a year. we are very proud of these efforts. our goal is universal. our goal is to get this done through a single parent financing system, but until we advance those ideals, we will build pragmatic steps, make progress each and every week until we ultimately get to those goals. thank you, san francisco, thank you to mother nature for adding a little energy, thank you mayor breed for hosting us here today. [applause]. >> thank you. >> i don't know if there are questions, how do you want to do this? i will let the electives go, and supervisor, very wonderful you are here as well. any questions, we will do it out here. we will let you all go. thank you, guys, very much. [applause]

>> this is one place you can always count on to give you what you had before and remind you of what your san francisco history used to be. >> we hear that all the time,

people bring their kids here and their grandparents brought them here and down the line. >> even though people move away, whenever they come back to the city, they make it here. and they tell us that. >> you're going to get something made fresh, made by hand and made with quality products and something that's very, very good. ♪ >> the legacy bars and restaurants was something that was begun by san francisco simply to recognize and draw attention to the establishments. it really provides for san francisco's unique character. ♪ >> and that morphed into a request that we work with the city to develop a legacy business registration.

>> i'm michael cirocco and the owner of an area bakery. ♪ the bakery started in 191. my grandfather came over from italy and opened it up then. it is a small operation. it's not big. so everything is kind of quality that way. so i see every piece and cut every piece that comes in and out of that oven. >> i'm leslie cirocco-mitchell, a fourth generation baker here with my family. ♪ so we get up pretty early in the morning. i usually start baking around 5:00. and then you just start doing rounds of dough. loaves. >> my mom and sister basically handle the front and then i have my nephew james helps and then my two daughters and my wife come in and we actually do the baking. after that, my mom and my

sister stay and sell the product, retail it. ♪ you know, i don't really think about it. but then when i -- sometimes when i go places and i look and see places put up, oh this is our 50th anniversary and everything and we've been over 100 and that is when it kind of hits me. you know, that geez, we've been here a long time. [applause] ♪ >> a lot of people might ask why our legacy business is important. we all have our own stories to tell about our ancestry. our lineage and i'll use one example of tommy's joint. tommy's joint is a place that my husband went to as a child and he's a fourth generation san franciscan. it's a place we can still go to today with our children or

grandchildren and share the stories of what was san francisco like back in the 1950s. >> i'm the general manager at tommy's joint. people mostly recognize tommy's joint for its murals on the outside of the building. very bright blue. you drive down and see what it is. they know the building. tommy's is a san francisco hoffa, which is a german-style presenting food. we have five different carved meats and we carve it by hand at the station. you prefer it to be carved whether you like your brisket fatty or want it lean. you want your pastrami to be very lean. you can say i want that piece of corn beef and want it cut, you know, very thick and i want

it with some sauerkraut. tell the guys how you want to prepare it and they will do it right in front of you. san francisco's a place that's changing restaurants, except for tommy's joint. tommy's joint has been the same since it opened and that is important. san francisco in general that we don't lose a grip of what san francisco's came from. tommy's is a place that you'll always recognize whenever you lock in the door. you'll see the same staff, the same bartender and have the same meal and that is great. that's important. ♪ >> the service that san francisco heritage offers to the legacy businesses is to help them with that application process, to make sure that they

really recognize about them what it is that makes them so special here in san francisco. ♪ so we'll help them with that application process if, in fact, the board of supervisors does recognize them as a legacy business, then that does entitle them to certain financial benefits from the city of san francisco. but i say really, more importantly, it really brings them public recognition that this is a business in san francisco that has history and that is unique to san francisco. >> it started in june of 1953. ♪ and we make everything from scratch. everything. we started a you -- we started

a off with 12 flavors and mango fruits from the philippines and then started trying them one by one and the family had a whole new clientele. the business really boomed after that. >> i think that the flavors we make reflect the diversity of san francisco. we were really surprised about the legacy project but we were thrilled to be a part of it. businesses come and go in the city. pretty tough for businesss to stay here because it is so expensive and there's so much competition. so for us who have been here all these years and still be popular and to be recognized by the city has been really a huge honor. >> we got a phone call from a woman who was 91 and she wanted

