>> we have a great program today. i know many of you are here to celebrate the opening of a building. so many more of us are here because it's an exciting day to celebrate the life of one of our good friends and colleagues, natalie gub, and a lot of us are gathered here for both, so -- [applause] >> i'm doug shoemaker, and we're lucky enough to be here with you to celebrate this fantastic day. i'm wandering over here,

wondering what to say, but i think i have it pretty much intact. in addition to the opening of a building, natalie was somebody that was near and dear to many people. you see a lot of us wearing these pins that say i worked for natalie, and i think half of the people in housing feel that way, whether you worked for the city, worked for a housing director or whether you worked directly for natalie. i know that, you know, by the time i accomplished next to nothing, natalie was already taking credit for whatever it is that i did, and whatever it is that i ever accomplished, she took double credit for. i know i'm not alone in the room when i say she deserves twice as much credit as she took, and she took a lot of credit. i'm not going to take a lot of time today, but i want to take a moment and thank mayor london breed, who's here with you all.

went to bed last night, there was a housing authority. woke up this morning and suddenly discovered that the city is stepping in in a very profound way to assist with this big problem. i don't know how many of you read the chronicle, but it's one of the reasons to make me excited to have london breed in the mayor, i think there are many places in the united states that their housing authorize runs into the same problems we had, and the city turns a blind eye. but you know that this city is not turning its back on the housing authority nor to its citizens, and it makes me proud to be a citizen and it makes me proud to have a mayor like london breed.

>> the hon. london breed: thank you, doug, and thank you, mercy housing, not just for the natalie gub comments here but for housing projects all over san francisco that serve a low-income population. and i want to thank david, natalie's husband, thank you so much for being with us. this is to commemorate another 120 100% affordable units in san francisco. with the unit right next to it, this is 190 affordable units here in the city and county of san francisco. it is such a beautiful day to cut the ribbon on the property, but also to honor a person who fought for low-income tax credits dating back to the 1980's. natalie was an incredible

advocate, and i see many of you wearing buttons. you had the opportunity to work with her on creative solutions for housing affordable not just in san francisco but throughout the state of california. we know this is not just a battle to make sure that we have affordable housing in san francisco, we need to make sure that we have affordable housing throughout the state of california and look at our dated policies that have existed since the 1960's and make changes. it's why i was so proud to lead the effort around neighborhood preference legislation, so that 40% of all new developments would go to the people who actually live in that community first to avoid displacement of the existing residents. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: you know, projects like this making

mayor wonderful, but i want to make sure we create thousands more. i don't want a city that has extremely wealthy and extremely poor, we need everyone in between to be able to afford to live in a place like san francisco, a place that i was born and raised in. and i am just so happy to be here because this is not just any commons, this is not just any apartment complex, there will be child care on-site for the families that are here, which is absolutely amazing. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so we have more work to do, and i want to thank so many amazing people to helped to make this possible, of course, starting with mercy housing, the office of community investment and infrastructure, the mayor's office of housing and community development. i know kate hartley is here,

hope sf and wells fargo. it takes a village to create something like this, and today is a day we celebrate affordable housing in san francisco, and thank you all so much for being a part of it. [applause] >> so the mayor made brief reference to it, and i just want to follow up on one of her points. so mercy housing has the good fortune to be working with the city and the housing authority and our partner related on the redevelopment and renovation of sunnydale and visitacion valley. i want to thank ocii and the mayor's office of housing and the mayor because we were able to do something extraordinary, we were able to provide residents of sunnydale a property that has been falling apart for a while because of just lack of funds, we're rebuilding it. it's going to take sometime, but as a consequence of the fact that we had housing

opportunities here, ocii and the mayor's office stepped up and made 23 of those apartments available to the residents of sunnydale who decided they wanted to try living here in this neighborhood. [applause] >> so it's an incredibly important thing, i think something that we really wanted to see happen. it's amaze not to see something like this happen in a short period of time, but it's really an important opportunity, and i just want to say how much we appreciate it and i'm looking forward to many more opportunities for residents like that, in particular the residents of sunnydale and potrero. on that note, i want to bring up supervisor jane kim, who as many of you know, has been to as many of these ribbon cuttings that you can imagine.

