me? i'm sorry, was there any additional comments from the public? okay. yes, jessica? thank you. >> thank you. good morning, commissioners. a couple of comments on the excellent report on the action plan." i wanted to just share how excited i am and so many of us are about the disability community cultural centre and thank you to the executive director and others for spearheading this. i think it is going to mean a lot to the disability community and really push us all in the right direction. on the conversation about conservatorship, i want to remind us all that while the conservatorship programs are moving forward, there is also a need for all of us to continue to push for voluntary services, that we know, from talking to

people on the streets, that there are a lot of people that are willing and able to accept services, but the services don't exist. and especially looking at the connection with homelessness, but if somebody is trying to get help for a mental health condition or for substance use, but they are not given housing, it is nearly impossible to maintain that. i hope you all will join that effort to continue to push for that. lastly, on the conversation about long-term care, i wanted to make sure you all knew that there is a town hall on long-term services and supports coming up on thursday, september 19th. it is the day before this attempt 20th dignity fund forum, so hopefully you can plan on those back to back. it is september 19th from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. and it is at the main library in the auditorium. they will be a panel of the three state bay area legislators who will be talking about these issues and how we can have a

statewide, long-term care insurance program. it is put on by several organizations that represent seniors, people with disabilities, families, and workers. i hope you can be there. thank you. >> thank you, jessica. any other comments or questions from the public? moving on to item a, i will remind the commission that the presentation for item a will be for informational purposes only, and it is requested -- requesting authorization to modify the existing grant agreement with perry senior centre to the provision of technology in connection at home programs, during the period of generate first, 2018 through june 30th, 2020 for an additional amount of $45,000 plus a 10% contingency for a total amount not to exceed $811,742. thank you. tiffany? >> thank you. good morning, commissioners.

the original ground with korea senior centre was first presented to the commission in january of 2018. their connection at home program utilizes technology coupled with weekly classes, health coaching and technical support to encourage social engagement and has a particular focus on engaging older adults and older adults with disabilities who are either socially isolated or at heightened risk of isolation. the program provides consumers with technology devices on a loan for the enrolment term of one year. the devices include an ipad tablet, fitbit, and digital scale. internet service is also provided if a consumer does not have in-home internet access. the program entails a 48 week curriculum covering a variety of

applications and functions on the devices and the internet, and weekly classes are currently being offered in cantonese, russian, and english. consumers who complete the program have the opportunity to participate in monthly classes or monthly maintenance classes up to an additional year. the maintenance class helps consumers keep up their skills and supports ongoing socialization. curry consumers -- they also help consumers who complete the program, acquire their own devices through nondaas revenue sources. the program has been very successful since it began. program participants are reporting a decrease in loneliness and an increase in self-sufficiency with using technology and an increase in self efficacy and managing their health and an increase in daily walking. with new programming, however,

sometimes adjustments and modifications are needed and in this particular pay case, a stronger maintenance program is needed to meet consumer demand. in the original ground, it was anticipated that 30% of the graduating participants would want to win a role in the maintenance program. the actual% was much higher. 83% of the consumers who completed the program in fiscal year 18-19 enrolled in the maintenance program. this demand speaks to the need and great service the curry is providing. more consumers will be eligible for the maintenance program this year and there enrolment rate to the maintenance program will likely be similar. the additional funding will enable curry senior centre to offer maintenance classes two times per month, as well as more hours of technical support. the department is anticipating continued success and is looking forward to the ongoing development have the program and

working with curry senior centre thank you. i would be happy to answer any questions the commission may have at this time. >> thank you. >> i keep thinking that maintenance means maintaining the equipment, but it is obviously something else. can you tell me what it is? >> sure. it is a maintenance program -- so they are able to come to class. it is like a class that they brush up on their skills and it will be offered two times a month for that purpose. >> can you tell me, are these always people who happen to access the curry centre to begin with and that's how they got recruited into the program? i'm just curious as to whether or not it is more broad-based than that. does anyone ever get -- do they go to korea for the classes? >> there definitely is and reach recruitment, but also when the grant was originally presented

