year of the boar. we wish you and your family the best of fortune, prosperity and much happiness. we are a nonprofit organization dedicated to securing funds and coordinating resources to support the city's annual a.p.a. heritage organization festivities. our organization is made up of a very small board, and i'd like to introduce to you our directors. we have our treasurer, irene yee riley, our incoming treasurer, j.j. lara. board member matt mooey, and our founder and president, claudine ching. [applause] >> so although we're a very small organization, we're able to put on celebration events

every year because of the dedicated members of the a.d.a. celebration committee, and that's a group of 30-some odd representatives of the community that makeup the a.p.a. community. so if you are a member of that group, can you please raise your hand? okay. everyone give them a hand. [applause] >> want to thank you so much for being part of the a.p.a. team. now please give a warm welcome to our president and founder, claudine ching. >> thank you, scott. [applause] >> thank you, everyone for helping to come celebrate lunar new year. today is the third day of the new year. some of us were in chinatown for the first day of the year with mayor breed, and when i friend, walter wong, celebrated the biggest celebration in chinatown with eight pigs, is

that right? and firecrackers, so i want to acknowledge of the presence of the mayor who will be speaking shortly and the members of the council and community members of the so eve-- members. every year, we kick off events in the community with the lunar new year celebration. we can take the opportunity to tell you a little bit more about what we are doing for a.p.a. heritage month this year. some of you may not have been to our a.p.a. heritage month celebration, so i want to take the opportunity to talk about the a.p.a. heritage month. last year, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the law that established this particular celebration. so the month of may, why is it the month of may a.p.a. heritage month? congress decided because of two

reasons. the first day of 1943 marked the rival on may 7 of the first japanese immigrant into the united states in the record so that was one reason. and the other reason was on may 10 -- 1843 -- 1869 was the completion of the trans-continental railroad. so that's why the month of may was selected, and this year was the 150th anniversary of the trans-continental railroad. so for this year's celebration on may 1, as you all are invited to our event, together with mayor breed, we'll be celebrating two significant historic events. one is the completion of the trans-continental railroad, and the other one actually is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the college of ethnic studies at san francisco

state. this is unbelievable that to this date, although there are a lot of ethnics -- different studies classes in many universities and colleges, our san francisco state remains the only ethnic studies department in the whole country where asian american studies african american studies, all ethnic studies had a part of. this is a momentum decision. we are very happy to be celebrating these two significant occasions this year, and during our event, we will be presenting the second annual edwin mah lee public service award. last year, the winner was our assessor-recorder carmen chiu. we're very happy to have her -- in the month of may be able to

bring to our city a whole month of activities. we have plenty of events because we have celebrations, partners such as the asian art museum, san francisco public library, and the country's largest asian american themed festival. with all of these organizations, i think we have a healthy calendar. but back to today, we are happy to be here, celebrating lunar new year. we are very lucky to be in a city that we have cultural offerings with the different cultural offerings. so some of you -- some of you may not have met mayor breed. mayor breed is a native of san francisco. she grew up in the western addition in the public housing, graduated from schools -- from schools in san francisco, from

galileo, as i remember, and without taking the time to read the mayor's long bio, many people have asked me how is it working with mayor breed? and i just have to say, i am not jewish, but if i were jewish, our mayor has a lot of chutzpah. no matter what issue she is addressing, housing, transportation, public education, every time i hear the mayor talk about this, she's open-minded. she's willing to look at other solutions of the city that have been -- of problems of the city that have been around for years and decades. so we're very proud to have mayor breed with us today. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, claudine. you know, when i first started on the board of supervisors, i attended this event, and it was

always in room 201, in the mayor's conference room. and i would always say, claudine, we're growing. we need more space. and finally, she took me up on my word, and she decided we were going to move this incredible celebration to here, the north light court. this is our great celebration of our a.p.i. heritage month kind of kickoff. even though it's not in the month of may, it is during the lunar new year which is of course fitting that we celebrate such a time honored tradition here in our city. i want to thank so many people who are joining here -- joining us here today, including so many folks from the leadership, many of our sister cities, folks from manila, from osaka -- yes, you can clap -- from seoul, taipei, ho chi mint

cities, places that we share more than our brotherly and sisterly loves, but relationships of community, of business, and a number of other things that are so important and vital to the success of not just san francisco but the entire world. i also want to take this time to recognize that we have a number of council generals who are with us here today. starting with the council general of the philippines, who is -- i hope i don't butcher your name council general. i apologize from the philippines, and his wife. thank you so much for being here. council general for the republic of korea is here, as well. and council general from japan. thank you so much for joining us.