to know if the mitchells still owned it and she was so happy that we were still involved, still the owners. she was our customer in 1953. and she still comes in. but she was just making sure that we were still around and it just makes us feel, you know, very proud that we're carrying on our father's legacy. and that we mean so much to so many people. ♪ >> it provides a perspective. and i think if you only looked at it in the here and now, you're missing the context. for me, legacy businesses, legacy bars and restaurants are really about setting the context for how we come to be where we are today. >> i just think it's part of san francisco. people like to see familiar stuff. at least i know i do. >> in the 1950s, you could see a picture of tommy's joint and looks exactly the same.

we haven't change add thing. >> i remember one lady saying, you know, i've been eating this ice cream since before i was born. and i thought, wow! we have, too. ♪

my name is doctor ellen moffett, i am an assistant medical examiner for the city and county of san francisco. i perform autopsy, review medical records and write reports. also integrate other sorts of testing data to determine cause and manner of death. i have been here at this facility since i moved here in november, and previous to that at the old facility. i was worried when we moved here that because this building is so much larger that i wouldn't see people every day. i would miss my personal interactions with the other employees, but that hasn't been the case. this building is very nice. we have lovely autopsy tables and i do get to go upstairs and down stairs several times a day

to see everyone else i work with. we have a bond like any other group of employees that work for a specific agency in san francisco. we work closely on each case to determine the best cause of death, and we also interact with family members of the diseased. that brings us closer together also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone

callsness with that particular death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives delivering the worst news they could get. i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the

toxicologist supervisor. we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological substances. i oversee all of the lab operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene. a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due

to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or countries don't have the resources and don't have the beautiful building and the equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called out of the office to go to various portions of the city to investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only

handled minimal components then it was turned over to the coroner or the detective division. i am intrigued with those types of calls. i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family. older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it.

if from is a child involved or things like that. i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the medical examiners office. whawhat do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the a with the enou- with the administrative and the families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i

didn't want to be a doctor and didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened, anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood

television show. >> families say thank you for what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job. if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for the city of san francisco. as many of you know, supervisor ronen has stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder -- [speaking spanish] -- all the way through many -- many times. and so at the many meetings, at the many hearings, it has just been such a breath of fresh air to have such a fighter in the public arena, as a public elected official be there with

us. so it's my pleasure to introduce amy, senior legislative aide to supervisor ronen to offer remarks. >> i'll stay away from the jokes. [laughter] hi, my name is amy, i'm a legislative aide to supervisor ronen. it breaks her heart to not be here today, but i know she is sending her warmest wishes, her fists in the air, go. it's so important. this is an amazing project. this is the fifth ground breaking in the mission in what we look at as a year, i guess. it's pretty amazing and every single one of these reflects an incredible amount of hard-fought struggle to make sure that what is happening in the mission is

starting to repair the damage of the devastating amounts of eviction that have been occurring here. so thank you, meta, thank you, two of the best community based affordable housing developers. i would say the importance of community-based development and bringing that capacity like olga said, it's so critical that the skills and the capacity are developed within the community. obviously, meta is not new to this, but they're growing all the time. i know how stressful this is, so thank you to the project managers who have fought their way through all the tough decisions, all the late nights. on this project, you're really pulling together the essence of the mission. we celebrate, offering high quality education for families

who are going to be living in this building. and for their neighbors. we celebrate having a home for homeys. and we celebrate creating a permanent home. anchor of the latino cultural district. i'm pleased if you haven't yet come, stop by the district 9 office and see their mind-blowing installation in our offices. we're so honored to have them there. so casa is today's victory. know that supervisor ronen is committed to working with all of you here today, all of you community partners, so we continue to keep the pressure on, continue to call the attention to the needs of the mission. and to keep an active pipeline

