[applause] next up is supervisor fewer. >> supervisor fewer: thank you very much, president breed. it is my pleasure today to recognize raj, an accomplished engineer and human rights advocate who is also our richmond district resident. i have had the pleasure of knowing raj for most my life and proud to honor an extraordinary man during asian pacific american heritage month and pay tribute to his legacy today. born in 1928, raj recalls an early interest in math and science and was encouraged by his family to pursue engineering. his choice was confirmed upon witnessing earthquake damage to the city of mumbai where he earned a batcherler degree. he went on to earn his masters

of science in 1953 before going into practice. he formed raj associates structural engineers in 1954 and retired in 1998. his projects dot the bay area, including residences, multi-storage offices, airports, malice and communities senses, wood concrete and steel. other projects include the pt building in oakland, the valley bank office building in reno, remodel of the reconpost office heritage building in san francisco and a range of multistory office buildings and steel buildings in the city, san jose and across california. raj met his wife helen at international house berkeley and they were married in 1954. they have three children, one of

whom is a dear friend of mine, and seven grandchildren, who share a multi-generation tradition of attending the university of california. raj received many awards for contributions in structural engineering and served as a fellow officer and member of various organizations. he taught at college in oakland, served in the san francisco human rights commission advisory board, helped to found richmond environment action that created the first recycling center in san francisco. and he found and served as asien pacific advocates coalition. in retirement, raj has turned to volunteering and supporting education, environment and human rights. both he and his wife were long time on the board of the california institute of integral studies and served time for a variety of causes. they're devoted leaders and members of a wide range of

indian american, asian american arts and cultural organization, as well as several environmental and civil liberty organizations. on a personal note, when i moved into 156 16th avenue when i was two years old in 1959, i became the backyard maybe naib of the family. raj's daughter monica became my quickly best friend as her mother would hoist her over the backyard fence to play with me, and my mother would do the same so i could play with her. monica and i are still friends today. i feel i was raised in their home, spending lots of days after school in their homes and numerous sleepovers. raj opened up his home and heart to me, ever generous and kind, always the gentle father who was quite opposite of my own father. when my father passed away two days before christmas when i was

14 years old, their household was the first place i called. at 7 a.m., raj answered the phone and was so kind of caring, i have never forgotten it. he and his wife were my first teachers about the importance of being good stewards for our environment and has shaped by commitments to the environmental issues. with deep appreciation for all his good work and accomplishment, it is my honor and pleasure to honor this longtime resident and dear friend, raj desai. i believe we also have the asian art museum, who also knows raj and helen very well. and now raj, thank you so much for the opportunity. >> thank you. [applause] what more to say?

i'll make it simple. first of all, i offer my indian greeting. and secondly, and i'll end with a short poem or prayer. it goes like this. [ ♪ ] let all of us be happy. let all of us have good health. may you all observe what is auspicious in life. may we all be free of suffering and pain. thank you. [applause]

ok, now that the paparazzi is done with the photos. congratulations again. [applause] >> president breed: next up is supervisor kim. >> supervisor kim: thank you. and i would like to bring up an entire family for this commendation. i want to invite up the lowe family, please step up.

[applause] it is really my distinct honor to honor the honorable judge harry lowe and his two sons larry and alan lowe for asian pacific american heritage month this year. judge lowe, i will start with you, it is really hard to capture everything you have done in your career, in your decades of service both to the city and to the state of california. one of the characteristics of your life's work that i particularly want to showcase is your pioneering advocacy to open the doors of opportunity for people of color. especially your fight to open up careers previously denied to many based on racism and discrimination. you were the first asian american to serve on the san francisco municipal court.

you served as attorney general of the state. you served on the first district court of appeal and served as presiding judge. and you head the san francisco human rights commission and was then appointed to chair the san francisco police commission during a turbulent time that saw four different individuals as police chief, two of them resigning in disgrace. by the way, we have two openings right now on the police commission if you choose to return. and provide us with our incredible service. i'm sure you have a little bit of time to spare for us still. by the way, this is just a part of your legacy. you are the first asian american to serve as california state insurance commissioner. you served two terms as the national president of the chinese-american citizens alliance. you helped found the first private bilingual school here in san francisco, the chinese american international school and helped to guide organizations from laguna honda

