out in august or september of this year. it will be a five-day class for new officers and any officers who are maybe not new, but have not gone through this class. i went through it several -- quite a few years ago and it was really beneficial. so, looking forward to that. and then some more numbers for the ems academy and in service training. actually, just ems training. over 1,300 members did over 56 hundred hours of training. so, that's great. give a shutout to our fire reserves as always. 293 hours of drills, greater alarms and volunteer work. n.e.r.t in april did 29 events, classes, outreach presentations and they had the n.e.r.t city wide drill. they had over 2,200 volunteers and we will have another drill in october. and this time we are

coordinating our disaster committee with n.e.r.t to enhance some of the stuff we do. turning to homeland security. assistant deputy chief cochran, he and another chief worked this weekend during breakers. we had very successful. chief cochran staffed the s.f.p.d. emergency operation. things went very smoothly and i thank them for working on sunday. last week i was able to attend a meeting at the dem on fleet week. we are already prepping for it. we met with multiple agencies, including department of homeland security, the f.b.i., coast guard, sfpd. this has been declared -- this was some new terminology that i learned, a level two sear event.

so, sear is a special event assessmented rating. there are levels one through five. what a level two means is it is a significant event with national and possibly international importance that may require direct federal support and situational resources. the good news is, we're already doing that -- we're already collaborating and coordinating with these agencies to ensure a safe week. also chief cochran has been working with mark corso and some i.t. people in determining our equipment needs for updating our command vehicle. the command vehicle is the one that looks like an rv, and we will be able to in the future utilize that in the event of a big incident like an earthquake for our continuity of our operations. they're working on that.

i also want to recognize under homeland security our fire department canine unit. they continue to be extremely active. i want to recognize all their diligent work. they do six trainings per month. i believe once a week and they also go to many of our public events, our outreach events. so, i really commend them. and then the chief already talked about future hiring. so, i don't need to go over that. and that concludes my report. >> president cleaveland: thank you, chief nicholson. any public comment for this report? seeing none, public comment is closed. chief hayes-white, you had a comment? >> i did. just briefly. i wanted to sort of piggy back off what chief nicholson said. i try and take every opportunity but sometimes i don't. but i just want to appreciate the team that i put together

both uniformed and civilian. i don't take a lot of time off of work. lately i have taken a day or two here and there. probably more so than i have in last 14, 15 years. significant in that this weekend my youngest graduates from high school. it gives me -- i'm very proud. they grew up with their mom in this job. they were ten, 7 and 4. i appreciate the work from everyone that assists me and supports me. i have high demands for people. but i really appreciate to the letter each one of you for being able to kind of have them plug in. whether i can look at every one of you and tell a story. the other day chief cochran, there's a group of people at headquarters.

we're on a city tour map now. and usually i stop and talk -- i love to do that. i was rushing to get to a call with mark corso and i looked at chief cochran and i pointed at him and he said got it. every single one of them assists. we are all similar and we are also very different. that's what makes a great team. i'm just reflecting on how time has passed so quickly. i see it in my boys. i don't see it in me, but i see it more in they are grown men now. i have been able to succeed in being a good mom and good fire chief because of everyone i have. and thank you to the commission for their support. >> president cleaveland: thank you, chief. commissioner veronese had a question. >> commissioner veronese: i appreciate the high school

congratulationsuation of your youngest -- graduation of your youngest child. chief, could you give me -- if you don't know right now or at a future meeting, several months ago i had the privilege of visiting station eight and next door to station eight there is an empty lot that the station was using as their parking/they had a park and fountain. and that space had been torn up by agreement of the city and next door. i think it was linked in maybe building a monstrosity next door. when i was there the whole thing was torn up and i had seen pictures when it wasn't torn up. it was pretty nice. i was wondering what the status is of that side yard for that station. if you could give us an idea. i believe linked in offered to

pay for -- if it is linked in. had offered to pay for a new side yard and some amenities out there. i just wanted to know what the status of it was, if you know. it doesn't have to be today. >> he is reluctant but he usually has some good information. >> president cleaveland: welcome chief rivera. >> good evening everyone. chief, commissioners. so, i do have some information. i don't know how up to date it is. but there was -- you are correct. there was an agreement before the developer of that large building to pay for the repavement and also a couple of amenities. the area was used as a staging area for a lot of construction equipment, which did cause damage to the parking and that rear area of station eight.