for the many years to come. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, amy. as we think about building, i think certainly bricks come to mind and as we are breaking the ground today for the building that is going to be this beautiful, beautiful site to behold of nine stories. you're going to hear nine stories several times, because we want to emphasize that. this is also what i call the building hearts. the building hearts that started this. that have been part of laying the heart foundation for where we are right now. and so i want to bring up professor richard baynes and dr. baynes up. [applause] if you don't know them, you'll

see why i was saying this. so let me tell you about professor baynes, he's a native of california, a founding faculty member of csu and current chair of the music and performing arts department. he's a founding director of education for the san francisco symphony and former director of the san francisco symphony youth orchestra. for the past 24 years, he's been active in the local monterey bay area community. recently he received the 2017 arts council of monterey champions of the arts award for professional artist. and very appropriate to this occasion, he served for 18 years as president of the board while here in san francisco. [applause]

and, of course, dr. baynes. if you don't know her, you should. curator, many titles, artist and educator. and mark mcarthur genius fellow award. she has defined latino esthetic in the united states and latin america. many things have been written about our amazing brilliant, but one that i really always liked to read is that her work honors women who have broken social barriers. so dr. baynes, please come on up. [applause]

>> well, i'll try not to cry. we've been only waiting 48 years, so, that's all. i'm very happy to be here and grateful to share this. and to know that in this historic moment we understand as many have said before, starting early this morning in the blessing and the ground, when you actually put our little seeds down, that no place is empty when we reach it. there have been spirits that have gone before. and the spirits of this space, as many have said, are first nations, but they're also the spirits of those who have built all of these community organizations. i would be remiss without acknowledging, of course, the founders, the first group included people like the late

peter rodriguez. the founder of the museum, rupert garcia and then the late renee ines and ralph, who presented and held down that space for so many years. they were joined by other people, including the artist who was the first curator. we moved on people like maria pineta were here to run studio 24. after liz, came catalina and then our own. so i liken it to a very long and bumpy relay run, where we've been passing that baton until we got to this unimaginable moment. this time in which we understand that we are beginning. i call it remembering the

future. we are here because someone came before us and someone will come after us. and all of that is but one fabric of memory, of justice, of commitment, of resiliency and of art. there are so many artists in this room today. so many people. i can't see you all. but i know you're here. there was a moment in the making of the history that was one of serious struggle. there was police harassment. what is ironic, that many of the things we talked about then are present now. i have a favorite writer, walter benjamin and he says to articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize the way it really was. it means to seize hold of a memory as it flashes up in a moment of danger. and that is what we have been

experiencing for decades, but most truly in these last years of gentrification. what we see in the national picture is phobia of anti-latino sentiment. we know that the housing crisis we're experiencing across the country is profound here in san francisco. so all the things that it has stood for, the artists that have performed, the artwork shop, the concert efforts, the building of the regeneration projects so that young people could come. those were all the makings of a common path and the resiliency of a sign of promise for the future. and that promise and their future has arrived. so i say today, we are here, because those who came before us and those who come ahead, they are right here now, young people, out there. they'll be the next. and they'll take that baton and

they'll move it forward. and i think it is totally fitting that it should be in a home place with teen, youth, and with babies and children. because that is the full circle of life. and that is what we are as cultural workers and as artists. so i hope that we will look back on this day when this building is built and the nine stories are there, and the 143 families are there, and our artists are there, and we'll see is that this next generation with all of the complexity of lgbtq, of all of the complexity of global identity, of all the border struggle we've been through, will be a home place for those who dream of the next future, who remember the next future. [speaking spanish] [applause] [cheers and applause]

