, right now our current center is located on the third floor of an office building. we have an old rick it elevator from the '60s. it used to have carpet on the walls. they've taken the carpet on the walls off, ~ but it's not really a whole lot better. for the community work that we are trying to do, especially our support groups that we run or vets, for youth, for people with traumatic brain injuries, it's not -- we're not rolling out our welcoming mat by asking people to trundle l up in this rickety old elevator. over the process of 21 months the board and i have explored different options in san francisco, and we are now currently under construction at a space located at 8 25 howard street between fourth and fifth. this space has a lot of promise for the organization. we are under a 20-year lease

and we're very excited because the new space not only has plenty of offices for us to conduct the programs that we're so well known for, but it also has a very large 900-square foot conference center which we're going to be using for our community work and we're also making it available to community groups that want to hold meetings there. we have a really wonderful partnership in this, in this building process with shiller elevator company. they have donated a significant amount of our hardware, security systems, and have made some very nice large cash contributions. again, if you want to make a cash contribution, 202 22, the word access, and that will send $10 to the agency. so, i'm just doing my job. we are really excited that this new location is going to be able to help the center take

our game to the next level. we have more requests for peer-based support, especially from veterans, especially from women, folk who are survivors of gun injury. and we just don't have the space. so, the construction is in process. we move out july 11th. we still need as much money as folk are willing to help us out with from private donors. and we're really excited. i am really honored to have been able to share what we're up to at independent living with you all. we're a community center and i really feel that our new location is going to allow us to -- we're often the first stop for people who become disabled. and we need to be able to open our doors in a way that is

welcoming, empowering, and enforces our message, which is not that people with disabilities are brave. which is not that people go out on disability. our message is that people with disabilities have the right to be social and economic partners in our families in a fully accessible community. and i believe together we can get there. i'm happy to answer questions, but that's all i have to say. >> thank you, thank you. councilmember roland wong. >> hi, jessie. >> hi, roland. >> thank you for coming out to do the presentation. just want to kind of extend some of the points that you brought up about the future of bart trains. yes, it is a big concern about the pole and navigating through

the train is i guess pretty challenging. i was with at the preview yesterday and i really had to focus of trying to navigate through the wheelchair securement area. so, we'll have to continue to discuss this issue. and just to kind of extend some more outreach regarding the preview, those who couldn't make it out to the other areas of the bart system, san francisco civic center, they're going to have another preview on april 25th between the time that is 11 o'clock to 7:00 at the civic center plaza i guess by fulton street.

there's another preview on april 29th between 2:00 and 7:00 p.m., and this one is supposed to focus on -- for people with disabilitieses and seniors. so, i would encourage people ~ to try to go out to visit these sites, to visit -- to see the [speaker not understood] and to provide feedback. and the second thing i'd like to talk about, besides all the services that irlc provides, we also provide a social thing. i'm the community activity coordinator for the agency, and i coordinate free events around

the bay area. so, the latest things is baseball games. so, anybody likes to sign up or at least inquire about events, please contact me. my contact information is on the table, [speaker not understood], i can't say my direction. anyway, why don't you give me a call and, you know, and i can certainly add you to the list. thank you very much. >> the bart issue is a really big deal. i'm not sure if that was something [speaker not understood] can take a position on given there are many bart stations in san francisco. but every person who i've experienced with has come to take a look at it who uses a wheelchair, everyone has walked away saying the same thing. wow, i knew that there was a problem because everyone was upset about it. i had no idea how bad it was until i actually tried to use

it using my wheelchair. so, we've got to keep up the fight and we've got to let bart know this is important to us. >> okay. roland, do you mind if i give out your phone number and website address to the audience? >> yeah, [speaker not understood]. thank you. >> so, roland's phone number at work is area code 415-54 3-62 22 ~. you can e-mail him at roland, r-o-l-a-n-d at ilrc-sf.org. and the organization's website address is www.ilrc-sf.org. and if you want events, you just add back slash events to

that address and you'll get to the events page. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. are there any other councilmember questions for ms. lorenz? staff? >> through the chair, carla johnson. jessie, i just wanted to thank you for coming today to speak to the council and for letting us know not only about the good work that you've always been doing, but also about some of the things that are coming up in the future. and certainly the bart action is a very important thing that we want everybody to know about so that they can put in their comment and hopefully change the direction that train is running. >> um-hm. thanks, carla. >> okay, thank you very much. >> thank you. i appreciate the opportunity. >> you're welcome. i have public comments on this item. jerry grace.

thank you, jessie. you did a great job. i know you a long time. but anyway, i think, jessie, you forgot one small thing, about may 21st. it's at the metro rally march coming up. 3:00 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. if you get in touch with jessie, people want to go, get on the bus and get down to central metro to our rally and we'll give you lunch and we'll go up there to talk to people up there in the capital and talk to them what they want to know, what's going on in your life and what's going on in your life. and please talk to jessie --

excuse me. [speaker not understood] i will be there and people don't know who i am, i'm jerry grace. another thing. about you left out the www.bart.org. again, www.bart.org. that way you can get in touch with anna, somebody i know at bart. thank you. >> any other public comment? yes. ♪ how will you make it on your own the city is awfully big