we have really an incredible relationship with so many of our sister cities as well as the council generals from all over the world, and san francisco, as you know, has been the gateway to the pacific, and we truly value our relationships which promote trade and cultural and educational exchanges. we -- we know sadly we're living in a time our immigrant population and our cultural diversity are sometimes not welcomed in other cities across the united states, but i want you to know that here in san francisco, it's not only welcomed, it's celebrated. it is celebrated in a way that really honors our rich history and our traditions. and we have many celebrations throughout the year, including during the month. we just kicked off black history month here in the rotunda in city hall, chinese

lunar new year, which is amazing, along with an amazing parade and a number of festivities, and we will kick off asia-pacific heritage month, which we started celebrating in 2005. when i served on the board with supervisor -- well, actually, only supervisor president yee was on the board when we passed that resolution, making it official in san francisco. and here he is now, the president of the board of supervisors, along with his colleagues, and they'll be talking in just a minute. so i am just here to say thank you to so many of you, especially because as we know, it takes a lot of resources to put together so many amazing community activities that promote our diversity and our culture, and i just want to thank the a.p.i. heritage committee for their continued work and fund raising and bringing people together. and claudine, at this time, i'd like to honor you and the members of the committee with a

certificate thanking you for your service and the work you continue to do every year, not only asking for support, but twisting our arm and making us all participate and help us to understand how important this is to so many of our asian communities around the city. thank you for being a real advocate for the a.p.i. community in san francisco.

[applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, everyone. [speaking chinese language] >> so understand board president norman yee's here with all his colleagues, and from the dinner we have in chinatown recently, i was shocked to hear that every single one of the board members of supervisors speak beautiful chinese, japanese, all kinds of languages. so in the interest of time, because i understand that mayor breed might have to leave, so i'm going to ask you to maybe just say two lines of greetings in your own language, whatever you prefer. and try not to repeat what the -- what the preceding speaker have said, okay? but maybe we should start with president yee. >> president yee: thank you, claudine. [speaking native language]

>> president yee: happy new year to every one of you. this is a great celebration that happens every year. i want to thank the a.p.a. heritage foundation to sponsor this every year because it really means a lot to our community. yes, mayor breed, it's true. in san francisco, we embrace our diversity. in san francisco, and probably the only city, the public school actually gets a day off for lunar new year. probably the only district -- we should give them a big hand. [applause] >> president yee: and that was made possible because of the leadership of supervisor fewer and myself and a few other a.p.i. school board members that were able to provide to

say you know, it makes a difference to 50% of your students, and they made it happen. now another thing, every year, we get to look at the new stamp. by the way, claudine, i still have the original one, 1993, when you unveiled that, that was such a happening. this is something that took a little while to get the federal government, the post office to actually engage and make this happen for us because they didn't -- there was a little rip resistance there, but after a while, they said wow, this is pretty good. to all of you, to all of my colleagues here, we are here to celebrate, and we are here to honor the a.p.a. heritage foundation. so on behalf of the full board of supervisors, we'd like to give you this certificate. claudi

claudine scott, would you come up and accept it? [applause] >> president yee: so come on up. just say happy new year. >> supervisor fewer: [speaking native language] [applause] >> good evening, everyone. my name is matt haney. i'm supervisor from district six. congratulations and thank you

for all your work to the a.p.a. heritage foundation. i have to say i've been to a few celebrations around the year of the pig, but this is the first one that i've seen where there's a whole pig to eat. happy to celebration with you. >> supervisor brown: hi. i'm vallie brown, the proud supervisor of japantown. unfortunately, can you please tell me how to say happy new year in japanese? [inaudible] [applause] >> supervisor safai: good evening. my name is supervisor ahsha safai. happy new year. very happy to be here for the third or fourth year. congratulations to claudine and all the leadership for a.p.a. this is a wonderful celebration. i actually am also an asian