i think there's been more affordable housing in her district than any in the city. but foremost ribbon cuttings in a supervisorial term, if she hasn't won it, i don't know who has. she's been a profound supporter of affordable housing if her career. she's been a great friend to mercy housing and all the work that you do, and i want to thank and welcome supervisor kim. [applause] >> supervisor kim: i think i hold the most ribbon cuttings for any housing development in the city as we build 60% of all of san francisco's housing, and i'm really proud that the majority of the affordable housing is being built in this district, the south of market, mission bay, and the tenderloin. and while that takes leadership, i also have to thank the residents of district six who have accepted affordable

housing, believed in mixed income communities and has not put up barriers to us building housing in this neighborhood. this would not be possible if not for us having such graed community leadership and organizations here. so i am a proud neighbor of mercy housing. i am surrounded by mercy housing where i live in the south of market. to the south of me, we have columbia square. to the north of me, we have two projects on howard street. to the south of me, we have del soro housing, that we just cut the ribbon on last year, and to the west, we have another. there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the real households, families and seniors that get to stay here in san francisco with

security in knowing that they are able to walk into a healthy and safe home every single night with their children and with their grandparents. and this project is exciting because it was the very first -- well, i'm sorry. it was the very first of my time on the board of supervisors when we were -- when we had started initiating the transbay redevelopment process. the first was 100% affordable housing across the street, renee casa nas -- casa nueva. 190 units of affordable housing is an extraordinary project in a single -- in a single building. and on top of that, it has really been our affordable housing developers in transbay that have been the first to

lease up their ground floor retail, so whether it's phil's coffee or our affordable child care site, it has been the retailers that has been the first to lease up to child care, and ensure that the amenities provided to all of our residents are there from day one, and so i ask the market rate developers to follow in their leadership in activating our neighborhood for all of us. [applause] >> supervisor kim: i do want to recognize the staff of ocii, our director, nadia cesae.

finally, beyond, of course, recognizing the amazing staff at mercy housing that bring our policies into actual fruition and make this a reality for our residents that get to live there, i do want to give a special thanks to natalie gub and her family. i know that her family and husband, david, are here today. i learned a little bit about this opening, as well. i did not realize that natalie was instrumental in drafting the low-income housing tax credit in 1986, and i cannot tell you how critical that has been in almost the construction of every single

affordable housing development in san francisco, and if not for natalie's tenacious implementation of this, thousands of housing units would never have been built in san francisco. i want to thank natalie, i want to thank her family for supporting her immense leadership that has benefited thousands of households throughout the country and certainly here in san francisco. i have to say, i think this is the first ribbon cutting that i've been to where a building is named after a woman. [applause] >> supervisor kim: examine it is time that we recognize women for their contribution and leadership here in our city, so thank you very much to everyone. [applause] >> i don't know if we should be proud that we're the first building that the supervisor can remember -- i know it was said

lovingly. i think it's great that we named the building after a woman, and i'm trying to rack my brain to see if this organization led my women has done the right thing on this, but if we haven't named enough buildings after women, blame jane graff. that's all i'm going to say on that topic. manage up. i don't know what to tell you. so no, this is a fabulous district. mercy housing has achieved what we have achieved so much as an organization because we are based here in san francisco. there's no chance that we would be the organization that we are today because the partnership of the city of san francisco. i think, you know, i look at all these colleagues, and i know there are days where we fight like siblings. i think it's like siblings.