>> thank you so much. very inspiring and just powerful words to remind us what we're doing here. and one of the organizations that is going to bring the babies into the picture, and the children, is a longstanding community based institute, the felton institute that will be providing the preschool and after-school programs here. and we're very pleased and honored to have the president and c.e.o. of the felton institute, al gilbert. please join us. [applause] >> good afternoon and welcome to this glorious celebration. we had a blessing of the ground

earlier today. and it was extraordinarily touching, because it remind me of the deep -- reminded me of my ancestral relationship. and the other part of my family, you might have guessed, comes from africa. and i had the opportunity to go back to montgomery, alabama, two months ago to visit the lynching memorial. at the memorial i was able to visit the memorial for two of my family members who had been lynched in the 1900s which wasn't that long ago. one of which was lynched in my lifetime. it brings me back to the importance of building a community like this, where we're going to support both our babies, young families, and create safe communities for us to live in. it also reminds me that whenever we think we're working hard,

we're not working hard compared to those who have come before us. who have given their blood. to make it so that we can sit here and make this kind of magic come together. i want to thank the community members who pushed hard to make sure that the politicians recognize the importance of this sacred space. i want to thank the builders as well as the community agencies that participate in this community along with us. i'm reminded about mission creek that runs under this land and keeps this land fertile and it reminds me of my attachment to water. felton celebrates 130 years anniversary this year. previously known as family service agency of san francisco. so that is how you probably recognize our name.

[applause] joanne and delores, please stand up, because these are the individuals who work with our babies and work with our divisions and make our work so successful. thank you for your continued support of this project. anything that we can do to make this a safe and nourishing community, we're committed to doing that, thank you so much. [applause] >> you know, as we went to some of the planning commission meetings advocating, it became such a family affair, particularly having the son of thomas, who testified at the commission. and i think he was the deciding voice. [applause] so, thank you for being part of the struggle. and speaking part of the

struggle, i love this -- the acronyms, homeys organizing the mission to empower youth. how many clearer could that be? [applause] -- how much clearer could that be? homeys have dedicated the mission to work with young adults. they do it by empowering the youth and delivering their programs with hope, with empowerme empowerment, leadership, culture and most importantly with love. i want to turn this over to the director of homey, roberto. turn it over to you, right? [applause]

sp [speaking spanish] we ain't going nowhere. we ain't going nowhere. how many 100% affordable housing developments is this? five. five. against impossible odds. against impossible odds. our community has stood up. people have said it's impossible to build in san francisco, it's too expensive. they said, why your community is being displaced, there is no latinos left in the mission. they said all kinds of things to our community. 143 new units are going up right here. three organizations, 15,000 square feet of community space

that are going to be owned, assets to this community. we're not done yet. we're not done yet. there is still work to do. there is still work to do. we have -- we stopped to build this building and we need everybody here's support to build this up. elected officials, foundations, we need everyone. and i hope, and i pray that in two years' time that we come back and we celebrate the grand opening. felton institute and homeys organizing the mission to empower youth. we ain't going nowhere. when i was a young boy, born and

raised in this neighborhood, i used to come to this bakery right here with my dad. he used to buy it for me in the morning time. i told my dad the other day, i said, pop, we're going to build it. he said, where? i said that place you used to buy me -- and he was excited, excited we're doing this. old time mission. owner paco's tacos. right? back in the day. we're here with the young people. that's our future, man. we've got to fight for them. they're here representing. i hope that you represent for them because there is things to do still. there is more housing to be built. there is homeless people that we know that are part of our families that are suffering right now.

and i take that seriously and so should you. there is a lot to do. so i want to take this time, this opportunity, this moment, to bring up one of our precious elders in our community. she is the former executive director of institute. and she's a precious treasure in our community. she has put in many decades of work and i am most honored to introduce her to have her say some words. she was here this morning blessing the ground, so i've been putting her to work this morning. so sorry. she decided to stay because she wanted to say words. she caught the feeling. right? and i hope all of you do, too.

