housing. i am excited to welcome you to the long anticipated opening of the important program to sheriff people who are homeless, pregnant or with young children. iit is incredibly important that we serve people who have new life either about to be born or already born to make sure they are well cared for as they come into this world so they don't become people who are homeless 15 or 20 years from now. if we get a handle on the problem we have to work with the people pregnant and youth and families. this is one of many initiatives mayor breed initiated or led to address this issue. i am honored and excited to address our mayor london breed. >> thank you. first of all, let me say i am so excited to be here because this project took so long to get

here, and martha would tell you that every time i saw her at an event i am like when are we opening? it is going to happen, it is going to happen. what do i need to do? how do we make it happen? we all know that the homeless prenatal and the work the people do every day, you know the challenges so many mothers you work with face and the biggest challenge is access to affordable housing. access to a place to not only go home to when you basically get the care and support, what happens after the baby is born. how do you deal with so many challenges? it is frustrating for the people every day to not provide your client with the full

comprehensive wraparound support they need in order to thrive. that is why jelani house is so important. i am excited for the mothers that will be the first people to live in this incredible space. i know that that means for not only them but for the unborn child or other children to have a clean nice plays with beautiful furniture and also can case management and supportive service, wraparound love they will get as a result of this place is something that just is going to be a game changer for this city. i want to thank martha for her patience. and her leadership. over 30 years the work she has done through homeless prenatal has touched the lives of so many people. it is evident in the staff which many were clients themselves and now are running this incredible

o. we are grateful for homeless prenatal. we also know that is bayview hunters point foundation and dish will be a big part of this work. thank you all because it does take a village of financial support, community support, the will to get it done, and this opportunity here will be really something so significant. i can't wait until we are able to provide not only an opportunity for the families who will be here as ago through what i know will be one of the most challenging times of their lives. i am hopeful the work we continue to do in city hall will help get the city to a better place so we have more affordable housing options for them so that we get to a point where we don't necessarily have a need for a place like this. the need is housing. at the end of the day to

transition people to a place where they can live in dignity, raise their families, continue to get the support and help they need, but we have to do a better job with producing more housing in the city. i am committed to that along with making sure that we have places like jelani house to provide hope for future generations of those in san francisco. i want to thank you for your support. this is an exciting day in the city. martha, i am excited you continue to bust your but to do this work. >> it is my staff. >> she said it is her staff. >> we know it takes a grade visionary leader. the fact you started this organization and brought together so many amazing people with these incredible skills to build upon what you started and

to have it amount to such an incredible place and this is extraordinary. congratulations. i look forward to getting this place open and ready to go. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. this has taken so long i have worked with two district supervisors. i was excited when mr. walton became the supervisor. hhe is a warrior for those not represented as well as they should be in the political discourse and communities disconnected from what is happening in the rest of san francisco and has been a great partner to make this project happen. i don't say he micromanaged. he called me on many, many details many times. he was well aware of everything

happening with this project and please join me to welcome supervisor walton. [applause] >> thank you, jeff. first of all, good afternoon everybody. >> good afternoon. >> this is an amazing afternoon and it is amazing because we are bringing together two amazing historical organizations. jelani house was named after mr. and mrs. everhart's son jelani. giveheim a hand. [applause] >> i know martha will touch on the history as well. this has always been a place for our mothers to thrive. it was set up so that people who may have had some issues with substance abuse and other issues domestic in the home had an opportunity and place to go where women could be safe. i am excited that homeless

prenatal is going to continue the work they have been doing for so many years. it is hard to talk about hpp without talking about the leadership. i had an opportunity to work with martha when i was director of the family resource center. i won't say how many years ago because i will date myself. i knew then the work of hpp was something that was actually saving the lives of mothers here in san francisco and then providing them with an opportunity to get stable and get the stability they needed so they can continue to thrive with their children. jeff is right. this place is personal to me, historically. i did have a lot of conversations with him. i was pushed by the hpp staff to hold me as supervisor accountable and hold the city accountable. i want to thank the team for your hard work and your

dedication, particularly malia who works to make sure the organization gets what they deserve from the leaders in the city. with that said -- (applause). >> we are on the third renovation here at the jelani house. it warms my heart that hpp is providing this wonderful service for our expecting mothers and making sure that families are able to thrive. the ymca is across the street. they are here and thank you for your support. these are the hubs we need with spaces to go where families can receive the type of opportunities to help them thrive in san francisco. thank you forego here. this is an exciting bay for bayview hunters point. the sun is always shining in bayview and you can see it

outside. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor walton. last but not least join me in welcoming martha ryan. >> thank you, jeff. thank you, mayor breed for making this happen and supervisor walton. thank you for always being there and i want to thank everybody who is here. i want to welcome you our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and especially mr. and mrs. everhart. i assured them today we would carry on the legacy of jelani and we will. i want to start by thanking our wonderful partners dish. if you don't know what that means designing innovative

supportive housing. they have a reputation of doing their work with heart. i can't think of another organization that would be better at guiding us in this process. [applause] your expertise and generosity and partner ship and spirit have been a great gift. thank you very much. i am so humbled to stand before you here today to open jelani house, which is a labor of love and dedication on many parts for many years. i am thrilled because today will change the lives of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. it will set these families on a transformational course ensuring their babies born, that the babies born to residents of

jelani will not face the struggles decades on. at this house pregnant women will not only have food and shelter but gain a community of support to guide them on their path to new motherhood. no pregnant woman should have to sleep in a car and no baby should ever have to sleep in a tenant. no mother should have to go at it alone. [applause] as many of you know, homeless pregnant women face significant health challenges. in fact an estimated one in five homeless ex specktant mothers give birth prematurely, double the national rate. it poses immediate and lifelong health challenges for newborn. unhoused pregnant women are more

likely to face life-threatening complications needs medical intervention. they have diabetes and hypertension. we want those diseases treated and that they are taken care of. we also want to -- we will be prepared to help women with mental health issues, including postpartum depression. jelani house prioritises these families in support of long-term positive health outcomes. for 30 years, hpp believed in the importance of two generational upstream approach to family support. truly jelani has that philosophy with client centered intervention just as families are beginning their new lives together. hpp looks forward to creating a program that is effective,

replicable and a model for the nation. (applause). a program that helps mothers have healthy pregnancies and deliveries and helps them exit homelessness once and for all. permanently breaking the cycle of childhood poverty and family homelessness. i want to thank all of the partners. many of you are in the room today and hpp staff. hpp staff has worked tirelessly from furnishing this entire house to building new infrastructure so phones and computers work to hiring and training the staff to holding listening circles and interviews with former residents of shelters similar to jelani and

to develop programming guided by what was learned, to meeting weekly with city anna and the non-profit partners to ensure the doors would be open today. today marks a dream come true for the homeless prenatal programming and we couldn't have done it without you. thank you for rising to new challenges and to forging ahead towards a future full of opportunity for all san francisco families. thank you for being here. [applause] >> before we close. it takes a village to make things like this happen. i would be remiss if i didn't acknowledge my colleagues who worked so hard to make this

happen. raise your hands hss employees. former hss employees if you can raise your hands, too, you helped with this as well. i himself want to thank the city staff here today, especially from the department of public health who work with expectant motherrers and are great advocates for that population and this project. i want to thank you for being here today. there will be tours today and i hope you get a chance to visit this beautiful site. thank you all for being here.