i think that's the right thing, but on days like today, i think we can really feel a proud sense of joint accomplishment of all the things that we accomplish together. there is no more a mercy housing building than an ocii building than a city of san francisco building. these impossible to do on your own. it is fantastic that we have a city that tries and tries and tries to raise the bar ever higher. sometimes we raise it too high, and we have to readjust, but if you don't raise it high, you'll never get to where you need to go. i think there are few cities in the nation that could have said we have 35% of affordable neighborhoods with these types of units and these types of rents, but we are doing it. i want to thank the staff at housing and ocii, and we have another unit across. these are 600 units of

affordable and market rate, and the project across the street is going to be 700. these units are going to be 50% affordable. i think i've got my math right, and if i don't, blame jeff. i'd like to thank the supervisors. they've made these opportunities extraordinary for the developers and all the people that work with ocii, the staff and everyone else. it would not be possible but for the leadership and the staff. and i want to bring up lawanda harda to talk a little bit about the organization. >> thank you. as you can tell, all the women are on one side, and the men are on this side. thank you, natalie. it's a beautiful day in san francisco, especially at natalie gub commons. finally, a name. we used to be calling this transbay block number six and number seven, and now it is the

natalie gub commons, and it is a woman. i'm sure natalie is smiling and applauding us today from march up there, so i'm deeply honored to be able to celebrate with our city and nonprofit partners to celebrate this beautiful and much needed affordable housing complex. when the transbay development project was adopted 13 years ago, these were the types of buildings the former redevelopment agency envisioned. isn't it beautiful? i could live here. i live across from here. i'm a proud neighbor, and a b.m.r. tenant. so beautiful -- yes, so i know what it's like. so beautiful, affordable homes in the center of downtown san francisco that fit in seamlessly with the surrounding community. this is the third project by mercy housing, and -- and thank you, doug, for leading this

project. i want to congratulate natalie gub, whose family is here today, and her husband, david, for all of her hard work for bringing numerous housing projects to fruition. she will be remembered by all of us, but especially in the affordable housing community. as someone who lives in the neighborhood myself, i could actually have walked here, but i took lyft, and i didn't realize after he turned i was here, so i was one of the very early people who were here. i didn't realize where i was, i kind of got discombobulated. i was here when no one else was here, so i'm pleased to see more affordable housing in the pipeline. about 1100 units in transbay alone, so i want to commend my fellow commissioners, commissioner rosales, commissioner singh, and

commissioner scott who are here, and of course mayor london breed who used to be in the redevelopment commission. because of all of you, because of the work that the commissioners put in pro bono, we're able to achieve this project. and of course, the ocii staff led by nadia cesay, our executive director, thank you for our leadership, and of course, mercy housing, the mayor's office of housing and community development, mohcd, hope sf, the housing authority, and many others. it's been a joy to collaborate in this endeavor. so i also want to thank mayor breed, thank you for your continued leadership. supervisor jane kim, my supervisor in district six. i've lived here for 35 years. don shoemaker, the president of mercy housing. the services provider, the south

of market child care center, have you checked this out, this child care for 40 kids? it's beautiful [applause] >> i mean, look at all these things here that they provider our kids. we have -- the architect, architect santos prescott -- there you are -- well, from the company. another woman, the contractor, kayhill construction. is kayhill construction -- oh, there i see a hand -- a couple of hands. we have oh, the key staff of ocii that made this happen. thank you for all your work. [applause] >> the mohcd director, kay hartley, the hsa director barbara smith. so thank you all for being here. today is really a beautiful day

in san francisco, and thank you for joining the celebration. [applause] >> all right. i'm going to thank mayor lee, especially since she thanked half the people that i was supposed to. anyone i didn't mention, i want to thank, as well. we -- we do a lot of these ribbon cuttings, which is great. we like to do them as often as we possibly can. part of what makes it possible is to have an understanding of what it takes to get this done. so in the obscure world of housing, you heard about the tax credit, which i'm sure you talk about over dinner. at least if you're in the affordable housing world, you talk about it all the time. you can't escape it. natalie was an expert in this. she helped shape the way our industry works with these

