in 2008, sam started 18 reasons, which is our community and event space where we do five events a week all around the idea of bringling people closer to where the food comes from and closer to each other in that process. >> 18 reasons was started almost four years ago as an educational arm of their work. and we would have dinners and a few classes and we understood there what momentum that people wanted this type of engagement and education in a way that allowed for a more in-depth conversation. we grew and now we offer -- i think we had nine, we have a series where adults learned home cooking and we did a teacher training workshop where san ancisco unified public school teachers came and learned to use cooking for the core standards. we range all over the place. we really want everyone to feel like they can be included in the conversation. a lot of organizations i think which say we're going to teach

cooking or we're going to teach gardening, or we're going to get in the policy side of the food from conversation. we say all of that is connected and we want to provide a place that feels really community oriented where you can be interested in multiple of those things or one of those things and have an entree point to meet people. we want to build community and we're using food as a means to that end. >> we have a wonderful organization to be involved with obviously coming from buy right where really everyone is treated very much like family. coming into 18 reasons which even more community focused is such a treat. we have these events in the evening and we really try and bring people together. people come in in groups, meet friends that they didn't even know they had before. our whole set up is focused on communal table. you can sit across from someone and start a conversation. we're excited about that. >> i never worked in catering or food service before. it's been really fun learning about where things are coming from, where things are served

from. >> it is getting really popular. she's a wonderful teacher and i think it is a perfect match for us. it is not about home cooking. it's really about how to facilitate your ease in the kitchen so you can just cook. >> i have always loved eating food. for me, i love that it brings me into contact with so many wonderful people. ultimately all of my work that i do intersects at the place where food and community is. classes or cooking dinner for someone or writing about food. it always come down to empowering people and giving them a wonderful experience. empower their want to be around people and all the values and reasons the commitment, community and places, we're offering a whole spectrum of offerings and other really wide range of places to show that good food is not only for wealthy people and they are

super committed to accessibility and to giving people a glimpse of the beauty that really is available to all of us that sometimes we forget in our day to day running around. >> we have such a philosophical mission around bringing people together around food. it's so natural for me to come here. >> we want them to walk away feeling like they have the tools to make change in their lives. whether that change is voting on an issue in a way that they will really confident about, or that change is how to understand why it is important to support our small farmers. each class has a different purpose, but what we hope is that when people leave here they understand how to achieve that goal and feel that they have the resources necessary to do that. >> are you inspired? maybe you want to learn how to have a patch in your backyard

or cook better with fresh ingredients . or grab a quick bite with organic goodies. find out more about 18 reasons by going to 18 reasons.org and learn about buy right market and creamery by going to buy right market.com. and don't forget to check out our blog for more info on many of our episodes at sf quick bites.com. until next time, may the fork be with you. ♪ ♪ >> so chocolaty. mm. ♪ >> oh, this is awesome. oh, sorry. i thought we were done rolling. ♪ let me know when you are

ready. i'm stef curry. welcome to the civic center hotel that is owned by plumbers uniyrn local 38 and the pension fund. i want to mention that off the bat because this hotel had its own story in past years where a lault of folks have lived because of low income status and when privately run there is a lot of issues and our officers have told me in the past that this has been a all most a call center because of a lot of ecativities. the plumbers were smart irk withing the administratea group of future developers of the entire site which isn't the building but the parking lot and plumbers union

and joined with community housing partner which gael gillman represents and gael is a stair in the affordable housing movement in the city. aentsty we are proud to work with because there are a number of sites she manages with her staff that are permanently affordable housing, veterans housing, housing for transitional age youth and low income and formally homeless persons. we are standsing here today because we reached an agreement qu strauta development group with the community housing partnerships, with plumbers union to use the civic center beginning in the month of june this year as a navigation center. we are celebrating the one year anniversary of the first

navigation center that is not too far away at 16th and mission, where with the help of the team and local supervisors, it has been in the past year able to help over 450 people get into permitted housing just in the past year. the navigation centers as many of you might be learning is a much more relaxed shelter where we allow pets, allow partnerships and allow praurbt property and all the other things that have been accum utilityed by people on the streets rfx we invite them to come in and get the help and services they need but most importantly there is a goal for everybody that comes to the nav center and that is permanent supportive housing. that nav center is so successful we decided to open a second and are in the

[inaudible] for a third. the civic center hotel is going to change. by the month of june, a month and a half from now, chf, communefy housing partnerships work in collaboration with the homeless project coordinators and city serves they are engaged in homelessness to have 93 dedicated units for the navigation center. pets will be welcome, pet friendly at fs mississippi fear and homeless people on the streets and [inaudible] for the blocks around here that help get off the streets and into these units and these units will be serviced by the professionals and case managers and health services and human serves with all the benefits people

deserve and public health department will be engaged as well. this will be an addition to the navigation center at 16th mission and also comp lmentary of 200 permanent units of housing that will be announcing where those locations are. i think we have one of them that may be on the announcements tomorrow as part the permanent housing. i want to just again say thank you to the plumbers union. not just being such a great organization that is helping us build market rate and affordable housing throughout the city, but helping rebuild all the public housing and now they have taken up the additional task of using their oun property to be a nav sent frr those who are homeless so they can help and support their navigation to permanent housing t. is a incredible story, the type of partnerships coming