we're currently trying to come up with an agreement. i think initially the developer thought it was going to be a pretty easy fix. but then we find out that there was some sewage and drainage problems. so, we are actively working with the developer to come up with a resolution and the members are aware of it. so, it's kind of a work in process. i don't have an update, but i can definitely get you one in the next couple of days. >> commissioner veronese: could you continue to update us monthly until it is done? >> absolutely. >> commissioner veronese: i know having been there, that this is a side yard that was important to the people that were there. >> yes. >> commissioner veronese: they had spent time building a fountain and a ponds and a barbecue area. and when i was there, it was just a big dirt pit. [laughter]

>> commissioner veronese: not a whole lot of sympathy i have for a developer that uses the lot and doesn't replace it quickly. so, if you could keep us updated, i will keep my eye on it because i would like to see that get done and returned back to the men and women of that station. >> yes, sir. >> commissioner veronese: and if there are plans, if you could show the commission the plans that would be great of what they intend on putting there. it was pretty nice before. i would like to see it go back to something really nice especially if it is linked in or another company that has foundations or endowments or something like that. thank you. >> president cleaveland: thank you commissioner veronese. commissioner hardeman. >> commissioner hardeman: i don't have a lot to say. but as usual, chief has had a very busy time. sounds like all your responsibilities are moving along. the training, having 50 would be

great if the 50 could make it through. i think a few meetings back there was a report talking about the oakland police department and their failure rate, which is fire department and a police department. but it was like 70% where they had a hard time getting people through the training. so, it's nice to see that 90% success rate, something like that, over the years, i guess maybe higher for retention and injuries are generally the problem. this is a physical job, so those are going to happen. so, those are in some cases unavoidable. we'll have a new mayor the next time we meet. so, i hope this budget goes well. whoever the new mayor is, looks like we will have a good

relationship with the fire department. i think we have been fortunate. mark farrell has over the years i think had a good relationship with the fire department and he's really doing a fine job in my opinion as mayor, which isn't going to get me anything. but he has been aggressive. i like to see him put his actions on some of the drug paraphernalia and people in bart and et cetera. those are the same people that our fire department has to deal with. and i think it was interesting for the public to see some of those people sprawled out 6:00 or 5:00 in the morning. and those are the same people later in the day that our emts and paramedics and firefighters have to work with and trying to be very diplomatic with and trying to be kind and gentle and treat them like family.

it's a very hard job. so, i hope the public has taken note of some of those people, the way they look and then how they are later in the day. sometimes in a situation where they have to be cared for by emt or paramedic. and the police also have to deal with them. so, i just say kudos and thank the mayor at least for trying. [captioner switch]

>> i guess... that's it. yep, thanks for all your work. oh,, i know. i want to talk about the command staff and when i was head of the union. i worked for -- everyone was

similarly paid. it was 40 hours. i always told him, tried to work 40 hours. not try to work up to 40 hours, don't try to work over. it is really hard, the public doesn't realize how much of volunteer time goes into the job. they do the job friday through sunday, and the command staff is out there representing the fire department, basically out of the goodness of their heart. they all know it's sort of part of the job, but i really appreciate that we have a great command staff and it's nice that they take that extra time. >> thank you commissioner. >> thank you commissioner. >> thank you very much president cleveland. >> vice-president nakajo: i also like your style, chief. it is the life that the commission needs. the energy as positive as i appreciate that.

the humour as well, it is all packaged, it is all good. >> thank you. >> i wanted to ask you two questions. one is, when you do your session, with the commissioners be invited to in -- observed that particular section? can they be? >> absolutely. >> i'm not sure what material is taught or what kind of concepts are developed. leadership development should have a concentration. there's always an assumption that because you have a title, therefore you must be a leader. that ain't the way it works. it works with a lot of experience and a lot of know h how. and a lot of personality. from years ago when we were... things were so difficult and trying to position conflicts around -- among the neighbours -- the members, i attended a session like this similarly.