programs, and she -- i think in addition to shaping those of us that work on this side, she shaped or banking and investment partners. no, natalie was tough, not as tough as then commissioner breed when she was on the redevelopment commission, but she was tough. and we are really lucky. we have some tremendous financing partners that we get to work with on these projects. it's a very specialized field. we get to work with a lot of these individuals in this world, and very few do it as well as wells fargo. i'm going to bring up tim mccann from our wonderful partner, wells fargo. >> thank you, thank you mercy housing, for inviting me. can i move this? thank you. i'm just going to make a few brief comments. my name's tim mccann, and i represent wells fargo. we've invested $30 million in

this project, and we're the construction lender for $35 million. i want to thank my internal partners at wells fargo. we've always worked together with mercy housing to form this partnership, and i really appreciate this opportunity not only to partner with you, but to be part of natalie gub commons which is historic in its own way. like i said, i work for wells fargo, and wells fargo believes part of our culture is investing in our communities because we believe -- we can only be as successful as the communities that we invest in. and i work for a group that's called community lending investment, and that commitment extends nationwide, and we're the largest investor in low-income housing tax credits. we invest about $2 billion a year for the past four or five years, and we're very proud of that.

we're also proud of the partners that we partner with, and i especially want to thank mercy housing, a cast of thousands, i think, and we're really proud to be partners with them, and we're proud to partner with ocii, the mayor's office of housing, london breed, everybody in san francisco that has made this project come together. we really appreciate that. and i especially want to thank natalie gub. i have kind of a story. i hope it makes sense. there's a sports analogy on here, and seeing how i'm on a basketball court, maybe it all makes sense. so i was a boy, i wanted to be a professional athlete like most boys, and i always imagined someday i would be playing with larry byrd or something like that. spoiler alert, it didn't work out. i went to work for a firm out of

college, in consulting, back in 1992 when i was in my 20's. and i worked for fnme. and every time i worked with mercy housing, they were represented by natalie gub. i thought natalie was amazing, she knew what she was doing. joel worked on those, as well. i didn't think he was quite so amazing, but that's another story. natalie worked on all these deals, and she was a dig player in the transactions. i was doing all the work but not getting any credit. so my career moved on. i went to work with wachovia, and then, they merged with wells fargo. and wells fargo asked me to go to california again, and i worked again with natalie gub. and working with natalie gub was

kind of like playing with larry byrd. here's somebody who is a big part of the industry, started the industry, was a big player in my mind, and here i was, working with her, so it was very exciting for me. i felt like i kind of matriculated to the brass ring to work with natalie gub to have her be a partner of mine, a mentor of mine. it was tli it was thrilling to come to california to work with her, and i think it's fitting that this is named natalie gub commons. thank you very much. >> i don't know if any of you are trying to figure out which celtic tim is. knicks or warriors.

people move around. what once would have been a career at the celtics, now, she would have had a lot of opportunities. thanks, tim, there are other people that aren't here, and i do want to thank the state department of housing and community development. some of you are wondering with what happens with the cap and trade dollars that we get at the state level as we've been working to try to figure out how to control carbon emissions and make the world safe for the next generation. one part of how the state invests that money is in projects like this, whereas marily said -- try a scooter next time. i hear they're wonderful. but those funds are invested in projects like this. if you live at natalie gub commons, you have the opportunity to walk just about anywhere in the city. you can get on any forms of

transit. soon, there will be high speed rail -- it's hard to visualize. that's why i'm having trouble. we're inches away from the transbay terminal, and it's that kind of investment that will enable people to live without cars or use cars on a periodic basis, and that's why the state invests so much in things like this. it's so important as you speak to elected officials that you recognize sort of where the money that we're using to build these projects goes to. when you run into your representatives or state senators, you can remind them how important is projects like this. all right. i want to transition now, we've talked a lot about the project and people have made reference to natalie. i -- i was lucky, when i came to mercy, the relationship with natalie and david was already very, very strong. it extended well beyond anything