there was outreach, because of where seniors are -- they are at higher risk of isolation, there were specific districts. i think it was district six, which is where curry is. i think also district three and one more district, let me think of what district that was. district three, the civic centre neighborhood, south of market, district six, and western addition neighborhood, as well. so there is that for a lot of outreach that was done in the beginning. >> and they go to curry further classes, is that how it works. >> curry and also st. francis living room. >> maybe i didn't read it

thoroughly enough. >> san francisco senior centre. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> any other comments or questions? tiffany, i have one. you mentioned the equipment would be lent to the seniors for one year. apple and other companies by back a lot of older models of their ipads or cell phones that are not in demand, but are perfectly usable, and you mentioned that curry helps people get equipment. how does that work? have they been working with companies like apple or other companies that by the used equipment that is not state-of-the-art, but is perfectly serviceable? like myself own. [laughter] so -- like myself own -- like my cell phone. [laughter]. >> i might invite angela up who will talk about how they get the new equipment in. i know they are working to get consumers that. but in terms of who they're working was specifically, i can't speak to that but i am

sure angela can. >> thank you. >> good morning. my name is angela. i'm the program manager for the technology at home program at curry senior centre. in response to your question, we are working with some of our corporate partners, specifically twitter. they have report -- repurposed for us ipad minis. we also have sought out corporate funding and other foundation funding for the maintenance program. we are using those fundraising sources to provide purchasing of refurbished apple devices, as well as the newer model of fitbit for the maintenance program for the people that graduate from that. >> great. thank you very much. any other comments or questions? any comments or questions from the public? then we will be voting on this contract next month. >> thank you. >> item b., requesting authorization to modify the existing grant agreement with

the leah's pantry for the provision of citywide nutrition education and counciling singh services program over the period of the timber first, 2019, through june 30th, 2020, and the amount of $40,850 plus a 10% contingency for total amount not to exceed $347,186. welcome to lauren to present. >> thank you. good morning, commissioners. my name is lauren and i'm a nutritionist with daas. we are speaking -- seeking your approval to modify the grant would leah's pantry for the provision of citywide nutrition education and counciling services. the citywide nutrition services grant began in fiscal year 17-18 we collaborate with daas funded cog it and home delivered meal contractors to provide nutrition education workshops and one-on-one nutrition counciling to older adults and adults with disabilities screened at high nutritional risk. consumers are referred by meal

contractors and identified in the california gate care system through citywide nutrition referral dashboard. this year, leah's pantry will be serving additional you contractors. therefore, the solidification increases the number of nutrition counciling hours and workshops the leah's pantry will provide in order to reach the increase in consumers being referred to. in a nutrition counciling session, clients can make nutrition related goals based on the advice and guidance from the registered dietitian and have the option to meet with the dietitian. nutrition education workshops consist of four classes once a week. feedback from the workshops last year was very positive, with over 90% of respondents reporting an increase in nutrition related knowledge and healthy behaviour changes. i do want to make a note. for the modification amount that is on the agenda, the number that is on the agenda is actually about $300 over the amount, so the correct is

$48,585. on the budget, the budget summary, the revision column, those numbers are all correct, however, the modification column , the indirect expense is missing. we will make sure that those two are fixed. i'm happy to answer any questions that you have at this time. >> thank you very much. >> could you tell me the budget page, the last page. >> yes. >> that is where the nutrition councillor has the operating expense -- expense details. could you tell me, on line 301 translation and interpretation. how come the amount jump so much