supervisor from western asia, from the -- from the country of iran, so i'm going to say happy new year in farsi. [speaking native language] >> supervisor safai: thank you. [applause] >> thank you. ve we want to acknowledge d.b.i., the head, tom, and mohamed nuru from the department of public works. we have captain link from central station, and commander lozar. so the highlight of today's program is unveiling of the lunar new year stamp. as board of supervisors president yee mepgsed, inntion

u.u u.s. post office issued the first series of stamps in 1993. this is the last year of the series of stamps. we are not sure if we're going to get the new ones. so there is a pgs for all of you to sign after the program because we want to make sure the united states postal service unders we in san francisco, just like many people around the country, we love our stamp that celebrate our cultural heritage. i would like to invite post master abraham cooper. >> good afternoon. or i should say good evening. you know, it's an honor to unveil the 12th and very last

stamps and celebrating the lunar new year. as the post master of san francisco, i'm proud to present such a beautiful and meaningful stamp. it represents a lot of significance not only to the community but also to the people that we serve in san francisco, but our employees, as well as we celebrate, and they also celebrate lunar new year. the lunar new year stamp is currently available for sale at the local postal service and also independently also as booklets. the board believes to represent luck and good fortune but also symbolized hard work and generosity as trust and also sincerity. i'd also like to think that the postal service fits that description well as the relationships between the san francisco district community and the leaders that's in the room today. and without further adieu, i'd like to bring up the mayor as

well as norman yee and claudine chan for the unveelg of tilinge chan for the unveiling of the stamp. [applause] [inaudible] [applause]

>> san francisco is surrounded on three sides by water. the fireboat station is integral to maritime rescue and preparedness not only for san francisco but for all of the bay area. >> fire station 35 was built in 1915, so it's over 100 years old. and behind it, we're going to build fireboat station 35. >> so the city's capital planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city facilities must resist sea level rise. >> fireboat station number 35, construction costs are

approximately $30 million, and the construction is over complicated because the float, it's being fabricated in china and will be brought to treasure island where the building -- the actual fire station will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 1/2 for installation. >> we are looking at late 2020 for completion of the fireboat float. the historic fire house will remain on the embarcadero. we will still respond out of the firehouse with our fire engine and respond to medical calls and other incidents raratin the district. >> the if a sill has to incorpora incorporate five to 6 feet of

sea level rise. it's built on a float that can move up and down as the water level rises, and so it's on four fixed guide piles, so as the seas go up, it wican move and down with the bay. it does have a full range of travel from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. so that allows for current tidal movements as well as several extra feet for sea level rise in the coming decades. >> the fireboat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. >> the access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side or more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then, it's sliding over the top of the float. so then that way, the ramp can, you know, flex up and down like a hinge but also allow for a slight -- a few inches of lateral motion of the float. both the access ramps, of which

there's two, and the utilities, need flexible connections when connecting from the float and back to the building. so interesting power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connections to the float. >> fireboat station 35 will provide room for three boats and one fire boot. >> we would like to establish a dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidents. looking into the future, we have not only at&t park, we have a lot of kayakers, but we also have a lot of developments on the southeast side, including the warriors stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incidents along all of these new developments. >> there's very few design references for people actually sleeping on the water. what we really looked to were

cruise ships, which are, you know, larger structures, several times the size of station 35 but have a lot of people -- a lot of sleeping, but they're really the only good reference point. and so we looked to the cruise ship industry that has kind of an index for, you know, how ma many -- how much acceleration they can accommodate. >> it's very unique. i don't know about any other fire station built on the water in the united states. >> the fireboat's a regional asset that can not only be used for water rescue and stin wishment of fires, but we also do environmental cleanup. we have a special rigging that we carrie that will contain oil spills -- carry that will contain oil spills until viermsal can come out. this is not a job, it is -- environmental can come out. this is not a job, it's a

lifestyle, a community, and we're willing to help people any way we >> 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.