health foundation. and the very last thing i'll mention, and by the way, i left many things out, you're an emmy winner for the work as executive producer of separate promises, broken dreams and documentary on the chinese exclusion act. for your legacy, and advocacy for vulnerable communities, also continues probably your most important legacy, your two sons larry and alan. now, many parents who are community activists and organizers and leaders know that it is often very difficult to have your children follow in your footsteps. in fact, sometimes they go in the other direction. but in this case, your two sons truly are carrying your legacy forward and will continue on. i first want to recognize larry, not only do you carry on your

father's incredible legacy with your own rigorous legal career as chief legal officer of a global law firm as appointee of president clinton to serve as arbitrator for the international center for the settlement of dispute, but you do advocacy for the community credit. when alan sent me the list of the organizations that you volunteer for, serve on the board of directors, i knew that i had to specifically highlight your work with the angel island immigration station. not many people know that angel island immigration center, which is our own ellis island of the west, and that it was actually slated for demolition in 1970, but the chinese poetry that was discovered carved in the walls by many detained there for months and years as they waited to get an immigration interview.

the angel island immigration station is a much needed reminder of how immigration policy has been used against certain races and ethnicities and certain nationalities and how we can never allow that to happen again. as president trump talks about a muslim racial registry, we must remember this country actually did that already in the 1890s when it passed the chinese registry with with the chinese exclusion act demanding that chinese and chinese americans register. and here in san francisco, it was chinese americans that led the first civil disobedience asking them not to sign, knowing it was wrong and it launched thousands of lawsuits. i see i went over my time. this is because the family is incredible. alan, your work as a part of the city family on the rec and park commission, is well known here on this board.

i have to thank you as supervisor, representing a supervisor with a fewest parks, for your incredible advocacy for the parks south of market, the tenderloin, to bo decker, to turk and hyde mini park and recognize the longtime 30 year director at the rec center. you have been a stalwart champion for open space and parks and playground for our most vulnerable and for the chinatown neighborhood as well. places that often don't get advocacy despite the density of families, children and seniors. you're also an astounding attorney in your own right and have used your expertise from your legal career in land use and real estate to protect and benefit low-income communities of color that want places of respite from their urban surroundings. i want to thank you for your work in the role of the hotel.

114 units of senior affordable housing, a living memory and preservation of the historic movement to preserve san francisco neighborhood that originated from the original hotel and work in preserving 665 clay street, one of the first sites of the ellis act eviction battles before aaron peskin became supervisor, one of his roles in fighting for the neighborhoods. i want to mention words, in 2001, when he said, one of our 95-year-old chinese seniors who lived there for over 25 years, he said i feel at peace now, there is no more fear and no more worries. i do want to also recognize mr. lowe, the president of the eye hotel resident association who passed away unexpectedly last week. today was his funeral service and diana pang one of my former students sent photos of him

leading exercise classes and rallies. it's with tremendous sadness we have lost him as part of our community. but it is your family's work to fight for our community that honors individuals like mr. liu who get to live in affordable senior housing. thank you so much for all of your work. i'll give the family a moment to say a few words, but on behalf of the board of supervisors i commend the lowe family. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, supervisor kim. and thank you members of the board of supervisors for this very significant recognition of asian pacific heritage month.

it's interesting that for the first 75 years of san francisco history, this board of supervisors in its olden days passed some of the most harsh anti-asian legislation ordinances barring asians from certain occupations, segregating our schools, denying property rights to asians. and the supreme court right across the street came down with a decision that barred asians from testifying in court. and from serving on juries, serving in any capacity of government. those were the first 75 years of our california san francisco history. i have been practicing law 63

years. i became a member of the profession in 1955 when i graduated out of u.c. law school. and i served on the courts 25 years from 66 to 92 and saw the evolution of many of the interesting things that went on in san francisco from the summer of love in 67, to the changes in our drug laws, the changes that went on in the race relations with the changes that went on in the vietnam war protests and many other interesting social events. but i see in the coming days,

and i see it today, a kind of a return of this racism in a more subtle form, not in legislation, but in social policies and in social events. and this board of supervisors, i commend for being very, very vigilant in protecting social rights and human rights for all the citizens of san francisco, and all the citizens of the united states. and i think we must be continually vigilant in keeping this attitude for us to lead this nation that is going through this very troubled time. thank you again and