and in these -- in those days we hired a consultant. but it was received very well. there was a place by which the membership had to die alone. i just really, really believed in that. the second question i wanted to ask you, in terms of the classes that are currently occurring, if a member resigns due to injury, what happens to that member? does that member have another opportunity? or is that it for the member? >> if they want to get back on the list, yes, they can put in their paperwork. both the members, both of the recruits, who resigned and went through human resources and got their names back on the list. >> okay. so there is a mechanism by which you can give them an option? >> there is a possibility, we don't guarantee everything but there is a possibility.

>> those members would have to comply with whatever is requir required, ok? last thing, i know that we acknowledged the civilians and e.m.s. and such. and i think that -- we can't conclude a meeting without acknowledging our civilians. i have to do an acknowledgement. but also to our lobbyists for all of the hard work and the hours that they put in. and finally, i think you hit it right on the head. this career, and your participation in this career it not only produced a good chief, but produced a good mom. i don't think is -- anyone is better to say that -- your boys were small. and now they tower over me, commissioners. i guess we call it the aging process, chief. [laughter] i know we all feel that.

congratulations on that great accomplishment. thank you very much chief. >> thank you. if i can just respond briefly, yes, in terms of the officer's academy we will keep you apprised of that and we certainly do have a leadership component in there. we have everything from paperwork, health and wellness, leadership, operations, and they are -- i note a couple of chiefs are working with getting the proper people in place from within our department. we deliver those portions of the academy. is there a discipline component and the-- >> officers briefing? >> yes. >> thank you very much, chief. >> thank you.

>> thank you mr vice president. commissioner covington? >> commissioner covington: thank you witt m bit mr presidei would also like to congratulate sfpd and her youngest graduating. that is amazing that john is off to college. that is wild. it takes the youngsters to let us know how much time has passed. [laughter] congratulations on that, chief. >> thank you. >> commissioner covington: i also have some questions for you regarding the officer's academy. this is just for the san francisco fire department, or are we inviting other members from other areas? >> it is simply for san francisco fire department. >> commissioner covington: ok.

and you have any experts that are not within the department that will be coming in for the officer's academy? >> not that i know of. we will have a civilian member is doing some of the portions of it, and most of our teachers, i believe, if not all, come from within the department. >> commissioner covington: do you have a syllabus or a curriculum for this? >> yes. it is currently in the development stage. i know the division of training looked at the last one we had several years back and is picking and choosing some from that and expanding on parts of it. it is not completely developed yet. >> how long is the academy? >> it will likely be a five day academy. >> a week? >> yes. they maybe able to do one of the days in online portion.

>> commissioner covington: so would you be able to share that with us as soon as it's formulated? >> absolutely. >> commissioner covington: i particularly would be interested in anything having to do with, i don't know you have health and wellness and i think that's great. health in one is for the officers as well as those people who work under them, but i think it might be helpful to have something related to what it means to be at paramilitary operations. because even though there is a military framework, i'm not the military. [laughter] so what are the point differences, and, you know, what are the points of magnification? i don't know if i'm expressing

that so that you understand what i'm saying. >> yes commissioner. i think some of that will indeed be coverage during the leadership portion, leadership and management. >> good. and you said that it was held maybe five years ago or so? we've had a lot of promotions. is there any thought of having this on a regular basis, like every two years or every three years or some kind of such program so that we know, when this person is promoted, it will be no longer than this period of time before they go through officer training? >> what we did the last time, as we had it all videotaped so people could access it online on our report, the entire class. obviously it's better to be there, but for those who were not able to attend it, but, yes,, i think that is a great