that relates to the business or work that we do, and david and natalie have welcomed countless members of the mercy housing staff and family into their homes over the years and into the relationships that we were all able to form over the years. we had a very nice, small event with the family here about two or three weeks ago. david said some wonderful words, and he has greagreed to share a little bit more here, so i want to bring up natalie's husband, david. >> i am honored to be here today to acknowledge the legacy of natalie, and to represent our two sons, erin and ethan, and natalie's sister and brother. having natalie's name attached to a place that people call home in this city she so loved makes

a profound statement of her life's work. often when we were in san francisco together, natalie would insist that we see one or more of the many affordable housing developments she worked on and was so proud of. as map reading and a sense of direction were not really her forte, i often had to navigate the way to the housing developments that she wanted to show me. i have a sense, though, that even natalie would not have difficulty locating natalie gub commons. right here in the heart of this city, in transformation. another little known fact about natalie was her lack of interest in looking at site and building plans. she would ask clients to please just describe it in words, but if natalie were here today, she would not need to hear words to

feel honored by this very public dedication of a beautiful property that provides desperately needed housing that she worked so tirelessly to provide for more than 30 years. however, as those of you who worked with her can well imagine, she would have deeply appreciated all of the words that are being spoken here today in recognition of her life's work. natalie likes to dispense with formality. she would correct children who addressed her as ms. gub, or, god forbid, mrs. gub, advising them to ad her as natalie. i am grateful, as i know she

would have been, to have this home for many named natalie gub commons, and to be here today in acknowledgement and celebration. on behalf of all of us, thank you. the entire mercy housing team, and all the other people that are involved in this family of building such needed housing and for honoring natalie's work and life in such a thoughtful and meaningful way. [applause] >> thanks, david. well, many people thank many people, and i'm looking at my list because i want to be sure i don't forget all the people that i usually forget, but i do want to thank another folks. i think they're mentioned already, but the fab lus folks at south of market child care.

i think it's going to be a fabulous place. it's not unnoticed by all of us just how profound moving into an affordable housing development can be on the lives of future children, it's profound, and we're looking forward to the partnership with you. i want to also thank some folks that did the hard work, greg chin from california partnership, julia bennett, chris rivera, who does the construction management for us. i just want to make a minute, if you work for mercy housing, if you wouldn't mind just raising your hand, standup for a second to just be acknowledged for all of the great work that you do. [applause] >> you know, i think mercy housing is a very special place, but i just saw someone

acknowledge we're part of a broader movement and a field of people who do this work. many of the people in this room go to other ribbon cuttings just like this. we're fortunate in a we can go to work at a place that we can do so much good in the world. it's a very rewarding feeling to go to work most days. and, you know, we joke at mercy housing that we're the world's worst marketsing people. i don't really think it's a joke. we're not all that great at marketing. maybe we need to start selling something like lemonjade or something. but i think this is great marketing. i'm personally very thrilled.

my kids are a little bit like david described. they know their way around san francisco by pinpointing -- yes, dad, we know, that's the bg on ocean avenue. yes, dad -- they were forced to take the affordable housing tour with great regularity, and i'm pleased that the affordable housing, we moved it off the pink palate. today, we've moved away with that. bruce took a big step away with transbay six, much to the delight of our partners. small inside joke. in any event, we're winding down, but i do want to just take a moment, we have a moment in all of our openings that we take a minute to hear from somebody

who lives in here. adrian lived in this building and he's already made a giant step back. he seems to be a very, very active member of this neighborhood. i personally at this moment -- i don't even know what disney musical or disney show -- i went to sleep in rincon, but i woke up here in east cut. he's been a tremendous asset to the staff and to the neighborhood, and i want to bring him up now. [applause] >> hi, everybody. my name is adrian caratosa. i'm a resident of natalie gub commons. i am very lucky to be in this building. i know a lot of people have applied for this lottery. this is my 25th lottery.