lastly, i want to say, you know, meta, tndc, all our city family, i want to send you some love and some thanks for doing this. because this is not just for me, this is for our community, it's for our people. and these institutions, creating these buildings, they're going to be the hubs for our community. they're going to be the places where people come and get services and celebrate weddings and have a beautiful time, and all the beautiful things in life. these buildings are go to help us thrive. we don't want our community just to survive, just to get a survival program, we want them to thrive. we want them to be the next leaders, the next tech executives. all the things that we dream for them, they're going to happen in

these buildings. so i thank you all for making it possible. i thank the community organizations here that are struggling hard, fighting hard every day with the people, right? struggling. it's a struggle right now, man. it's a struggle. so we're going to continue. don't let anyone tell you it's impossible to dream, that it's impossible to make it happen, [speaking spanish] -- come on! what was that? [speaking spanish]

>> can you hear me? [speaking spanish] we are one. this hand, these singers, all the different communities together as one. we can move the mountain. we can move many mountains. this morning i was here and remembering that there were many

who have walked here. our ancestors, the first nations people, who were dispossessed by whoever came by. spaniards, mexicans. everybody dispossessed them. so it is good they're involved in this process. and we must not forget them because they are only 1% of san francisco. they are an important 1%. they carry our ancestral history for us. and so it is such a good day. you know, sometimes people say it's a good day to day. i say it's a good day to be alive today. >> hear, hear! >> and i would challenge all of you, as we all struggle to be present at that struggle. you know, there are people that

don't want us. that's the truth. we hear it all the time. go back where you came from. and i said, well, i came from st. mary's hospital, right? [laughter] because they're ignorant. but we have to remain in that struggle. and i want to see all of you there when we need you. because it's powerful. numbers are powerful. politicians want to be elected, so they check out the numbers. they check out who's there. and then they often claim that they've done it themselves. but we know who has done it, we have done it together. and brought them in to join us. that's one way to be fully empowered. now i'm in the health field.

and to me health means that you're also healthy not only physically, mentally, spiritually, but also economically. we must have a roof over our heads. you cannot have a good family life or a quality of life if you don't have a roof over your head, or stability, knowing that you can remain there. so if we want to have a healthy community, this is part of health. it's not separate from health. so let's continue. it's good to see so many young people that i have known. she is young, because i taught her in high school. [laughter] you know, i'm old. >> you were a very young teacher! >> very young teacher. thank you, all. thank you, meta, for moving

yourself in a direction that has made this possible. and i'm so happy that we're finding a home. i remember them on 24th street, now they'll be in a different place. and of course, homeys. i want to mention that homeys also has an ancestor. some of you may remember the real alternatives program, rap. that is the ancestor of homey. so you know, something dies or we think it dies, something else grows. that is what has happened and homey is here. very present. i see all of my homey cohorts. you know, it's a wonderful time for me to be an elder, because everybody looks after me. you know? do you want this, do you need this? i have to say no, i can do it, but it's a wonderful feeling. that's what we want in this community.

that the children learn that tradition. that they carry it on so that no elder can ever be homeless again. right? that's something to -- no homeless children. no homeless elders or anyone in between. and this is a beginning. and we did it. this community did it. i'm sure the struggle will continue. it will continue. so be us in that struggle. and thank you. [applause]

no worry. we have time. [speaking spanish] hi, everyone. i'm the executive director. thank you. it's an honor to be here. and i want to start off by saying happy mother's day. it is mother's day in latin america. [speaking spanish] and what a momentous time to be here honoring and blessing mother earth today and putting our intentions forward for what we see in our future. it's an honor to be working with all of the agencies, meta, tndc, homey, and felton. and today, i really wanted to make sure that elders were heard.