together to assist our city in one of the most-important and most hardest and complesh problems the city has. for many years i know other mayors have struggled with this. i think it is a honest thing to say i struggle with it every single day and that is why i am creating a brand new department that will house everyone within city government as well as community based agencies to be sure that we have a very focus attention on those quhoo are homeless and make sure we can get them off our streets. the encampments town to be dangerous, unsanity and not the preference of those living there. when they see opportunities like this being transitioned from a broken down hotel and n to a livable place that is monitored and housed and will have a brand new kitchen facility for

meals they never had before, 24 hour security, and will be a welcome place for people to navigate out of homelessness, with the partnerships we have like community housing partnership like the strauta development group and others, it gives i think a lot of hope to those like sam dodge and his staff in the trenches getting people off the street and have a end goal. yesterday i visited the north beach citizens and talked individually with them as i have been talking with those that were house at the pier 80 shelter, every one of them just wished they could have this housing so that they can then have a more organized life where they deget their lives together. some will start get thg training we offer from jobs, others will take care of themselves psychiatricly and health wise

so they can get to normalcy and reacquaint with families and frnds but it begins with places like this where it is underutilized with a run down hotel that is half occupied and a problem for the community that now we transform that. when you talk about doing this in a couple month, literally in homeless years we have dealing with the problem pfeels overnight this is transformed and it wouldn't be able to be done without the very strong partnerships we are developing on the community side ends and social uvs end and affordable housing end where agencies like chp and staff, case management of every from public health to human services to homeless outreach teams and making sure this will serve yet another real example that isn't just talk we are giving. we

want to end homelessness for individuals in the sit eand we want to do the right way and when people visit this place they will feel we are not talking nonsense and not into the era of just saying we want to end homelessness, we actually want to do it on a unit by unit, person by person, family member by family member basis. this will be another broit shining star for everyone and as soon as this is accomplished we are already into the next nav center and next permanent housing exist we can have. it is all being done the right way and very proud of all the staff that is working together to make this happen. i'm also proud of the private sector whether it is the plumbers union or whether it is the property owners or whether it is the developer who thought about affordable and homeless housing before they even began talking about making a profit on this land

here. they said why not take care the people already here first, that will demonstrate that a business mind also has the humanity behind it and this is why i'm so proud of the developer community because they are also stepping tupe the plate. this will meet any standard, any reasonable standard the board want. it will exceed that because we want more to be done to have a answer-a long term answer to the homeless challenge and i think that this will serve as yet a national model not only for the temporary nav center but for permanent long term housing. in about 3 or 4 years this building will be torn down, but observe before it is torn down the developers will build brand new housing just behind it that will serve as the permanent housing supportive

housing that chp will run. that kind of story you don't find very often and we'll use this because i would like other developers to adopt this type of model. withthality i want to introduce director of the community housing partnerships within our partner in the city for a long long time and will continue to be so, gale hillman >> just briefly, on behalf of community housing partnership we want to thank strauta investment and want to thong the plumbers union and pechckz fund for allows us to take a invasion the city started-i know. take a invasion the city started at a school site and show it can be successful. the chunthy housing partnership is help homeless security housing and become

self sufficient and by testing the model inside a housing setting we truly will help the nin 3 program participants who will come through the doors and use as a run way to launch to a permanent xust from homelessness. we are very excited about the partnership and development and could have never happen without the city and without our partner shb with strauta investment, the plumbers and pension fund of local 38. we are so oxe sited and invite you back in june where we can show the space squz the participants being housed. thank you so much for coming together. [applause] >> thank you. what i'm looking forward to is hopefully in about a year we will be at the board of supervisors with final approvals for the project that we are talking here and it is much

bigger as the mayor mentioned than just this building. there is a bunch of surface parking lots you see behind here t is a perfect location for new housing for a mix of market rate middle income affordable housing and then transitional homeless housing. gale and i ask the mayor were talking earlier about the possibility you can have residents come out of the civic center hotel into the brands new building where they step up, their lives are stabilized a little more and with good employment service and all the other support they need, they move into our 50, 60 percent ami inclusionary on site affordal housing. it will be a fantastic success if we can do that. the building here and want to cu-mind pete mocky from

the pension trust fund from local 3 aithd and all the leadership of local 38, it is a old build{the partnership will keep it going so we can take advantage of this opportunity to solve a need, but it isn't a long term solution and the building we'll bing in ch h p will be state the art for stabilization and formally homeless individual housing so we are really excited about that. again, the plumbers have been great. when i talked to pete and larry mu zola junior who runs the plumbers union and started talking about this, their reaction was of course. there was a big fire in lake countsy two years ago and they owned land up there and had some housing available and the plumbers union is housing 5 oor 60 homeless families on their own because

it is being a good citizen and these type of public private partnership give me great hope so thank you all. [applause] >> so, any questions? otherwise i will invite everybody back here in june. wealver a old fashion bbq to celebrate the open of the nav scepter. i want the whole pension board to be here because i think aerfbd needs to celebrate how we transform peoples lives by just working together and making sure everybody understand the end goal which is quality housing for everybody that needs it. questions?

>> roll call commissioner president adams commissioner vice president brandon commissioner kounalakis and commissioner woo ho. >> item 2 approval of the minutes for the april 2016. >> 2013 opposed? inclusive session any public comment seeing none, public comment is closed. >> collective session. >> >> all in favor, say i. >> i. >> motion motion second >> all in favor, sa