idea to do it more frequently, and not just online. we will look at that for sure. >> and in today's meeting earlier, we talked about the number of retirements, so with this fairly rapid turnover i think it is essential to give new officers as much support as possible, as soon as possible, rather than, you know, it being piecemeal and you getting information from one person at information from another. i know people have great pride in having been classmates in a particular academy, so perhaps this will carry on the tradition, although we are it where you were in officers training together. that would be nice. >> yes, it if i may interrupt, commissioner, this is the first thing i passed the chief with when he came on board. we were already working on some of it, but it is very important to me that we get the same

message out to all of our officers. even ones that were promoted a couple of years ago. we are going to include them in this process. >> commissioner covington: it's very important when you are part of a cohort and part of a group that faces the and jewels who face very similar circumstances and you work for the same organization. being in the same room together, to brainstorm, to commiserate, it is very important, because it's not only is it an opportunity for the transfer of information, budget builds collegiality. i think we are on the right track with that. i'm glad to hear about it. and i'm also happy to hear about the btw in the list of plumbing problems being short quite a bit. the dtw is really such a

wonderful partner with us, you know, you think that all they do is, you know, pick up trash here and there, or trim some trees, but they do design and oversee builds and it's just amazing, the scope. that it's within their portfolio, and the expertise that they have within their organization. >> we are pleased with how we've been working with them recently to really bring our fire stations up to snuff. >> commissioner covington: very good. that's all i have. thank you. >> thank you at commissioner covington. thank you chief nicholson. i have to agree with commissioner coupling -- covington. several years ago, seem like it took a long time to get repairs

done at some of the houses and certainly on the fleet, and we talked to public works about, you know, working more closely with the public safety sector of our city, police, fire, the share's office, you know, to prioritize our work orders, if you will. i am happy to see that. i appreciate that they appreciate the director of public works with reaching out to us and working with the fire department to expedite our problem, you know, with our projects. expedite our project so would we make sure they get fixed. our firehouses cannot go weeks without proper plumbing, or, you know, appropriate electrical work. so it's been one of our issues. the commission has said that we need a closer relationship with the public works and i am pleased to see it is happening. that is a positive.

i agree. i went to station 1 station 16 u and had a look around. the firehouses almost completed. the workmanship is first class. i'm very pleased. i had a question on fleet week. what are the dates of that? >> do you know the dates of fleet week? >> october 2nd through the tenth. >> and final question, i know that one of our priorities in the department has been to update our fleet, whether it be fire engines for trucks, or our ambulances, and i had a question for you. just how many of our rigs currently are old and need to be replaced, if you had to give a guesstimate? one of our priorities in the

department is to replace the old fleet to make sure that we have the best that we can get. i just wondered how many of the old ambulances need to be replaced of the 300,000 miles on them, as well as trucks and fire engines? >> i can get those numbers for you. i don't have them off the top of my head, but i do know that we do have three trucks in the works and six new engines in the works. july 1st, we will be developed -- developing the new spender sr ambulances because they would have been in the field for some time. we will take them down to the central shops and have them identified and take all the evaluations that we've gotten from all of our personnel and see if and how we can move forward with those, or in some other way. so we want to get good

information from this pilot program before we pull the trigger on any city. >> how many miles to be pu we pn ambulance before we retire it? >> how many miles to put on an ambulance? >> i bet it's 300,000. >> no. i would say no. in this city with the topography, there is no way we would run them 300,000 miles. >> i've seen some old ones with 150, 150. >> do we need to start retiring them around 100,000 miles or hundred 50,000 miles. >> yes. >> just to add, i think we can drill down those numbers. i do know that since 1997 when i talked about taking over the ems division and to the san francisco fire department, our fleet has never been in such a good condition in terms of i would say more than 50% of our fleet is within the last 5-6 years, which is for us, and her

tough. we really have been making great progress with your support. >> i think, looking ahead here, i think it is important that we budget this year coming up, and future five years worth of budgets to continue to replace our fleet and make sure we have the most up-to-date possible. and so that is important to know just how old the fleet is. make sure that the board of supervisors and the mayor, whoever that maybe, understand that is a priority for the city and for the citizens and certainly for the department. thank you for your work. >> thank you. >> madam secretary, will you call the next item? >> item six. commission reports. report on commission activity since lasactivitiessince last m, 2018. >> is there any public comment