this is a project that i said earlier has been happening for almost like 50 years. it's a continuation of movement that came before us. i want to offer a little bit of the magic that got to happen today here. we showcase exhibitions, the monthly literary events, one of the only bilingual event that happens in the bay area, under the moon, honoring our traditions. and i want to call some of the artists that were nurtured in that corner on 24th and bryant that started their careers there. that gave us their [speaking spanish] to heal. it didn't matter what day of the week it was, when prince passed, when all the major like awful things were happening, it was always a place we got to share magic. i don't know why i just named

prince. i guess i was thinking about him. [laughter] i'm thinking purple. i want to focus on bringing the artists, who are the people for us that have given us, made a perfect world out of an imperfect situation. that is what olga said, i want to bring those words up and start out by inviting -- yes. she is an interdisciplinary artist and author of too much girl. she is the recipient of four san francisco arts commissions artist grants and has lived and made art in the mission district of san francisco for over two decades. she's a longtime educator and community worker and teaches at san francisco state university. but more than anything, she

gave -- it wasn't -- she brought the magic and we got to see so many important first-time works where there was literary performance. and she's part of the regeneration program, if i'm not mistaken, which was started to create a platform for artists to be cultivated, nurtured and have elders. we needed to have the words. i wanted to acknowledge two more little people. i want you two to hear these voice, these words and have it in your heart, this is your truth, too. you can speak your truth. this space is not just for us. we look to you little guys to come up and continue making this magic, okay. so listen. [applause]

>> it's such an honor to have -- to be able to share this with you. [ ♪ ] [singing in spanish] [singing]

[cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] the tropical beach. memory blurry in the rearview. entangled. with her golden shadow holding the compass. our lives full bloom. each mural rendered in a palace that shows our fist in the air. pen the anthems to make our feet

move. [speaking spanish] talking to them in rhymes we can't reason. know how to see in the dark. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] again, i'm honored to share my palm song and my attitude with you this afternoon. and we break the ground with our action. we are accustomed to excavation,

to ripping up and unearth silence and harvest truth. to throw it up into the sky for everyone to see, like a colorful piece of graffiti. we are here. we live here. we are still here. we have the right to stay, just not the millions. our community, our children, our artists deserve better. and this is on the way to better. this is an international beacon that welcomes and displays the complexity of us and our accomplices. that's a good word. i am among many who wouldn't know where i would be without -- [ ♪ ]

i conjured up a song for the bilingual monthly poetry. while our poetry lives in the streets and other community hubs, we ultimately always end up here, which is our sanctuary where we preserve ours. i have lived longer in this body than anywhere else in my life. i stepped into leadership, become a mother, developed as an artist and it has been part of every step of that, giving me space, opportunities, joy, refuge. i was there when prince passed. we cried together. we did. always on my mind, too. like so many others of you, my

husband and i are family came to set roots here, contribute, build community, build that family we crave and bear the fruit of that in place with an important central american legacy of art and activism. this is the meeting place. the living room where we gather. it's our sanctuary. there we convene with our elders. celebrate our children. experience each other's creation. honor those who have passed. as we mark this moment, i hope you'll join me in telling that everyone will stand and the mission community remains. [cheers and applause] i know that my neighbor still walks down the block as always. and i know that he's watching

over us and that he is going to watch over this corner. and i know that you will, too. applause >> that was beautiful.

that was a beautiful reminder of why we're here today. these projects take a lot of effort and there are a lot of different folks that are part of this work, so it should go without saying that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of the consultants, all of the attorneys, all the folks that help us. and so i want to start by -- before introducing a very important person, by acknowledging the support that we've received from the mayor's office of housing and community development. the support from bearings, u.s. bank, from the california tax credit allocation committee. [laughter] from the california debt limit allocation committee. our architects, ryan jang and

richard stacy. our contractors. general contractors. i want to close by acknowledging that in the city of san francisco we've had a very special financial partner that believes in us and has believed in us for quite some time, so much so, they have helped the city transform a portfolio of its old housing into opportunities of hope through its funding of the rental assistance demonstration project. and here specifically they've helped us realize this project. and i'm talking about bank of america. and here today on behalf of bank of america is liz minute, who for the last 15 years has been an integral part of their leadership team. we'd like to invite her and acknowledge our gratitude to bank of america for their support of this project. [applause]