>> hello, everyone here i am a london breed. i am the mayor of the city and county of san francisco, and i am so very excited to be here with each and every one of you here. many of you probably know i grew up not too far from here on eddie and laguna in public housing that was managed by the san francisco housing authority. we knew this property here was joe's has been managed by the san francisco housing authority, and some of you who have lived here for years have been frustrated with the elevators, with the pipes in the bathrooms, and some of the challenges that exist and we know that too often too many of our residents who live in public housing have not been given the support and the

resources, and the things that they need to be able to live in dignity. today we celebrate the renovation of 138 units, of housing for seniors and people with disabilities. and i am proud of the work that we have done to help to lead the way to renovate over 3500 units of public housing throughout the city and county of san francisco as i said before kata, i grew up in public housing, and i lived in plaza east for over 20 years of my life. the frustration that came with making the phone call to get something fixed, and waiting weeks, and sometimes months -- sometimes months for things to be fixed, my grandmother raised me, in just the challenges we experience with having to get basic service was so frustrating and when i first became a member of the board of supervisors, one of the things i asked mayor lee

to do is to work with me with focusing our attention and resources on the rehabilitation of the thousands of units that exist citywide. so many amazing people helped lead the way in moving forward and what i think is an amazing amount of time to get these units rehabbed so you have a safe and affordable clean and nice great place to live, to grow, and to thrive. i am grateful that as mayor, what's happening now is we are seeing the fruits of our labor over the past couple of years, and in mayor lee's owner, i want to celebrate this, because not too many mayors would have taken the kind of risk that he did to do exactly what we are doing here today.

i just felt strongly that we couldn't wait another 10-15 years, we couldn't continue to weight and say, we will figure it out, we will get the money, through our program, we have been able to get creative about solutions to invest the dollars in you, to invest the dollars and making sure that the places that you live in are great places to live in, just like anywhere else in san francisco. i am excited about this, the jfk tower, in the 2698 california are both great examples of our rad program which has had a tremendous success. i'm looking forward to doing even more of these developments, and i want to thank mercy housing, the john stewart company, bank of america for the financing, the mayor's office of housing, and the housing authority, the u.s. department of housing and urban development , also known as h.u.d., because in trying to do

exactly what we have been trying to accomplish here, it does take a village. it also takes the will, it also takes a great community partners , and i hope you enjoy your new double paned windows, which i actually don't even have i hope you enjoy your great community space and how beautiful and clean and bright and more open it is, i am looking around, i can't even believe what i am seeing right now. this is absolutely amazing, and it belongs to the residents of this community. congratulations on this great success project, i am so looking forward to doing so many more throughout san francisco and i would like to take this opportunity to introduce your representative, the person who continues to advocate for resources for district taught about where you reside, who is a great member of the board of supervisors, a great advocate

for communities, and will always be there for you, ladies and gentlemen, your supervisor, catherine stefani. [applause] >> thank you mayor breed. we are so lucky to have her leading our city. good morning, everybody. her remarks were absolutely amazing, and it is the r.a.d. program, it is reshaping public housing in san francisco for the better. the program has provided so many people across the city with rehabilitated quality and affordable housing. i cannot state how thrilled i am to be standing here today for the grand opening of this renovated tower. this tower has been iconic in district two for so long. it is beautiful, it is colourful , and i'm so happy we are standing here today in this renovation. also for 2698 california, which will provide together 138 units of affordable housing for

seniors and individuals with disabilities. i would like to say thank you to so many people for making this possible. first, mayor breed, you have made affordable housing a key part of your agenda as we face in affordability crisis. your leadership on this issue is inspiring and absolutely essential for those in need of housing, and your experience, your how you talk about it, it connects all of us to you, and i think it reinforces the need for affordable housing and how important it is for our city. and doug shoemaker and everyone at mercy housing for ensuring that jfk towers and 2698 california are not only beautiful, but safe and affordable places that residents can live for decades. paul taggart architects and rivera consulting group for your work in making this project happen, in making these buildings seismically safer. and also barbara smith who is the acting executive director at the s.f. housing authority. thank you for all that you do and taking all our calls when you get them.