on this item? seeing then, public comment is closed. commissioners? >> commissioner veronese: thank you at commissioner. so far, last meeting, i have been working, in our last meeting, i mentioned i was working with -- met with the chief about the peer support unit resolution. since that time, i took it off to local 798 and had some conversations with them about it. they seem to be ok with the current language. i'll discuss further in the next agenda item. and then i did have the pleasure of visiting the arson station down at the old toy program building. a great little building over there. they can build to the law enforcement building around it, essentially. on my way there i got lost and i

stopped in station four and they were more than happy to take some of the deserts i brought for the arson guys. i got to hang out with them, and take a look at it and get a tour of the station. it really is beautiful, a state-of-the-art station. it is worthy of this department, and it's cool to see. so i was there for a little barrett and i went over to station two, the arson task force over there and had lunch with them, and that was it wase experience. a lot like station 35. thirty-five is a lot older, it seems. it is a little station and needs some work, but it was really interesting and good to see the relationship between the police department, because the police department heads of people station there, as well, for obvious reasons. i didn't know we actually had members of our departments that are armed, for purposes of arson. i guess that totally, it makes

sense, thinking about it but i did not know. it was interesting to see. it was an interesting experience to learn more about fire and what they do and hats off to the chief, because they express the support they've been getting from the chief's office, to make sure that that unit even existed. i don't think too far back it was a struggling unit. it has gotten a lot of good things there. and then, today, i had the pleasure of visiting the ladies and gentlemen that participate in the search and rescue training. that was happening out out at china beach. we visited last year and it was around this time. and i was ready to spend -- i was able to spend a couple of hours with them. i didn't think they expected me to jump in the water, but i did. i played a victim for a little

bit, sorry chief. i was safe. i was used to that water. i have a lot of experience in that water. i was able to get a real sense of what these ladies and gentlemen do, and to the public out there, i actually have some pictures i can share with the commission if they want to see them. or maybe we can get that-- >> on the overhead? >> sure. [laughter] >> no muscles, commissioner. >> you can start your three

minutes now. commissioners, this happened, as you know, at the china beach, actually this is a five-day program. i've been trying to figure out -- make sure nobody calls. >> that is for the overhead. >> it is a five-day program. it starts off with 8400-yard qualification on monday. i actually, for the last 2-3 weeks, knowing that i would go out there and visit these ladies and gentlemen out there, i practised it. let me tell you, it is no small feat. i couldn't do it myself. i got to about 200 yards and almost had a heart attack. but that being said,. >> that's my concern. [laughter] >> i think technically i'm an employee, so i'm covered and i get paid 20 bucks at the end of these meetings. so, the first day --

>> forty-seven dollars. >> forty-seven dollars. not after taxes. the first days a qualification in the swimming pool on the second day is over at aquatic park where the water is a little bit calmer and still cold. and then the third day, they make their way towards the ocean. it is china beach which was this morning and really an amazing experience. and then i believe the fourth and fifth day are out in the rougher waters at ocean beach. i used to serve as a kid. >> he wants the overhead? >> china beach started off the there. this is them. they start the morning off there. with about an hour and a half less in learning about the titles and the water coming in and out and how that actually affects the water and the tide

affects the currents coming in and out. i was there around 10:00. and the tide was going out. at the water line, the water was pushing us towards the bridge. if you sat out there, you would move about 100 yards in less than a minute. it was actually pretty powerful. what these individuals do is pretty moving. they start off with a 400-yard swimming you can see the far rock there where the water is out at the end here. from there to the end and about here, it is about 400 yards. in that title water, it is pretty intense. i'm not in that picture. i did not do that. and then it broke up into four stations. the four stations where the rescue of somebody who had -- the first person was a person who was conscious, the second

one is a person who is unconscious, which is taught what very different experiences, and the third was using the board, and the fourth was using the jet ski is that you see here and here. chief stiles is explaining the current study actual jet ski itself, the undercurrents from the water being pulled in is really interesting and lots of dangerous there as well. moving on, more great pictures. i actually got in the water. i got a picture of you here. in real life, i have more hair, in real life my hair is more like the chief's hair. in this case, when it is matted down you can't tell. so these are just the stations are dead. this is me as a victim.