six years, it took me to get in. [applause] >> i used to live in a t.m.c. building in the tenderloin for five years. they were really good to me. a little bit about me, when i was nine years old, i contracted h.i.v., and early stage of my life, i had a lot of health issues. for a long time, i did not feel like i mattered, and i definitely felt like no one would ever hire me. and when i got into this place, i actually felt for the first time in my life that i could do something for other people. so me paying it forward, letting other people know that they matter, no matter how much money or no money they make, they are equal to everyone else. for me to be living here and hopefully for the rest of my life, i want to make a difference. i'm pushing for affordable

groceries in this building or in this entire area. that's a big thing to me. [applause] >> and yeah, i'm -- a couple years ago i was someone who could not go into a room full of people, and here i am, giving a speech, winging it. i'm very fortunate to be in this building. i hope i can make a change, but more importantly, i hope i can help other people to embrace their voice, as well. so thank you so much. [applause] >> you guys see the cable tv possibilities, right? i think it is very hard for me to picture that adrian is somebody that had a hard time speaking in front of people. but really appreciate your work, and your advocacy on behalf of the neighborhood, and i'm sure the commissioners are hearing your excitement about having affordable groceries, although just to clarify, not at this building.

thank you so much for your patience. i know it was a relatively long program. it's a fantastic day here in san francisco. it's a great day to celebrate our partnership together and celebrate natalie gubb. we're going to ask your patient, once these people have cleared through, feel free to standup. there's some food on the inside in the common area, and thank you so much for coming here and joining us here today.

>> i have been living in san francisco since 1957. i live in this area for 42 years. my name is shirley jackson, and i am a retirement teacher for san francisco unified school district, and i work with early

childhood education and after school programs. i have light upstairs and down stairs. it's been remodelled and i like it. some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. but we've got lighting. the room seems lighter. they painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i won't be worried about landscaping too much. we have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. up to date -- oh, and we have venetian blinds. we never had venetian blinds before, and it's just cozy for me. it meant a lot to me because i didn't drive, and i wanted to be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take the kids to school. i like the way they introduced

the move-in. i went to quite a bit of the meetings. they showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. it means a lot. it's just that i've been here so long. most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. the park was always peaceful, and -- i don't know. i just loved it. i wanted to be here, and i stayed.

>> good morning, everyone. good morning. thank you all so much for being here today to announce the launching of the rising up campaign to reduce youth homelessness here in san francisco. as many of you know, every night, there's over 1200 young people in our city who are experiencing homelessness and our goal is to cut that number by at least 50% in the coming years, but to do that, we need pard partnerships from all levels of government, from the provide sector, from our nonprofits, and we're excited that so many people have come together to launch this initiative. most important for things like this to be successful, and we

need leadership, leadership from city hall, and i'm so thankful that our mayor, london breed has taken up this issue of youth homelessness. it's a great honor for me to introduce to you all our mayor, london breed. >> the hon. london breed: thank you all for being here today. many of you know that before i became an elected official i was the executive director of the african american art and culture complex where we work with so many young people. in fact, the phrase, tay, which is transitional age youth, young people between the ages of 18 and 24 came out of a lot of the work that the african american cultural complex did, along with mo magic and larkin street and the department of children and families in order to identify ways that we can do a better job of serving young people who unfortunately may not always

have a support system. i remember when i was that age, struggling in college, trying to stay in college. the frustration, the expenses, how much it cost for not just the dorms, but you know, even in a roommate situation, the food -- i mean, basic needs -- books and borrowing books, and just the challenges that exist sometimes for young people who sadly may not have the support they need, so i can't even imagine, when, you know, many of them don't even have a place to call home. and in san francisco, it is estimated that about 1255 young people that are tay youth actually live on our streets, and 49% are lgbt. we have to do a better job at addressing this issue, dealing with the challenges that exist take real, thoughtful solutions. things that are not just for today, but are sustainable,