congratulations for your very foresighted commemoration of the asian pacific community. i'll let my sons now say a few words. >> colleagues, i just wanted to let you know that we haven't gone halfway through the honorees, so if you could please keep it brief, thank you very much. >> i will keep this very short. thank you very much. supervisor kim, thank you to the board of supervisors. i just want to make a small personal note, this is the first time that all three of us have been honored at the same time. usually it is -- a [applause] -- usually it is one subset of us that is honoring the other, telling jokes and stories about each other that are much more personal, all of which i'll post on youtube earlier this afternoon unless i get a ransom

demand payment, or injunction. i just want to thank you very much for the acknowledgment to say that community service is clearly a reward in itself. we all have a great stewardship and legacy that we must protect and honor. i do want to thank my dad for instilling that in alan and myself. that service is an important value in a community as is the legacy of history and lessons that have been learned. thank you. [applause] >> supervisors, i want to echo great deal of gratitude. it's very touching to honor my dad and our family today. it's very hard to follow your father, my dad's legacy, when

you're a commercial real estate transaction attorney. nobody congratulates you after the deal and say that loan agreement was righteous. but i'm very lucky to meet folks like chinatown community development center and learn that affordable housing deals need a lawyer. and also a community center like the united players, mission childcare consortium, that was a fun one, supervisor safai, as well as i recently learned the park needs a lawyer as well. i want to thank my law firm for giving me this opportunity for pro bono service, as well as our community partners and helping them keep san francisco a city for all of us. i can't conclude this without saying thank you to my wife jane. i know a marriage is both a journey and a partnership and i'm just very happy that you're

in this boat with me together rowing. so thank you. [applause] congratulations to the lowe family and if you're going to do a group picture, if you could take it outside, supervisor kim. thank you and congratulations again to the lowe family. [applause] and colleagues, i'm only being pushy because it's almost been an hour and we're not halfway

through, we have six other honorees so try to respect their time as well in your presentation because they've been here a long time already. thank you so much and we're glad to have the honorees here today, i want to acknowledge supervisor peskin. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, madame president. today is the my distinct honor and pleasure to acknowledge james as our district 3 honouree. he is ethnically chinese, born in vietnam, grew up in san francisco's chinatown, moved to l.a. and then came back home where he belongs again to live and work in chinatown. and i'm so glad. we're all so glad he has invested in his roots here, because the stories he is telling are at the core of what makes chinatown home to so many. james is a producer, director and filmmaker at good medicine

films, which has championed several inner sectional projects, from teaching china town youth how to make their own short films which was awesome to behold and be a small part of, to award winning director debut forever chinatown which was recently nominated for an emmy in the documentary cultural historical category. james began his career as a sag talent agent here in the city and then from 2000-2011 was mentored by directors rob epstein and jeffrey freedman. his producing credits with the documentary series 10 days that unexpectedly changed america. there is a ton of credits, but i will keep it short. particularly because we're going to queue up a little bit of film. james is now planning to do a chinatown preservation project,

a series of films about the incredible neighborhood, amplifying the voices of residents and community leaders of the his refugee and working class background, love for nature shows and memories of his mother's cooking all helped to shape his story telling and is drawn to narratives that celebrate our individual humanness. i want to honor james for two reasons. first, the community has undertaken a planning process a preserve the cultural legacy of chinatown, including a master plan fort neighborhood that would help identify cultural assets but also help coordinate resource sharing amongst themselves and this is a critical time for chinatown and james is really at the heart of this effort. and second, in addition to his work with youth, he has filmed a short documentary about the mighty community tenants association which is screening at this month's supervisor yee referred to it, camfest, which

features many of the longtime tenant leaders that has shaped battles for tenants rights, not only in chinatown but across the city in the eye hotel to supervisor kim's legislation, the positive impacts that we see now. the film is called power and unity and i would like to show a quick trailer for the film to inspire you to use your cam tickets to go out and see this extraordinary profile of some of our personal heroes and i would like to bring james up to say a few words, and he'll be joined by his forever chinatown researcher and born and raised native, dorothy and community member katrina to join in the commendation. i want to thank you all. if you can queue up the film.