>> they use a language line to do their nutrition counciling services if needed. it was on the congregated budget and they moved it over for the home delivered meal budget. it was there before, they just moved it to the home delivered meal budget. >> thank you. any other comments or questions? >> in terms of how people access this program, we mentioned the citywide nutrition referral dashboard, how does someone find the dashboard? how does that work? >> the way it works is a nutrition meal providers perform the nutrition risk assessment on the consumers, and that should be done once a year. if the consumer is told they are high nutritional risk, the provider asked if there interested in the nutrition counseling on the nutrition

education workshops. if they are, then the provider refers them to that service. leah's pantry is the one that looks on that referral dashboard to see all of them in order to contract -- contact the clients. >> for the most part, or all of the part, these are people who are involved in the congregate meal program. that is how they would become aware. >> yes. they need to be enrolled as a congregate or home delivered meals. >> yes. okay, thank you. >> thank you. any other comments or questions from the commission? any comments or questions from the public? then we will vote on this next month. thank you. as we announced earlier, we will not be reviewing item c. today, that will be deferred until next month, and we we -- we will be

moving to item d., requesting authorization to modify the existing grant agreement with community living campaign for the provision of a community services program pilot during the pitter september 1st, 2019 , through june 30th, 2020, in additional amount of former $6,945 plus a 10% contingency for a total amount not to exceed $1,223,990,000. welcome back to tiffany. >> thank you. good morning again, commissioners. the budget modification for community living campaign his community service program pilot will enable them to increase the number of community connector programs and continue their work in collaboration with the department to launch a public awareness campaign this year, focused on ageism and ableism.

the budget modification adds funding received through this year's ad back process to pilot two more community connector programs and sustain connector programming that was started last year through the add back process. connector programs support our clients by coordinating a range of local activities in their neighborhoods, from exercise classes and walking groups, to potlucks and volunteer projects. connector programs aim to foster a sense of community and belonging for these clients. community living campaign is a champion of connector programs and if -- is successful at lodging these sights. last year, between the fifth connector program, three of which were started last year, the community living campaign reached 262 consumers and

provided 750 hours of service, meeting their survey to surveyed units -- unit goals for the grants. the results of their annual consumer satisfaction survey last year also demonstrates great success. at least 96% of the consumers surveyed reported they learned about new services by participating in the program. they attributed a strong sense of community, an increase in physical activity, and an improvement in the quality of life to program -- through program participation. with this modification, clc will have a total of eight neighborhood connector programs. one of the new connector programs will be located in the crocker amazon neighborhood, and the second location is in the outer sunset starting with an exercise program in the parkside neighborhood. the add back for a connector

programming also aligns with the key priorities and the dignity fund services and allocation plan, which included improved geographic access to services as well as inclusion and programming that engages older adults with disabilities that are not currently accessing services. now to go on to the second aspect of the modification the second part will allow for the continued work on the launch of the public awareness campaign this year, focused on ageism and ableism in the city. last year, c.l.c., in partnership with community stakeholders daas and the department of communications, it works with and experience -- worked with an experienced consultant to plan and strategize and set the foundation for a successful launch of the reframing aging campaign. the consultants convened a

facilitated work group to develop its campaign goals, framing strategies and outreach methods and now it is time to move forward to the next phase, which requires expertise from creative agencies and funding to make media buys such as advertising on munimobile buses, street web banners, billboards, essentially advertising at and in places places -- in places that have been identified as effective means to reach the public. the department is a very excited to launch the campaign and to continue to support the goal of the dignity fund, which is to make san francisco an aging and disability friendly city. thank you very much and i am happy to try to answer any questions you may have at this time. >> thank you. >> yes, i am looking at page four of the appendix and item

number six, the grantee shall ensure etiquette and culturally competent staffing. i am just wondering, what kind of language that staff and volunteers have. >> this would be of the community connector. are you talking about the connector sites? it would be dependent on the neighborhood and maybe i will check in with marie and kate in terms of -- okay. yeah, absolutely. >> thank you. my name is patty, what i am with the community living campaign. i'm all for representing district 11 with the department of aging advisory council. we have programs that try to address different communities in our neighborhood. for example, our literature and

flyers are printed in different languages. we have tai chi that appeals to some -- >> what kind of languages do you have? >> chinese and spanish at this time, but when we partner with or -- other organizations, for example, connector programs are connecting people to other programs. we have a safety program, for example,. this safety partner, whether it is the fire department, they offer all their flyers in multiple languages. and just to save paper a lot, we choose the languages that we know that our community will respond to. we also have a person on staff that can translate all of our flyers as needed. >> do you have volunteers that speak different kinds of languages? >> yes. every one of our neighborhoods has somebody that we can find us to help communicate with our non-english-speaking neighbours.