things that are going to matter and make a difference because what we want to do is make sure we break the cycle of homelessness. we want to take care of this young population so that they don't continue to live in this kind of situation. and so today, we are proud to announce that the city is launching a new program that is a public private partnership, and this is absolutely going to be incredible. it's called the rising up campaign, because what we want to do is we want to lift young people up. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: you know, i just meet with two incredible young people who are going to be speaking here today. one, zach, who i already know, who served on the san francisco youth commission, an impressive individual who's been doing great things, and yesi, who is

in college, where is she? right here. she's in college, and let me just put it out there, we need to keep her in college, so i'm going to be asking you all for some support to make sure that her tuition is paid so that she can finish. so -- i'll just keep going. can you hear me? so this program, this campaign is possible because of a public private partnership, as i said, and san francisco is investi investinging $6 million in this campaign, and tipping point is here, and they've invested $3 million in making this possible. [applause] but we couldn't make this program work with just money. it's our nonprofit partners that help to make this program actually work effectively for young people, where the goal is

to keep them housed and provide a subsidy and to make sure they get a good paying job and to make sure that we're supporting them through social services and other things to just really help them become self-sufficient. and larkin street services, and cherylyn adams have been at the forefront to help people struggling with homelessness, but they have done incredible work with the tay population, so together, we are going to make sure that this program has the support it needs to that we can end youth homelessness in san francisco for good. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and let me tell you, it does take a village. it takes a village, along with wi the nonprofit support, and a number of partners, including the department of children,

youth, and families, human services agency, the confidence of economic and workforce development, the department of public health, and the san francisco unified school district. and i want to also put out there a call to the business community. we're going to still be looking for dollars to help with subsidies, we're still going to be looking for good jobs for young people, those internship opportunities that are paid for the purposes of helping to cultivate the next generation of leaders here in san francisco. so this is a campaign, this is a campaign to end youth homelessness, and i am looking forward to doing that with our incredible partners. and i want to thank each and every one of you for being here today. [applause] >> now it's my honor to introduce daniel murray, the c.e.o. of tipping point and one of our first donors to the --

private donors to the rising up campaign. >> thank you, jeff. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. we commend and appreciate your resolve to address our city's homelessness crisis. we're proud to stand with the mayor and with jeff and the city to tackle this issue together. when tipping point announced our $100 million commitment to cut chronic homelessness in half by 2022, we knew we would have a long road ahead. this work does not happen over night. in order to achieve this goal, which is also the city's goal, we must do a better job of identifying and supporting vulnerable populations earlier in their lives. 50%, 50% of all chronic homeless individuals become homeless before their 25th birthday.

these are our kids, the future of our city. what tipping point has learned over the course of 13 years is that when you support the right solutions, the right leaders, the right partnerships, great out comes with possible. we've seen that with larkin street. we've been partnering with larkin for seven years now, and they know how to get results. over 80% of their clients have stable housing upon leaving their program. and we know that they can't do it alone, as the mayor just said. supporting the young people living on our streets required an all-hands-on-deck solution. this collaboration between the city, larkin street and private philanthropy is the only way we're going to see the change we all want for our community. we must all take responsibility

and hold each other accountable. we've cut homelessness for transition aged youth by 2023. but even with the right metrics, partners, and leaders, you need the right stroategy. that's what i love about rising up. it also builds in a housing subsidy, but build in for education and keeping a job. these are all the critical things that we needed when we were young, and that's what today is all about. it's about giving young people like zach and yesi an opportunity to change the course of their lives. this time in a young person's life should be about finding one's self, not finding a home. so thank you, thank you, mayor breed.