and also liz, who i just met this morning at bank of america, and bank of america for the financing. we cannot do this without you. finally and most importantly, the people who call out these amazing two buildings and district want what their home. it really is an honor to serve you as your district two supervisor, and i want you to know i am here for you. call me anytime. we can work together on issues. i would love to come and visit periodically. please know we are here for you always. the work we are celebrating today has created a more welcoming community, and better housing. j.f.k. towers has a new community room. i think we are in it right now, a patio for residents to enjoy, and the units have modern amenities and new appliances, which are so essential. every person living here deserves to be able to easily access their home, and use of community spaces of the building this renovation has improved the elevators which is so necessary, as mayor breed is said, and

enhance accessibility features to eliminate barriers to access. finally, san francisco must be prepared in case of an earthquake, and the fact that we have seismically safe buildings is so important. we agree that san francisco is one of the most beautiful places in the world his. i think pacific heights and district two is one of the most beautiful places in san francisco, so i'm really happy to be here today to celebrate with you, and no i am here for you going forward to. thank you mayor breed for all that you do. at this time, i would like to introduce and think again doug shoemaker, the president of mercy housing. [applause] >> good morning everybody. we are so blessed to have elected officials like the two that just spoke here. we work in a lot of different communities around california and a lot of communities around the country, and more often and not to, your trying to convince elected officials of the importance of affordable housing in san francisco we have the opposite. we have officials that lead the

charge. if you think about places in this country where you would see public housing preserved and strengthened in the most expensive real estate in the country, and in neighborhoods like pacific heights, i can tell you this is an all too rare occurrence across the country, and a testament to the tremendous agreement amount just among san franciscans. we really appreciate your leadership on this topic and on future ones. for folks who don't know, there is more work to be done with the housing authority. we are working with barbara and the mayor and the supervisors around the remaining public housing that really needs to get to the level of quality, and we are looking forward to more support around that topic as we move forward and make better reality for your colleagues and friends and others living around the community. i will introduce the next speaker who i have known for very many years. she has -- the last time i talk to her i think she told me that the number of housing authority directors that she previously

worked for was greater than my age. i am 24, so that is a lot. in all seriousness, around the country, but in particular around san francisco, the housing authority has done a really difficult work with very few resources compared to what the need is. nobody needs to be in a situation like that and you're trying desperately to get all of that done, and you know the federal government is not sending you enough money to get it done, but you have to do everything you can to make it work. art barbara smith has been one of those people who stood up to that challenge, she has done the work, at times desperately under resource. finally on these r.a.d. projects at on the hope s.f. projects, resource the right amount. she has done this work without complaint, with a characteristic smile, and has been a real champion of the work. i want to thank them for all their great work.

>> your way too kind. we could not do it without partners without mercy and leaders like mayor lundin breed, and our new supervisor stefani. so we are really thrilled with j.f.k. towers and 2698 california, and the other public housing high-rise buildings that are getting the improvements that they've needed for so long to preserve this wonderful resource for our residents. we are especially excited to see this crescent shaped midcentury modern j.f.k. towers rehabilitated with its primary colors, restored to its original appearance in the front, but with all kinds of improvements, the new community room, the new office space, and improvements to the residence's units. we are really excited about this pic i don't know if you know, but john bowles was the architect.

he also designed other areas. we are preserving and keeping this building for long-term affordable housing for our seniors and disabled residents. before the rental assistance demonstration program, i would get into bed at night, and i would pray that none of our senior and disabled residents in our high-rise buildings would be without elevator service, and also, the worst yet, be stuck in an elevator. all too often i would get a call during the night and have to send an emergency repair service to address the problem and i were a duty officer to help the residents who were stuck in the lobbies or needed things from there apartments. i know how stressful the situation was for our residents, but with declining federal dollars, the authority just wasn't able to keep up with repairs and the work that

buildings needed. this enormous conversion effort, over $2.2 billion in financing, and over $750 million in capital improvements really required require the brilliance, dedication and support of an incredible team beginning with mayor ed lee, our new mayor, london breed, and including the mayor touch office of housing and community development. i know we have olivia ely here, kate hartley who was also instrumental in all of their support. mercy housing, bank of america, h.u.d., we don't have h.u.d. here right now, but hopefully we will have them here soon. the federal home won't bank of san francisco, freddie mac multifamily, our commissioners who were put many hours into approving all the documents that it took to put this together, authority staff who worked very hard throughout the conversion, the board of supervisors, nappy