>> so the language will be english, chinese, and spanish, and russian? >> in the communities that we presently are, those languages are the predominant predominant languages. we chide you always respond to the needs. we have a big network of resources for people to help us, but usually it is the neighbour helping the neighbour. >> okay. thank you. >> thank you. >> any other questions or comments? any comments or questions from the public? >> good morning. i want to introduce these people from our neighborhood. i could fill this room with happy connector people, but we wanted to just share her insight into what the program has meant to her for the last five years,

and also thank you for the funding we receive. thank you. >> hello. i am a registered r.n. since i retired in 1990, this organization of connection of the neighborhood has changed my life. retiring is two ways for me. you either sit down and enjoy your retirement, or continue to be active without the responsibility. it is a good opening for me, and because -- when i was working, i never had the chance to work out with my neighbors, now when i retired, they opened the exercise three times a week. they have yoga, they have

lectures on making salad or painting, a lot of activity. my retirement is not wasted. it is full of activity. five days a week. it keeps me going. i am almost 95 and i am still going. i hope that everybody, i became a sort of an inspiration to some people. they say, i wish i could be like you when i reach 90. i am going on 95 and a couple of months and this program keeps me going. i hope everybody feels the same. thank you for whatever you can give. we appreciate it. we have to keep on going. we have to die with a smile on our face. [laughter] not gloomy. thank you. >> thank you.

[applause] thank you very much. >> any other comments or questions? okay. again -- >> just for the record, i would like to show that the sites for these community connector programs are in church basements [laughter] >> thank you. again, will be voting on this contract next month. as was announced earlier, we will not be having item seven today or item eight, so now we are ready for general public comment. welcome, valerie. >> good morning or almost afternoon. i first want to welcome the new commissioners. i haven't had the honor and privilege to work with all of you. i'm here to talk about some changes, unlock has some -- we

are having a leadership of structure change, so i wanted to be able to tell you and also to introduce to you the executive director of the online-based services program. but before i do that, i wanted to mention that i have been at 30th street life in some form or capacity for 308 years. i am going to be moving to a new position in the unlock organization to help our organization launch new programs for older adults. my new title will be director of well program development. so officially on october 1st, i would not be the director at the 30th street senior centre any longer. i wanted to make sure we got to mention that directly, and to also excite you and get you acquainted with my colleague who

will be taking the reins in the new leadership structure as executive director of the services corporation which has been the corporation over 30th k the reins in 1995. i want to introduce john and let him say a couple words about himself. then i have one final announcement i want to make sure i get on your radar. >> thank you. congratulations. >> thank you. i am excited to introduce myself we are going through a restructuring and trying to find ways to expand and support our services even more fully and to build upon the amazing work that valerie has committed her lifetime to. as executive director, i and the director of 30th street -- i have a direct reporting to me, and also we are engaging with open house and having a senior day program there, as well. the whole idea of the executive

director role is to continue expanding our ability to reach out and support seniors in our community. i'm excited to get to know all of you better. i also have another hat, i'm the director of chief director, so hopefully we bring these skills together and we will be able to find funding and support many different ways as we do this work. thank you. >> thank you. >> so we are going to go celebrate. thirtieth street has hit the milestone of 40 years, and so on friday, september 27th, we will be celebrating 30th street's 40 years of community services throughout the world -- the san francisco world. it is a really exciting time for unlock and for 30th street to highlight what we've done, but