we're incredibly honored to be partnering with you on this. [applause] >> right now, it's my pleasure to introduce the director of one of our critical partners around addressing transition age youth homelessness, cherilyn adams, the director of larkin street. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. i -- this is such a monumentous day, and i am just so incredibly honored that the mayor has announced this, that the mayor is supporting this, and that your leadership is bringing this to happen. this is huge. and jeff, your leadership has been amazing. we have been fighting a long time for youth homelessness to be at the forefront of the conversation or a part of the

conversation about homelessness. we have worked with daniel on this as a partner, and many of you in this room have made this happen. so this day, this campaign, about bringing together the city, city departments, a number of departments, and philan tloepy to significantly reduce the numbers of young people sleeping on our streets is huge. we are excited to be the ang core or hub of this project, but we will not do this alone -- anchor or hub of this project, but it's going to take all of us -- new door ventures, so many of us that have been working so hard to make sure that as the mayor said, that t.a.y., that we know that t.a.y. are, that's a group of young people who if we do not intervene, young people that are experiencing

homelessness, will be on the streets for a long, long time in our adult population, that they need housing, and education, and they need case managers to care about them, and they need everybody in the community to see them, and so by launching this today, we say we see you, we're going to help you, and we're going to make sure that it is unacceptable to have young people sleeping on our streets in this city ever again. so thank you. [applause] >> one of the most -- or the most important partner in the rising up campaign are going to be young people themselves who are experiencing homelessness or struggling with housing instability, looking for pathways towards self-sufficiency, so we're very lucky and honored to today to have yesi, who's a larkin street client, to share some of her thoughts with us.

yesi? [applause] >> hello. i'm a little nervous please . please be patient with me. my name is yesi, and i'm 22 years old. i'm from e thiopia, and my family experienced poverty. because of that, i came here to get an education and better life. in ethiopia, women are not able to graduate college and go to school. conversation about sexuality and mental health are considered taboo. i thought living in america, everything would be magical and perfect, but it was not. our home, i didn't have to deal with racism, especially i didn't

have to worry about being homeless. when i came to america, i experienced so much, including homelessness and racism. i was adopted by a family here in the bay area, and i got kicked out. i didn't know where to go. i was lost and confused because i didn't know anyone. a friend recommended i go to larkin street, where i got a bed, and i got a case manager. that was 1.5 years ago. since then, i got housing, and i joined larkin street youth advisory board to help bring youth's voice to the table. also, larkin helped me prepare for college and navigate the system. because of my mental health, larkin street is patient with me. they're very assuring and that

makes me feel comfortable in asking for help when i need it. i'm a sophomore in college now. i want to get my bachelor's degree, and with larkin street support, i will continue to achieve my goals. thank you. [applause] >> when i finish school, i want to get a good school and help my family back home. i want to bring back what i learned in america about lgbtq issues, mental health, gender, and sexuality. in ethiopia, the media gives you a false perception of america. in america, everything is not perfect, and nothing is handed to you. thank you for providing morrissey roerss to help young people. i know this campaign will help many more young people like me, and if i can do it, they can, too. thank you.

[applause] . >> thank you, yesi. now we're going to hear a few words from our friend and colleague, zach. >> good morning. my name zach frenette, and for the next 45 days, i will be a larkin street client. as i'm beginning to age out, there's been a lot of reflection on growth, on what's succeeded, on what hasn't. i'd like to begin today just by thanking everyone for being here, for thanking the leadership of our civic leaders, mayor breed who has known me and supported me for over two years, someone who gave me a shot before i had earned it. and i think that's what we're here to talk about. so often, the young people who

end up experiencing homelessness on our streets, really, all they need is that shot, that chance, that opportunity, that moment. and for me, that moment has happened, and it's happened through the support of the city, it's happened through the support of this phenomenal organization. i can't say enough good things about cherilyn and her leadership over many, many years on the issue of homelessness. and it happens with the support of our peers. some of relationships that i've built in the past few years have stemmed out of this organization, both from the support of some of their staff, my case manager, keisha, i'm going to put you on blast. everyone give her a round of applause. [applause] >> and last, but certainly not least, the incredible individuals who walk-through these doors. yesi is