depend on all of us, all of our behaviors and actions. it will take all of us to support each other, stand up for each other and do what is right for each other. i am so produce to partner with -- to partner with the department of children youth and families, recreation and parks, san francisco public library and other city departments. our school district, community partners and private sector partners to join forces and to do our part to ensure the safety and well-being of our city's most vulnerable children and youth. we answered your call to action, madam mayor, and stood up to the community hub initiative for youth. a lot of support from the

department of public health. our highest need children are receiving the very necessary in person support with their distance learning curriculum and getting the much needed enrichment activities and social well-being support. we understood about the distance learning efforts this past spring has increased historic disparities in our communities. many students who already face large achievement gaps, family support, assistive device and access to the internet were barriers to engagement. with equity and digital access at the forefront we moved quickly. the covid avalanche that we knew was hitting our children.

i am so happy to share today we celebrate the community health initiative completion of this school year's first semester. for the past 14 weeks our 78 hubs provided an extended circle of educational, social emotional and family support of children and youth surrounded by kind caring adults to provide a safe and nurturing environment for learning, play and a lot of fun. the initiative success is maintaining health and safety protocols across all 78 hubs by meaningful data for the department of public health and the city's covid command as we support our schools to reopen safely. while 2020 has not been an ordinary year, it has brought out the extraordinary.

especially when it comes to our collaborative partners in our communities day in and out. throughout the pandemic our community partners consistent have been on the front lines responding to the needs of our communities by providing essential support. they are our san francisco youth development first responders. i want to join the mayor in thanking comcast and our other partners as we are so grateful for your support and proud to welcome you into the mayor's village. together we make san francisco a great place to grow up, even during the pandemic. thank you, mayor. >> mayor breed: thank you, maria. community partners have been essential in taking care of our kids at these sites day after

day. i would like to introduce betty field ashbury for the tom embarcadero ymca providing staffing. thank you and welcome, betty. >> thank you, madam mayor, maria, it is such an honor to be here speaking about our work at the treasure island community hub. i first and foremost want to thank the families and caregivers that entrust us with the chair of their young people. it is the most awesome and humbling responsibility, particularly during this time while we are figuring out how to get through the pandemic that none of us were ever anticipating or prepared for.

we on the island, our community is going through an enormous amount of physical transformation and with that comes feelings of separation and isolation from the city. that is compounded during this pandemic. for us at the community ymca remaining stable was imperative and call to action for all of us, and my team on the island working seven days each week as we led to the launch of the hub. it has been an overwhelming lift and beautiful cingular investment from all of the community partners to be ther tr interest and investment in

caring for the most vulnerable kids. that has been evidenced in the way they have helped through the planning process. san francisco beacon initiative has supported us all in the vision. we have had the city departments led by may or london breed drive this initiative, and at the center of it as maria was saying, our youth development workers and professionals are reimagining and innovating creative ways to keep young people safe, healthy and engaged during this time in a space and context where they can't necessarily touch or be close or play in the ways that they are used to. they have done an incredible job. we are managing multiple children's schedules, getting them engage with the school day

and learning skills about safety, community responsibility and care and compassion. it is so beautiful and meaningful to see this happen. i think that this work can't be done on behalf of one individual entity, but as i said it has been a cingular kind of focus around the safety and care for young people that are vulnerable. it has been so rewarding and refreshing. i feel so proud and humble by the fact that our staff has been safe, our young people have been safe, we haven't experienced any covid outbreaks. we haven't experienced covid exposure based on hub participation. we are excited to keep partnering, and we are so supported by all of the partners

and the work that has come our way. comcast has made sure the internet could support the 36 young people in the hub and getting technology homes to families. we have worked with island partners to distribute food and deliver packages and provide virtual opportunities for families that aren't in our physical space. while this time has been scary and unprecedented, it has also been triumphant in how we can come together and what we can do for our young people when we are facing this kind of challenge. i want to say thank you. i want to appreciate the caregivers and the families that entrust us with their children and the youth workers and activists and organizers who are in the center of all of this may being it happen.

>> thank you so much, betty. next we want to highlight the people most impacted by the hubs. families, which day in and day out are struggling with distance learning. it is one thing to hear from me, it is another thing to hear from our parents. this is shanna who enrolled her daughter in the community hub program in september. welcome. >> thank you, mayor breed. i am the mother of brooklyn, fourth grader. she has been attending the first hub since they opened. i want to say that because my baby was able to attend, life has been a little easier. it is very, very stressful. i recently quit my job in an

effort so brooklyn would be attending, i applied at another job. it all worked out for me. i feel like not only is she doing well in school, i feel safe, i feel like she is safe, and they are very caring. they are more like family than school. or the after school program or how ever you want to call them, it is a family thing and i am leaving her with her family for the day. with the covid thing. they may being sure everything is clean and safe. they wash before and after everything they do. i just appreciate whoever opened

up these hubs. i appreciate you all. it was a struggle before, single parent. once it opened everything got a little easier for me, very easier. thank you for having me. >> mayor breed: thank you. how old is brooklyn? >> 9 years old in fourth grade and she loves her staff. >> mayor breed: thank you so much. glad she is doing so well. next up we have -- we really want to highlight the work that comcast has been doing through this pamdemic. we relied on support to help with community initiatives. i would like to introduce the vice president of external affairs in california. >> thank you, madam mayor.

so great to be here. i think the word that many of us would use about this year is unprecedented. we have seen unprecedented challenges requiring creative solutions. in response to the challenges this year, i am extremely proud of everything comcast has done to support employees, customers and communities. last week comcast announced we will provide free internet service for 60 days for new international essentials customers and free access to the more than 1.5 public wi-fi hotspots through june of 2021. this continues our commitment that we first made in mid-march at the beginning of shelter-in-place. comcast is committed to closing the digital divide and creating digital equity for more than a decade. we have made great strides.

we have connected to the internet more than 8 million low income individuals nationally. 1 million of whom from the great state of california. we did this through our internet essentials program which provi provides high-speed internet access at home to eligible low income individuals and supports non-profit partners for digital literacy skills. there is still more we can and will do. during this decade long journey, we are learned it takes partnership to be successful. madam mayor, i thought your quote about the village is so appro pro. we are grateful to be part of that village. we want to thank you, mayor breed, for your vision and leadership to launch the community hubs, not only for connection but for vital wrap

around services to children and families. of the thousands of partners we work with nationwide, i could not be more proud to be here today with each of you. i am extreme lee proud that comcast is a key partner enabling the tremendous success of the community hubs in san francisco. the 30 plus locations we are supporting in the city is part of a larger commitment whereby comcast will launch 1,000 lift scopes nationally. wait. there is more. we have exciting news to share about continuing commitment to san francisco. in addition to powering the community hub locations throughout comcast lift zone program, comcast will donate $140,000 to give to sf. to support digital literacy

training, food insecurity efforts during the pandemic and holiday season along with other services offered at the community hubs. comcast, as the mayor mentioned, will provide 800 youth with laptop computers which are theirs to keep and free internet at home for a year through internet essentials program. by providing free wi-fi access at community hubs and combining with free laptops and free internet access at home, comcast will help ensure the youth actively participate in class work and complete assignments wherever they are. as a result, the children can receive the best possible education and be set up for a more equitable prosperous future. the partnership with mayor breed, the