also to be getting ready for what we will do. again, i will send invitations to you if you haven't received them already, but it would be great to have people joining us. that will be my last senior centre director event. i would love to have you. thanks. >> thank you. >> good morning. i am here as the cochair of the dignity fund coalition and a member of the long-term care council. since this wasn't brought up earlier, i wanted to say little bit more about the master plan on aging which is being sponsored by the dignity fund coalition and the long-term care council with support from the fund, the scan foundation and a whole lot of the members of those groups that i mentioned. the event is set for september 20th from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 y on the embarcadero, with a resource table happening before

the event from 12:00 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. i also wanted to tell you there will be an illustrious group of elected officials and community leaders who will be part of the presentation that day, and it will be translated simultaneously in cantonese, spanish, and american sign language, and then it will also be live streamed in realtime, and that lifestream version will be posted online with captions shortly after the event. so if you wanted more information about that event, it is posted on the dignity fund coalition site. secondly, now i want to also speak as the director of the community living campaign to invite you to our annual award event which is scheduled for september 26th. this year, we are honouring michael blocher who is a

longtime executive director. and more information about this event is on our website. thank you very much. >> thank you. any other public comment? any other announcements? hearing none, we can't have a motion to adjourn? police please, come forward. >> can you state your name? >> my name is keith moore. i am a local real estate investor he here in san francisco. i have been here for 37 years. i am here because i currently am in possession of a lot on the corner of turk and drums. this lot currently is, i assume it is being leased by the city

and california parking. there is movement on this lot as far as the potential building for a safer organized space, which would help the homeless in the event of a catastrophic -- catastrophic event, and they were going to be ripped out of their home and going through posttraumatic shock and dealing with the situation of newly becoming homeless. this particular space would be utilized to house those people. now there is a philanthropist named amy, and she is there right now. may i approach this?

thank you. now as you can see from the diagram of the spacing on the diagram there, the spaces are very well organized. there is a triage area, there would be reporting if the board would like reporting on who's utilizing the services there. it would be available to the board if you requested. we would be more than happy to get that dated team. if the board would consider the finalization of the acquisition

of the lot to be used for that purpose, it would be much appreciated. we also know the homeless problem in san francisco is a huge problem, but triaging the place would be great for the committee. >> thank you. any other public comment? we can't have a motion to adjourn, so i will just simply order that we adjourn. [laughter]

>> i would like to call roll. (roll call). >> you have a quorum. also present is -- that is it. you have a quorum. >> thank you. i would like to welcome retired sergeant back for the evening only. we are scheduled to have a closed session today, but we do have a couple of people who have

come for public comment, general public comment. i am going to open up and start with general public comment first, then we will go to public comment and go into closed session. is there any general public comment? i will allow three minutes. >> good evening. years ago in south san francisco, it was one of my birthdays, i read my poem to the has. it didn't go well, but i thought, what is hell. i was gifted a harley. while there are many cop goes like mason storm.

today more than ever before what is out on on the street is scary. now have arisen indeed attitude like dirty harry. for a spell be broken behold means more than bold. lapd officer michael rupert echoed his voice to make clear the california internal war. now we have a choice. the degree of voice vaulted view enforcement and families are being assaulted. in oakland assault on officer tolerance is zero. lethal force. i perceive by the governor for la skid row officers with typhoid fever as he -- he does

as he pleases. they hold and disdain all sheriffs and cops considering them as supportive props. i am peter, the brother from the east. through the likes of me all corruption be ceased. commanding law enforcement cease transit flow least they be assaulted by the status quo. if you looked up paradise lost, homeless in la, seven minute youtube he verifies law enforcement is sick. 53 square blocks home less. thousands of trucks come up here every month, playings travel. it is unchecked. people in positions of power know this and it remains unchecked.

therefore they are responsible for possibly being charged with assault to commit murder. i don't know how else to look at it. i am definitely in support of law enforcement. i warn you they have been stuck in the middle for a long time and it is a riddle. the power requires the 40 day strike and during this strike all of these young people that were told about the climate were never told about judy berry. she was a champion. it is 5g involved in cutting down . >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. i am glad to be back. i missed everybody.