>> the struggle is more than just about themselves or their own. they understood that this movement was about affordable housing for everybody. they approved -- by being on the front lines of almost every major tenant demonstration, every major affordable housing hearing, every demonstration and it's happened since they were formed in 1987. and they've done so with the

spirit of coalition. they know this is not about just chinatown. they know that the larger challenge is affordable housing for all san franciscans and all californians. >> mr. james k chan. come on up. >> thank you, supervisor peskin for this incredible honor and thank you to your fellow board for validating and pulling focus on your individual community members and my fellow api honorees. regardless of our individual and collective political priorities, i think we can agree that we

have one common thread out of many and that is a deep, deep love for this city. my family and i are refugees to this country. sponsored over to minnesota. and in the mid 80s we relocated to san francisco and lived in the tenderloin district.

>> and it is also about the beloved neighbourhood of chinatown. and it pulls focused back on my neighbours and those are the human pillars of the community. and i could not do it alone. and i have two cat two of my team here who i proudly stand next to you. [applause] i have my researcher and our outreach coordinator. this recognition is for all of us. so thank you very much for this

recognition. thank you. [applause] >> clerk: congratulations and thank you so much for your great film. looking forward to seeing it. with that we will go to supervisor ronan. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. i would like to call up the amazing howard wu. if you could come to the front. if everyone could give him a round of applause. [applause] thank you. howard, i'm so delighted to recognize you today as our district nine honouree for the asian pacific american heritage month. i have known howard for many years now. you are an enthusiastic and vital force in san francisco and especially in the asian community.

as a dedicated volunteer for over 30 years, mr wu has given the gift of his time, energy, wisdom and good humour to make san francisco, and especially the area a safer and better place. howard has an amazing life story. he grew up in a poor village in southern china leaving when he was a teenager in search of a better life and ending up in el paso, texas, or you learned english and finished high school. he was drafted into the army and served as a patrol manage during the korean war. during one of his leaves from the army, you went to hong kong to marry his childhood sweetheart, doris. they were married twice. once in the chinese tradition and again later with the sanction of the u.s. army. they had been married for 64 years. that is incredible. they half off our children catch joy, brian, edward, and frank khaki two grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

you look so young, i don't know how you do it, howard. his life has been a life of exemplary service. since arriving in san francisco, howard has worked in a variety of fields including real estate, patrol operations and department store management. even while working full-time and raising his children khaki finds the time and energy to give back to his community. for 30 years, howard took up a leadership role by volunteering in organizations in chinatown including the asian and pacific islander forum. for eight years and community police advisory board for more than eight years. he has been an advocate for the most vulnerable members of it's community. 's work includes, for example translating public safety information to cantonese, speaking and... he even brings his own flyers to community meetings that he makes himself to ensure the monolingual residents are safe when walking home at night. howard khaki her smile and your

charm light up every single room. your commitment, scale and infectious humour have filled a great sense of community and belonging to all the residents. you are irreplaceable and we are eternally grateful for your contributions to san francisco and especially this neighbourhood. congratulations. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. it is my honour to be here. thank you very much. in my day, when i go to school, i do not learn how to make speeches. but i am a doer. i do everything you asked me to do. when i can do it, i do it, okay? i will make it short. thank you very much. [applause]

>> clerk: thank you mr wu and congratulations. [applause] now i would like to recognize supervisor stuff i e. >> -- >> supervisor safai: it is always a wonderful. you hear a lot of talent and committed and dedicated people to the city of san francisco. i will continue to scheme that supervisor tang and i had earlier today and it is a theme of supporting those that invest their lives and their blood sweat and tears into promoting

small businesses. the person i would like to honour today and i am honouring is. [ speaking alternate language ] they were born in 1981 in its sole, south korea where she grew up with her mom cocked her dad and her brother. after graduating high school, she moved to idaho to study english in 2,000 not knowing anyone. as many immigrants do. she fell in love with the united states and moved to utah to continue her education and deciding to relocate to san francisco where she attended the academy of art to study graphic design. upon graduating from the academy of art, she moved her brother and her mother to the united states in 2,008. again, as many strong immigrant families do, there is always one person that sponsors the rest. and she was the trailblazer and the one that paved the way for

her family. and then just two years ago, her father was able to join the entire family. she reunited her entire family. she is a former art director and graphic designer who worked in advertising for about five or six years and then decided to switch to her passion, culinary arts. opening her first restaurant in the financial district in 2013. and what i am so proud to say, is that ina took the risk and opened up a restaurant in the excelsior district on our mission quarter and one of our vacant storefronts, again, investing her hard money and blood sweat and tears. the first restaurant serving korean cuisine ever located in district 11. her brother, brian, is a head chef. the menu was filled with recipes created and inspired by her mother's original recipes and tradition staples such as kimchee, and i will not say the