brothers contractors who really did carry out the work beautifully, and others. thank you to all who made this possible. for j.f.k. towers and 2698 california and other public housing residents. i want to give us special thanks to our j.f.k. residents. raise your hand if you are a j.f.k. resident. we have a lot of you hear while supplies. >> and 2698 california. he lived through this process where you had to temporarily relocate, and you had to live in a construction zone, and thank you for your faith in the process, we hope you really enjoy the new housing and all the improvements that you have. thank you very much to everyone. [applause] >> all rights. we are in the special part of

the program where we list lots of names, but i do want to spend a second to acknowledge the partnership that was here. japanese-american religious foundation and the john stewart foundation, and mercy decided early on that when we are looking for the opportunity to work on these buildings that we would do better partnering to compete to do this work. this is part of the ethos of san francisco. we lucked out there, and we said we can do this better together. i want to acknowledge jack and margaret to her on the back and responsible for the california property and others. i don't see will hear from the foundation yet, there he is. great. the partnership is fantastic and i think it is part of making sure that we are effective stewards of the trust the public is putting in us as residents. it was mentioned already, but mike and bob are here and they have led this work. i want to -- maybe the rest of the folks who worked on this could raise their hands. bob, you can raise your hand. i know you are trying to hide

back there. [applause] >> the work of being a general contractor in an occupied building is a special thing and we knew we had a really good choice. if they have done great work for many people around the city on this work, and a lot of it has nothing to do with understanding construction, but to relate to people as people. i know paulette and our architects, i want to recognize them both for our great work on that big i don't know what happened in the hallway, but thank you for whoever did that. take a second to acknowledge joe should the way the work happens at mercy is very much team driven. no one is individually responsible. with that said, this was an unusual project, and i want to say thank you to tim and mike and others. i think mike kaplan himself probably took more calls on this project than he'll ever take on

a project again in his life. mike and i are hanging out somewhere, with thank you for your perseverance on that. if you work with mercy, please raise your hand to receive thanks on that. [applause] our great property management staff, i want to acknowledge our board chair, gillian burgess, he does not live very far from here so she can come visit. one small anecdote i want to add about the primary colors of the doors, someone door somewhere along the process, we were offered money to paint them different colors. i'm happy to say we didn't. i think they are part of what makes this a very iconic property in san francisco. it really stands out. the world needs less boring buildings. i'm happy that we have a bright building that everyone can spy when you say, which one is j.f.k. towers, and you can say it is a rainbow coloured one with all the doors, and everyone will know what building it is. we do not need another beige building. with that, i want to acknowledge that one part of what made r.a.d. really only in san

francisco, we often talk about how special we are in san francisco, and generally it is true. sometimes we are exaggerating. on this project, i think if you look around the country and what was able to be done around public housing preservation, there really are very few examples that if you look at the trouble they are having in new york city and all around the country was doing what san francisco got ahead of, you can see what a special opportunity this was, and how much work it took to get there. part of doing that was to recognize that we had to have an unusual financial partnership. to -- san francisco developers were very special people. we want to be treated differently on every project. it was the mayor touch office of housing that said we would not be different from each other, we would all do it the same way, which frankly hurts. we did not like to hear that message. with that said, we didn't have a choice, and may be that is a lesson for leadership, but they turned to a single financial partner in order to make sure

they made this work. there are few organizations in the work, -- in a world, corporate america took a step up to the challenge for a financing perspective and a philanthropy perspective. we were lucky early on to have the partnership of bank of america on this project. is quite exceptional. i want to bring up now liz minnick who is the bay area of marketing executive for bank of america to talk about it, but i want to say, come on up, i want to say the tremendous work of the bank over the years, and appreciation for the team in terms of working on this and partnering with us on this. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much and good morning everyone. as a fellow district to neighbor , it is so very special to be here today, and i want to thank our two elected officials, mayor breed and supervisor stefani for everything you have done in your ongoing support. bank of america is thrilled to have been able to be the

financial partner of the san francisco r.a.d. redevelopment and financing $2.2 billion for this project. not only the largest in our history, but the largest in the united states. it really is something special. we think we are special in san francisco, and especially from a bank of america standpoint. we were founded 115 years ago as the bank of italy. as we think about our legacy here in the city, certainly after our founding with the 1996 earthquake, and the importance of getting people back in their homes, that is what we are able to do. thank you to all of the people involved. thank you for the relationship we have with mercy housing. thank you to the san francisco department of housing, to get our elected officials, and to everyone a blank -- bank of america who made this possible. thank you so much. [applause] >> all right.

probably the most interesting part of all these presentations is withstanding all of our excellent talk. it is really to have a chance to hear from the resident about what the experience has been like. we do this work for residents, that is the reason for mercy housing to work. and i think many of the people in the room, that is a reason why we are here. i want to share a few words about their experience at j.f.k. towers. thank you john for taking the time, and being willing to share your story. [applause] >> i believe that mercy housing makes life worth living. to illustrate, let me tell you in the -- an interesting story. a personal experience. one day when mercy first came here and people were gathering

around, and not quite used to anything yet, that one day, a staff member from mercy housing came in from outside and he saw me and said, john, i saw your picture on a meals on wheels vehicle. i said, you didn't see the other 19 of them in the truck. , he then called me mr john, a gentleman is standing in the doorway right here. that started something i would never have expected. i would come down in the morning , and angel in the office or mary, our manager, would say, good morning mr john.

that grew. then it was staff, it was tenants, but mostly, it was housing and construction. they would get in the elevator with me, and they would say, mr john, and one man said, i want to show you something, and he took out a photo of his infant daughter, sharing it with me. i thought this is very rare. this is extremely nice. that went on for some time. everywhere i would go, it would be mr john. i would go out for a walk, and the men would be outside doing something at the fountain, have a nice walk, mr john. i would come back and say, did you have a nice walk, mr john? then they began showing the part -- more pictures of family,

particularly the children, and i thought, well, this is very nice at my 93rd year, and so then came a very interesting time. near navy construction had left the building -- except for a handful. they were all done here. they came and said goodbye. they knocked on the door of my unit to tell me goodbye, mr john and then came the day where there were about a dozen left on the rooftop just above my unit, working on waterproofing. they had a problem. while i'm standing in the doorway, waiting for meals on wheels delivery, the supervisor came and said, my crew will be leaving about 11:00 o'clock.

would you stand in the doorway and say goodbye? and by the way, after you've done that, stay in the doorway until they've gone down the walkway and have left that area, that balcony. about 11:00 o'clock, with the door open, i heard them coming down from upstairs. i stood out in the doorway, they came by, and all very cheerful, and very pleasant, and then they walked down to go to the elevator. they didn't go in the elevator, they stayed out of the balcony, about 12 people turned and looked at me, and in a cacophony of languages, english, spanish, i think arabic, someone said, and i thought, this was

interesting, and when they have finished, the supervisor spoke in a very big voice and said, they said, goodbye mr john. so living in housing is an uplifting experience, and at my 93 years of age, i could not have asked for more. not just the building, it is what you do. and i thought, i am a very lucky man. thank you all for coming. will be glad to see you again next time. [applause] >> i'm sure i just did a very bad job of reading my notes, and in here i was supposed to say thank you mr john. i will do it now.

thank you mr john. i want to acknowledge two more things. i want to echo what has been said previously about the residence and living through a rehab, we thank you very much for living with a rehab. we look forward to working with you over time. i hope we can continue this great relationship going forward , and i welcome your feedback about it. i hope we continue to do all the special things that it sounds like the nibbi folks did with you, mr john. i want to acknowledge mr davis who is responsible for the artwork and the music, he is a resident here, and has been a resident for 18 years. [applause] >> with that, we will call our program to a close. i want to thank everyone, especially the mayor and the supervisor for getting out here on a rainy day. we will do a ribbon-cutting, which will occur outside where

he says, and then there will be tours for the j.f.k. towers the start of the elevators. there are also tours a 2698 california that will be occurring, 15 minutes from now. not occurring. not occurring. notorious. yes, they are. okay, yes, they are. if you want to tour 2698 california, jack and margaret are hiding out the back. they were hiding, the camera is trained on them. thank you very much everyone. [♪]