again, i would like to use the overhead. august 14 of this year was my son's 14th anniversary of his murder. could you start me over. there is no picture. >> start over. can we get the picture up? >> yes, august 14 of this year would be his 14th year of his death, and we had -- i want to think steve that sittings in the back. he helped me do the circle in front of my house which i do every year. it was wonderful.

i thank those that came out to support me. it was hard, but it was wonderful. i was able to sleep that night, but still, you guys, i still grieve my son's death and see the perpetrators walking the street to kill again. i asked that day and i am asking again for the posters to be put up. we have no venue. i have them on my car. i know the chaplain morgan said she would help me try to get plaques she is working on that. nobody is responding to her. i was hoping someone here can help her respond to people that need to help mean get these plaques up for maybe not just my son but right now she is talking about my son. the other thing is i come with all of my pictures.

i just don't fight for my son. other mothers and fathers lost their child to homicide, too. my quest for coming here is because the homicides aren't solved and because my son's homicide is not solved. i bring my pictures because i want people to remember what i have to look at every day and see every day. this is not your child, it is my child, but i don't want people to forget my son. i don't want people to forget what i am going through every day. my son had a father. this was a two-parent family. we put him in catholic school, we paid for tuition for him to go to school. he was a really good boy. i always say this is what the perpetrators left me with. this is all i have left of my

child. you guys, it is 14 years and i still cry. i still hurt. i still want justice for my child. my investigator did come out that day, and i am glad he did. we have a $250,000 reward with nobody coming forth. how do we change the law? what do we do so mothers like myself can have some kind of closure. 14 years, i can't believe it. i say i will never stop until the day i die. hopefully, i will get justice before that happens. i don't know. >> thank you. can we have the tip line read into the record for anybody who may be watching. >> tip line with information on the homicide please call 415-575-4444. >> thank you.

any other public comment or speakers. general public comment is closed. next item, please. >> this is item 1. public comment on all matters pertaining to closed session including item two. vote whether to hold item three in closed session. >> we intend to go to closed session to address disciplinary matters. any public comment on our going to closed session? >> yes, my comment would be regarding this topic. confidentiality may be maintained by not naming names and that i submit that you hear what i have to say because i am speaking about confidentiality versus zero tolerance, and i can feel your hearts up there as you

responded to the last speaker. i do believe you are all good people. i try my best, and she mentioned him going to a particular catholic school. it was the religions that under mined things. people talk about white supremacy. i say if that exists it is nowhere near murder included animals from the time of moses. that is can corby hind ever -- behind every war. we have the power to change this. you have been commanded to do your utmost. that is in your heart. i am the voice of the goddess temple in the temple of heaven. the people that are the true

warriors arise together and release the power of christ. avoid the 40 day shut down of the system of the promise land. behold, be more than bold. arise and be above and beyond our status or job description. it is the shutdown of the 40 days of the total economy, industry of the slaughter house and oil, the two blood flows maintained to undermine us all the more all the longer. thathat is unacceptable from ths moment on. i say it, you hear it. so be it. it is done. on behalf of the children and innocent animals. california is the most powerful state. it is time to arise and fulfill our faith as destiny's date. i am peter, your servant.

you are here to be the leader. we are the power the time is at hand. abide, abbuild this mighty command. >> any other comment about going to closed session. >> public comment is closed. >> because we are going to due process hearing the record reflect people have a right to public comment that any appeal to religious issues or anything of that sort would not be within the scope of the commission's consideration or deliberations. >> thank you. >> truth is above all religion. >> thank you. sir, you are interrupting us, please. >> we need a motion to go into closed session. >> so moved. >> second. >> all in favor.

a. >> motion passes. we are g >> you are back on the record in open session and you still have a quorum. >> item 4 vote to elected discussions on item 3. 67.12 a action. >> is there a motion not to disclose. >> nondisclosure. >> second. >> all in favor. >> aye. >> opposed. >> motion passes. >> item five adjournment. >> motion to adjourn. >> so moved. >> all in favor. >> aye. >> opposed. >> motion passes. >>