last one because i will mispronounce it. how is it, jane? [ speaking alternate language ] all right. ina's newest restaurant opened just a few months ago. she really is a trailblazer opening all over san francisco. thank you to ina for sharing your love of korean heritage and design in culinary arts, at a proudland iprobably honour you a district 11 and excelsior representative during aba heritage month of 2018. please come forward. [♪] [applause] >> thank you. thank you safai cat thank you san francisco. i'm very happy to be here receiving the special asian pacific islander heritage month

celebrating with my family here. thank you so much. i was going to explain my life, my journey to america, but you did everything, so i can rest assured. so my dream has been on one thing since i landed in america in the year 2,000. it was to leave with my family, together in america. but i just did not know how and when it could happen. but after one restaurant, it opened a opportunity for me to plan something for my family, i asked my brother, brian, here, a couple years later, would you come work with me, and he said yes. and a year later i asked my mom, mom, would you join? of course. and now we all together, in excelsior, it means a lot to me because it is a dream come true.

it is a place where me and my family can get together and create a new cuisine and talk about how we can, you know, spread our love of korean food. the dream came true. thank you. thank you for giving me the opportunity of this beautiful neighbourhood and it is one of the most friendly neighbourhoods i have seen in san francisco. and i just opened and i had my third baby seven weeks ago. and i plan to continue to have more babies. so without families, sacrifice and immense love and support, i wouldn't be here. i really want to take this opportunity to thank my mom, especially, my inspiration and my support. you taught me the korean woman's brutal work ethic. thank you it so much for that. [applause]

and also, today it happens to be, and career, apparent's day, may 8th. thank you to my father and my mother for making me 37 years ago and putting me out in this beautiful world. let's have some more fun to spread the love of korea. thank you. [applause] >> supervisor safai: and we know a little bit about the korean work ethic on this board. thank you very much. all right ina.

>> congratulations again. [applause] >> clerk: okay supervisor sheehy. >> supervisor sheehy: it is my great honour to recognize today, to commie craddick. she is the founder and director of a dance studio located in the valley. and her program is amazing. i think, in fact if you guys talk to some of your constituents, you will be surprised how many kids have gone through her program over the last 21 years. literally thousands. she starts, kids start as young as three and stay with her, many of them, through high school. many have gone to julliard and other major dance programs. and what makes to commie unique,

this is a san francisco jewel that is all communicated by word of mouth. i do not think you have ever run an ad in your life. the people, the community that she creates with her passion and her artistry, she is an extraordinary dancer in her own right, starting with her teacher when you were three years old. home in japan. but, what makes takami really unique, is the bond that she creates with these kids. many of them will tell you that she becomes like a second mother to them. she gets them through the most difficult years of their lives and she does this by maintaining their sanity, by having good fun dance, and extraordinary talent is expressed and developed with her mentorship.

you know, i confess that we have been in the program since my daughter was three, and really, what she has done for my daughter, and four other kids, you would have to experience it to know it. the amount of time that she spends, she will spend hours with your kid, choreographing they are so low. hours. helping them develop their ability to express themselves. when you think about who we are as people, the most precious thing we have are our children. and to give your children disability to express themselv themselves, to be themselves, to feel great about themselves, is really one of the greatest gifts you can get. and what also is unique about takami is she is really an ambassador between our country and her home country this unique japanese art form to the bay

area and run the fast for several years," she continues to do an exchange program with her son say. she will take kids and their parents, if they want to go along, to japan. then the next year, the japanese, led by her sensate, will come here with their kids. they were just here for the performance. and the way in which she is able to make it possible for the people in our community to really experience it japan in a unique way, the city is not a gigantic place but it is a vibrant fun place. we had a great time there. you kind of get away from tokyo and all these other places and really experience the culture and the people in a very, unique and meaningful way. and so i really am tremendously honour to recognize takami.

you will see mothers here who have come because of what she has done for their kids. so thank you takami. >> thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much. supervisors. thank you so much. i am so happy that i grew up in a small town of japan on. outside of tokyo. i had the chance to come right after college, come here in 82. and then, i have no idea where we are, i only know the san francisco airport. i took a taxi to go to santa cruz. that much, i have no idea how far, where i am. now i am here, my dream in city to live. i always said when i went back

to tokyo, i wanted to open a company and dream of come back here and now i am living and getting this award. it is a dream come true. as an immigrant. thank you so much. and thank you for my students and the parents who are here. because of them, my program started 22 years ago, just a small tiny upstairs studio. i had three students to start. and now like jeff said, hundreds of students are in my program. and we just had a huge performance last weekend. i don't know. i didn't know how much i have a passion for dance. because of dance i am here, and because of the dance, i know all of them, and because of the

dance, i can teach and i perform and i don't know, i just think for students, dance and art is something that communicates to others. communicates two different country people. it just grows so much. meeting different countries and different cultures. light so cherished that is about growth. thank you, jeff. you come with me to japan and to see my hometown too. i am very happy to be part of your team and thank you it so much for everything. >> supervisor sheehy: thank you takami. i want to give a shout out to her husband gary who has been a tremendous support. [applause] >> yes, because of him i am here and he supports the best.

>> clerk: it congratulations again. next up we have supervisor stefani. >> supervisor stefani: thank you. i would like to call out to receipt to rocha. -- i would like to call out to tracy. i think i have the most awkward spots here. colleagues, today i am proud to honour tracy as the district nominee for asian pacific american history month. she is third-generation japanese-american and the owner of poetic art and antiques, furniture and art store on sacramento street. tracy has a personal mission of creating a safe, prosperous and connected neighbourhood and commercial district. prior to opening the store kept tracy was a codirector of healing environments for ten years. he devoted herself to the work

of comforting the suffering by creating beautiful and comfortable settings and hospice rooms, facilities, and bereavement therapy rooms. tracy has also served on a multitude of san francisco community boards and volunteered continuously for the last 23 years. to strengthen community ties and relationships in her neighbourhood. she is on the board which is the presidio heights association of neighbours. the response team of volunteer corps, regiment police station community advisory board, and my tree compassionate care. i first met tracy when i was working for supervisor mark farrell when we are looking for someone to represent the merchants on sacramento street. and then we heard about this woman who was getting all the merchants organized and then we were so lucky to meet tracy. her leadership, dedication, and advocacy as a president of the sacramento street merchants association has been a huge benefit to the corridor into the district. i have personally loved every

minute you and i have worked together on all the issues we have faced on sacramento street and what we are looking forward to doing now. you are just such a delight to work with. you exude happiness, and i love that about you. your willingness to lead and organize, the revamping efforts for the sacramento street merchants association, doesn't set you apart as a leader in our community. i am so happy to be able to present this award to you today. thank you, tracy. [applause] >> i am at the wrong podium. thank you supervisor safai on thank you board of supervisors. i will be brief. i will tell you that my father was seven years old when in seattle, washington, they lost their family home and he was sent off to live in an internment camp. i will tell you that it was captain living around the

country, and having different experiences throughout my life clock where sometimes people treated me with kindness and some people treated me with accurate disrespect. even as a child. because i was different and i was asian. i became who i am. when i was about seven years o old, living in tennessee, the year at the bicentennial, someone threw rocks at me because i was different and because i am asian. growing up, i did not understand this but along the way, i met so many wonderful people who strengthens me and made me who i am today. when i had an opportunity to move to san francisco park to become involved with this community, at that was my dream come true. i am so honoured to be a part of this place. last night i was my tree, okay, don't cry and this is a very special place in the city. is the last independent aids

care facility. i have the honour of donating all the furniture and arched back in 1997 and it changed my life. and as i walked in last night, because a friend of mine is dianne, i walked in, as just a friend, and just as a local san franciscan to show up to support a loved one, i was so struck by all my fellow asian-americans, mixed race, diverse people who have been there from the very beginning of that agency who are still showing up to take care of all of those people who need to care. and it is all of those people, and all those merchants, and altius people sitting here with us today, who have been recognized, and you, yourself,, said i am here because you have helped strengthen who we can be, and that, that is priceless. those little rocks, that did not really mean anything. they fell away from me. this, this incredible experience? that's what matters to me. thank you so much for including

me today's presentation, commendation, and i am so happy. my son alexander is here who's about to go off to college. i get to share it with him. thank you so much. [applause] >> supervisor breed: okay, folks. glanced, but certainly not least count supervisor tang. >> supervisor tang: thank you very much. i can see annie swapping. we are saving the best for last. if any chunk and please come on up. [applause] thank you so much for your patients today i appreciated and sorry that you have to go last. i know that many of us know

annie chung. we know self-help for the elderly. she and her organization have been in these chambers many, many times, but when i look back at my records, i myself have never recognized you in the district before for your work as a district carve out residents. i want to take that opportunity to do so now. so, of course we all know that annie is our president and ceo of self-help of elderly and has been in that role since 1981. and every year, they serve over 40,000 seniors, regardless of their ability, or income levels. and with a staff of over 500 and a budget of over 22 million skaggs self-help started in chinatown and serves seniors in four bay area counties. and he graduated from lone mountain women's college which today we know as where usf is an in the school of social work. she graduated from the gallant

leadership and just -- institute and completed leadership america program at a national fellowship program with the asian pacific institute. in addition to her role serving at self-help for the elderly, i'm not sure if everyone knows she does many other things including the parcel tax advisory committee for city college, of san francisco, the city posten's bond oversight committee, the steering committee of the ati council and the board of wild fires institute. in her spare time, sheet has also a producer of a chinese journal on channel 26. i know annie from all of her work, especially where it self-help occupies the south sunset senior centre. every day, 75 to 100 seniors come to lunch and it is a wonderful gathering. these people are not just getting food and nutritious meals, they are also socializing and getting out of their homes, interacting with other community members, and that is just so

important. it is such a creative way to help seniors really get out of their homes and interact with others. and he has participated in our resilient sunset efforts and she has partnered with dbi and is constantly working to get more seniors in the community to learn about emergency preparedness. she spends time overseas working to support young girls in china by preparing them with a good environment to receive a strong education. so, i could go on and on, but we are so lucky to have annie as a sunset resident, serving not just the sunset district but everyone citywide as well as in our entire bay area. on behalf of our board of supervisors, i would like to thank you, annie, and your team and your staff. some of them might be here today. if you like to stand up, as well, so we can acknowledge your presence here. so thank you very much for all that you have done for so many years and for so many people in our community. >> thank you. thank you supervisor tang.

i think you members from the board of supervisors. when katie called me and said she would be honouring me for the heritage month at the board of supervisors, i immediately thought that i will bring a couple of my colleagues and this honor is not just for me. because self-help needs many, many people to support. first of all, the board of supervisors, our mayor, and our decision-makers in the city. but most of all, every day, date in and day out, a very low wage and not quite as good benefits as either city employees get, our nonprofit workers, you know, take care of the 40, 45,000 seniors every day. i want to thank winnie who represents all the programs at self-help. she is the director of programs, and course josephine ma who is a fund development director who raises all the money to supplement our city budget and also katerina who is our

fundraising associates. she does all the social media and all our publications. so, with all of the staff at self-help, we are able to do the job. i am here today to thank not just kinky for this great honour, but also for the tremendous support and friendship that you have given our seniors in the sunset over many, many years. last year, a member of our board of directors and their family decided to donate a small profit to self-help. a small bedroom house in the sunset area. and we could not really make it work at senior housing so i went to k katie and said, over the years our south centre has so many seniors every day that we are bursting at the seams, wall to wall. it's a possible for you to help us either build half a story up, or maybe 5 feet wider so we can add another 20 or 30 elderly? and she listened and listened to

the needs of the seniors a and this year she brought us is wonderful news that she found us some money. with this donated property we could now expend it and by the end of next year we will be able to open our second senior centre for the sunset residents. so thank you for this great gift that you brought your elderly. and as i reflect on the work that i've done at self-help and also in san francisco, i thought about each of your work. day in and day out you listened to us. we come marching and sometimes with our senior is, you know, demanding funding. demanding your attention. asking for affordable housing and everything else. but you listened and you never got mad. and sometimes, like us, probably working in the trenches. you wonder, you know, what is all this leading? what is all this for? i picked this very, very short poem which i love and i want to just share it with you today. it is called "the way it is" by

william stafford. >> there is a threat that you follow. that goes among things that change. but it doesn't change. people wonder about what you are pursuing. you have to explain about the threat. but it is hard for others to see. while you hold it, you can't get lost. tragedies happen. people get hurt or die. and you suffer and get old. nothing you do can stop times unfolding. you don't ever let go of the threats. so thank you katy and supervisors for hanging in there for all of us, your citizens, your constituents, your seniors, and thank you so much for all of your support and patience. thank you kt. [applause]