i played that one really well. i made it out of the water, and then the last portion of it, i thought this was actually very instructional, as well, i did not originally see the utility and it but i got to see the view of the water out by dead man's point and by the point where if you recall, tory fell back last june. seeing that perspective, as opposed to the prospective up on the cliff, brought me an appreciation for a bunch of things. for the equipment that we really need out there and i know this e commission talks about a marine unit as well. and there is me. you can see they are actually holding me up there. i don't have my arm around somebody. i am being held up. all in all it was a really good experience. but it did bring me appreciation that i have for, like i said, the drones, that we really need

to get moving on. that is on my desk. the marine unit, which is super important, floated around some ideas in my own client about maybe working with the nra because they have a unit out there as well it maybe working with the police department but it is something we should start wrapping our hands around. and that is it. i just wanted to personally thank the crew who was out there. they were very, very nice and welcoming, and especially the battalion chiefs and the crew of instructors who really do a top-notch job. one thing i did wanted to mention, one of my observations with some of the people that were there, they were so dedicated that they were there to become a part of this team on their own time. not even on department time, i thought it was pretty amazing. the wetsuits were donated by a's foundation. and , of course,, that just goes to show, you know, how we really need this grant writer because i

know some of those other grants could really help us get these men and women the right type of equipment be. because if they had the right type of equipment, they would be able to save some better lives. on my tour of that cliff side, which is pretty amazing how dangerous those cliffs are, and how rough that water is out there, i noticed, not less than, this is about 11:00 o'clock this morning, not less than four people that were literally sitting on the edges of those cliffs with their legs hanging over, taking pictures. i mean these people were future victims. there's no question about it. i was just there for a minute or two and i saw at least four people. it just goes to show how we probably need some better education along those coasts and i know that earlier this year i proposed a task force to the mayors office prior -- prior to apparently passing away, i will reoppose that because i think it is important that people stay as

far away from those cliffs as possible. as beautiful as it is, so dangerous and i could easily see one of those people falling from one of those cliffs, 200 feet into the water and i could see why we have so many calls out there, chief, and why this marine unit is something we need to pay attention to. so that being said, thank you for allowing me these three minutes and i will leave now. >> thank you. it was actually three minutes. that's ok. [laughter] any other commissioners wish to speak and make a report? any other commissioners? no? seeing none, madam secretary, we should call the next item. >> item six. agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? maureen, wine don't you start by

reading what is on the list -- why don't you start by reading what is on the list. >> we have an update from the airport division, and then i believe the chie chief mention e wanted to get a budget item. >> that should be on the next meeting. >> that's all we have so far. >> is that it? >> yep. >> commissioners? do you want to add something to a future commission. >> commissioner veronese: we have the peer support thing and i will distribute it to us this week to the rest of the commissioners. >> to the rest of the commissioners, right. anybody else? all right. >> item seven. adjournment. >> president cleaveland: seeing -- any public comment on this? >> seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, what's your pleasure? [laughter]

>> good morning everyone and thank you for joining us. my name is beth stokes and i want to welcome you here. the supportive housing home to 134 single adults. i'm the executive director of the pittsburgh -- episcopal nudity services of san francisco. one of the leading providers of supportive housing. we are committed to finding solutions to end homelessness by helping individuals and families

with the tools necessary to exit homelessness. including pathways to housing, workforce development, and permanent supportive housing. of the formerly homeless residents who access our services, 98 % remain permanently housed. ninety-eight %. so we are very proud of that. here we are you currently are, we have the highest risk and most vulnerable san franciscans. this five-story property was completed in 2,009 with development funds from the city and county of san francisco. it is one of the best examples of solutions to ending homelessness in our community. we are proud to partner with the city of san francisco to end homelessness and i'm very, very pleased this morning to introduce you to the honourable mayor, mark farrell. thank you. [applause] >> mayor farrell: thank you best. i think the house for hosting us

this morning here in san francisco. you know, we do not have to remind anyone why we are here this morning. why we are here today for this announcement. homelessness is a crisis in the city of san francisco. our city government needs to step up. our city, our region, our state, our country is dealing with this tragedy every single day on the streets. the roots of the epidemic are complex. there is no single solution to solve the issue. we need to pursue a wide variety of initiatives. we need to fund programs that have been proven to work. we need to be flexible to fund programs that will work. we need to measure ourselves by the success of the individuals living on our streets today. and when they get off a street and get into shelters and onto their own 2 feet and onto better lives. today, i am announcing approximately $30,000 in funding

to address the homeless crisis in san francisco. first of all, i'm doubling down on the homeward bound -- bound program. this initiative helps struggling individuals with family members and loved ones. i know elements of this program may seem controversial, but we have to acknowledge the fact that it is here in san francisco where we have had a very effective program. as mayor of the city i'm connected to programs that are working and making a difference in their lives with getting people off the streets of san francisco. last year, 900 individuals used project homeward bound and of that total, lesson from four % turn to the city of san francisco. this program works and is having a dramatic effect and we are doubling the funding for this program. of those individuals that have been helped by project homeward bound, a man is here today from

his home in reno. at one point he was unsheltered and struggling with mental health here on the streets of san francisco. after he spent time at the general hospital, we were able to connect contacts, and connect them back home with his family. he arrived last month and sergio and the rest of his family are thrilled to have him back and he is making progress daily. that is what compassion looks like to me. without programs that we are funding to make a difference in individual lives. for are resilient individuals who have overcome great hardship, this budget package will fund projects to help to make sure they will never be on the streets of san francisco. we are adding $2 million to fund 150 new supportive housing units across the city of san francisco. and $2 million for the opening and operations of a building, a

site with 50 supportive housing units in san francisco. with those new units brought online, san francisco will boast more than 7,000 permanent supportive housing units and here just right here in our city. the most per capita of the city in our entire country. along with adding new units, i will be investing one and a half million dollars to provide additional services to these units. it will provide assistance for our communities and provide the resources necessary to help individuals who are coming off the streets. most importantly, and most substantially connect this budget package will include $50 million for new navigation centres. helping support our new facilities here. we will provide a million dollars for programs for transitional eyes use. a population that has been dramatically affected with homelessness in san francisco.

we are specifically wanting to address this. we are providing new access points to provide resources, supports and services for families and residents juggling with homelessness on the streets. this is a comprehensive package. this is about making sure we create new exits off the streets through temporary shelters and permanent supportive housing. it's also making sure we provide the resources necessary to stem the tide of new people becoming homeless in san francisco. we will not solve homelessness overnight in our city. but in san francisco we are investing for the future click as mayor, it has been one of my biggest priority since week one in office and i am incredibly proud of the policies that we have moved forward with in the city. we are going to continue to put a foot on the gas pedal until my last day in office. this funding package will ensure the city of san francisco, for years to come will have the resources necessary to continue

to address the issue on the streets of san francisco. we are not going to do this alone. takes the help of community leaders, of organizations and individuals willing to come off the street, but we are making progress and we are making life better for those that are on our streets and we are making life better for san francisco residents. with that i want to thank you all for being here today i don't want to bring up to the podium the person who is really leading the charge here and has been doing great work for our city of san francisco and will be doing so for years to come. our director for homelessness and supportive housing. [applause] >> thank you mr mayor. i'm here with the department of homelessness and supportive housing. first i want to thank san francisco community services for hosting this event and for all the amazing work that they do. we are very lucky to have an organization like ecs and san francisco and we are also very lucky to have them at the helm

of the ecs. they are doing an amazing job leading this organization as the backbone provider and homelessness response system. i also want to thank our staff who are here with a few folks are here from the homeward bound program to, every day, are out hoping to reunite family and people who are homeless with family and friends who are able to take them back into their lives. the chair of the local homeless correlating board, and then other hs h. staff. thank you for being here and think all of you for joining us but mostly i want to thank mayor farrell for this budget proposal that he is putting forward. we are very excited about the fact that this budget represents and really reflects the work that we laid out in our strategic plan when our department was created by mayor lee. we spent a year figuring out what can we do to best address homelessness and san francisco? we laid out a clear plan with specific goals. this budget practice really

reflects what we see as the priorities that were developed not only by staff members and also in consultation with our nonprofit providers and advocates and people expressing homelessness themselves. we are very grateful to see this expansion that focuses on three important areas that will help us, number 1 reduce unsheltered homelessness and opening up more navigation centres. to end homelessness by providing rent subsidies and supportive housing sights. we really appreciate mayor if there -- farrell. supporting 50 people every week exit homelessness through a variety of programs. but every week hundreds of people replace those folks get off the streets. we need to figure out how can we use programs like homeward bound, eviction prevention, flexible housing grants for

people so we can help folks get back to the last safe place where they were staying and reduce the number of newly homeless people in the city. this does all o is all of thosed we are very excited. i'm looking forward to being able to dig in and start doing this work once the budget is approved by the board of supervisors and signed off by the mayor. thank you very much. is now my pleasure, we have two hs h. clients in the house with us as well. one in the house and one on the tv screen. first i would like to introduce mr williams, first of all, and i want to thank him for our service to the country. he served in the navy for eight years. helping defend our country and ended up homelessness -- homeless but we are very pleased it is now he is living in the operant residence which is by this property which is housing that we put together for people who are veterans and to have also served the country and military and are experiencing

homelessness and needed a hand up to get off the streets. mr williams moved in recently and joined me i join me in welco the podium. [applause] >> hello. i am a san francisco native. i am a u.s. navy vet and i live in the bay area predominantly most of my life. i stay at supportive housing for the past few months and i am just happy, you know, to have a place to stay. i am benefiting from trying to get being put in a situation where i can get my life back together. it's looking good. i wish it was more programs like this to help people, you know, change their lives. thank you.

>> thank you mr williams and fortunately, with this budget we will have more housing like the auburn, it is very close to the auburn and what it we are excited it will be opening up very shortly. also we talked about the homeward bound program and the mayor made reference to mr bravo who is over there on the tv screen. he is one of the many, many individuals whose families participate in the homeward bound program over 850 people a year and all of those experiences are unique and i will tell you that that although this program sometimes may appear controversial to some, we get so many lanter is on a regular basis of people thanking us for reuniting them with their family members and people who are homeless themselves whose lives have really turned around by getting reconnected to family and friends. we're very proud of the work of

this program and very excited mr bravo was here and it's going to be able to share some of his thoughts. mr bravo was there, and was able to share some thoughts. we will try to reconnect quickly. but while we are doing that, i want to share some of the homeward bound stories in addition to mr bravo's. one gentleman that we have been made aware of was homeless in san francisco and reunited with his family in north carolina and is getting his master's degree at yale. we have another individual just recently, maybe four or five months ago, he was a senior citizen who ended off -- ended on the streets and was not really sure where she was exactly. and we were able to bring these guys over here and find her family member and return her to her family. escorted her back to where she was and she is suffering from

dementia and we were able to reconnect her with her family. we also have so many stories of people going back to tennessee in chicagand chicago and peoplee bay area and folks were able to reconnect with their people. i think it is an incredibly important part of it recovering from homelessness. like a not everybody has family or friends they can return to that when they can, one of the processes and healing and recovery from the trauma of being homeless is having people around you who care about you. i think there's no better medicine than that. we are really proud of the homeward bound program. i think we are going to end up having to conclude. let's get a last-minute technical failure. the mayor spoke briefly about mr bravo's story but his son was on the streets of san francisco suffering from severe mental health issues, we were able to make a connection with him and get him reunited with his father

in reno and is now receiving intensive mental health support in order to help the sun get back on his feet again and be the best person that he can possibly be and this would not have happened without the homeward bound program. i think at this point we will go ahead and conclude the program. thank you very much for being here today. [applause] [♪]