>> i view san francisco almost as a sibling or a parent or something. i just love the city. i love everything about it. when i'm away from it, i miss it like a person. i grew up in san francisco kind of all over the city. we had pretty much the run of the city 'cause we lived pretty close to polk street, and so we would -- in the summer, we'd all all the way down to aquatic

park, and we'd walk down to the library, to the kids' center. in those days, the city was safe and nobody worried about us running around. i went to high school in spring valley. it was over the hill from chinatown. it was kind of fun to experience being in a minority, which most white people don't get to experience that often. everything was just really within walking distance, so it make it really fun. when i was a teenager, we didn't have a lot of money. we could go to sam wong's and get super -- soup for $1. my parents came here and were drawn to the beatnik culture. they wanted to meet all of the writers who were so famous at the time, but my mother had some serious mental illness

issues, and i don't think my father were really aware of that, and those didn't really become evident until i was about five, i guess, and my marriage blew up, and my mother took me all over the world. most of those ad ventures ended up bad because they would end up hospitalized. when i was about six i guess, my mother took me to japan, and that was a very interesting trip where we went over with a boyfriend of hers, and he was working there. i remember the open sewers and gigantic frogs that lived in the sewers and things like that. mostly i remember the smells very intensely, but i loved japan. it was wonderful. toward the end. my mother had a breakdown, and that was the cycle. we would go somewhere, stay for a certain amount of months, a year, period of time, and she would inevitably have a breakdown. we always came back to san francisco which i guess came me some sense of continuity and

that was what kept me sort of stable. my mother hated to fly, so she would always make us take ships places, so on this particular occasion when i was, i think, 12, we were on this ship getting ready to go through the panama canal, and she had a breakdown on the ship. so she was put in the brig, and i was left to wander the ship until we got to fluorfluora few days later, where we had a distant -- florida a few days later, where we had a distant cousin who came and got us. i think i always knew i was a writer on some level, but i kind of stopped when i became a cop. i used to write short stories, and i thought someday i'm going to write a book about all these ad ventures that my mother took me on.

when i became a cop, i found i turned off parts of my brain. i found i had to learn to conform, which was not anything i'd really been taught but felt very safe to me. i think i was drawn to police work because after coming from such chaos, it seemed like a very organized, but stable environment. and even though things happening, it felt like putting order on chaos and that felt very safe to me. my girlfriend and i were sitting in ve 150d uvio's bar, and i looked out the window and i saw a police car, and there was a woman who looked like me driving the car. for a moment, i thought i was me. and i turned to my friend and i said, i think i'm supposed to do this. i saw myself driving in this car. as a child, we never thought of police work as a possibility for women because there weren't any until the mid70's, so i had

only even begun to notice there were women doing this job. when i saw here, it seemed like this is what i was meant to do. one of my bosses as ben johnson's had been a cop, and he -- i said, i have this weird idea that i should do this. he said, i think you'd be good. the department was forced to hire us, and because of all of the posters, and the big recruitment drive, we were under the impression that they were glad to have us, but in reality, most of the men did not want the women there. so the big challenge was constantly feeling like you had to prove yourself and feeling like if you did not do a good job, you were letting down your entire gender. finally took an inspector's test and passed that and then went down to the hall of justice and worked different investigations for the rest of my career, which was fun.

i just felt sort of buried alive in all of these cases, these unsolved mysteries that there were just so many of them, and some of them, i didn't know if we'd ever be able to solve, so my boss was able to get me out of the unit. he transferred me out, and a couple of weeks later, i found out i had breast cancer. my intuition that the job was killing me. i ended up leaving, and by then, i had 28 years or the years in, i think. the writing thing really became intense when i was going through treatment for cancer because i felt like there were so many parts that my kids didn't know. they didn't know my story, they didn't know why i had a relationship with my mother, why we had no family to speak of. it just poured out of me. i gave it to a friend who is an editor, and she said i think this would be publishable and i think people would be interested in this. i am so lucky to live here. i am so grateful to my parents

who decided to move to the city. i am so grateful they did. that it neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr