>> san francisco is coming back for real. the weather is all right. hi everybody. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and i'm glad to be here with all of you today at city hall. i know we come and we gather for so many different things, but today is an opportunity for us to recognize some unsung heroes in our city. and let me tell you it has been

a very challenging 18 months when the decision to shelter in place was made and we had to communicate to the public. we had a very challenging time. so many people said what are we going to do. there are people who need to be fed. there are people who don't have a roof over their heads. their folks who need support. we don't even know what this virus is. how are we going to get ppe? it was a very tough time and not only did san francisco do an incredible job, the people standing up here with me today. they rolled up their sleeves. they didn't shy away and they put themselves at risk in order

to help other people. and so today, we are honoring them you saw us as the faces of the challenges of the pandemic and people throughout the city, but a lot of folks don't realize when we first were dealing with this pandemic, we embedded an equity team in our response. and part of that was to make sure we got resources to places that traditionally would be left out had we not made those investments who were apart of the fabric of the community. they were already on the ground doing the work and when we needed additional help to provide additional resources. they didn't hesitate.

they didn't hesitate and it was tough because there was so much uncertainty. it was tough because in some cases, you know, outbreaks happened, uncertainty, concern about friends and families, but they still showed up every single day with the people that were apart of their teams that were dedicated to doing the work to take care of people and the reason why we're here today is because we need the entire city to know what they did. we need the entire city to recognize they took care of our kids in chinatown. they took at the forefront of

reason and i could not have done it without them and so i want to thank them for raising their hands to do testing and setting up makeshift testing sites. to i want to to get people in the community who had concerns about the vaccine. to go out and educate and support and answer questions all of these things that's why san francisco is so amazing and so special. because these people represent. they represent what is so

amazing and so good about our city. yes. we have our challenges like any other we have compassionate people who believe in service, who believe in the very best of other people and believe in making sure that everyone deserves an opportunity to get resources, to get support. to have a roof over their heads and whether this pandemic hit or not. they would still be out there doing that work. so today we honor them and they would call them up individually. i want to bring back dr. grant colfax. i was not very happy with the news that he was reporting to me because i know what it meant for me to go out there and have to tell members of the public

who were going to be upset with me and the decisions we had to make. but we did it and what we saw in san francisco, one of the lowest death rates in the country although we're one of the most dense cities in the country. what we saw or what we continue to see one of the highest vaccination rates. so say what you want about san francisco. we're trying to be safe. we're trying to be healthy and we're trying to live and we're trying to thrive in this city and public health is at the forefront of this city and the person who helps make those decisions is dr. grant colfax. [ applause ] >> well, thank you, mayor breed and a heart felt thank you to

our 9 leaders here today and then the testing questions that came and then the vaccine questions and i want to thank you for everything that you've done. because of your work and equity based approach, we have kept hospitalizations and deaths low. we have re-opened the city. schools are back in session and we resume so many of these activities that make us feel whole again and it really is because of you. the results show for instance with vaccines, our vaccination rates. our vaccinations among people of color are highest in the nation and lead our vaccination rates in the city.

and it's no accident. it's because of your work that vaccines and testing are readily available. we have 100 vaccine sites. and san franciscans are within a 10 minute walk of a site and that's why we managed to get 80% of our eligible population. and i was just talking to several of you before the event, needles are going to kids' arms. they're getting the shot and we're doing over a 1,000 a day great progress. now, that is one thing, but i think one of the key things in our responses is they're only one thing. they are so important. they're key to getting out of this pandemic, but there's so many other key issues that are of importance for us to address. the wide ranging emotional and

social well being of ourselves, our family and our community. you all saw this early on. we had conversations. you led the department in our response from providing diapers, food, masks, digital support. families struggling with remote learning. this is about the whole city, the many city departments and the community coming together to help with education and helping people understand and abide by our health orders. helping seniors get to medical appointments and reaching our most vulnerable who are unhouseded. we have so much to be proud of and the challenges ahead. i am confident we will meet them together. thank you for your dedication and partnership with the city. let's keep it going and let's get our boosters. all right.

so we are now going to recognize our vaccine heroes and i will read the name of the recipient and the mayor will present. correct? okay. bay point advocates. bayview. we're doing a photograph with each one and then a group. correct? >> i didn't even know i was supposed to speak. i'm honored to receive this award. representing the folks in bayview hunter's point.

through the pandemic, it has been such a life lesson learning and just an experience because i experience and got covid myself. so that was just, you know, an eye opener for me just one of those things. i'm in the community. when it came down to me, i'm like, now, what do i do. that life experience and hesitancy, i know what folks and residents are experiencingment you lose someone in the community. thank you to everyone getting the vaccine. if you're not doing them if you're not thinking about getting the vaccine, find different approaches, wholistic approaches and thank you all for this awesome experience and

award. [ applause ] >> so our next honoree is father moses agud of the parishes. father organized the safe spaces and set up vaccine clinics and helped conduct online masses during shelter-in-place to help people stay connected. thank you. >> actually, i haven't prepared anything. when i used to prepare things i'd talk for two or three hours. so i just want to say thank you to the mayor and the people they are working with. i think it's important for us for the city of san francisco

as much as possible receive these and collaborate and be responsible. and i think if we can work together the benefit for the people. [ applause ] >> our next honoree is annie chung from self-help for the elderly. during a time where our seniors were struggling to get access. annie and her team stepped up to help and to get them vaccinated. annie, thank you so much for your work. [ applause ] >> thank you, mayor. and thank you dr. colfax. i accept this on behalf of our community. l all american medical group to do all the vaccination for our home bound seniors and the

seniors that couldn't come out and get vaccinated. so thank you, mayor, for all the resources that you give us as well as all the help that department of public health gave us. thank you very much. >> next up is earnest jones for the southwest community corporation. >> happy birthday! >> it's your birthday too? well, happy birthday. earnest led in areas where we needed to set up testing and vaccine clinics for people who could not make it all the way down to mosconi and other sites. thank you for being an unsung hero. [ applause ] >> just to be really brief and

quick, i want to give a shout-out and thank you to the covid command center and the leadership of our city. aaron geoffrey at the time did an amazing job at the time. beyond that, it was a supportive effort. this is for all of lakeview. the community came together and worked together to make sure everyone was safe and that was because of the love that everybody has for their community. thank you for your leadership and thank you for the work. [ applause ] >> next up is berta hernandez with dph, department of public health. berta was with a local nonprofit that helped our latino families get access to what they needed. berta, thank you for being there and everywhere and thank you for being an unsung hero. [ applause ]

>> thank you everybody. i am very proud of my community. the community i belong to was more hard hit in the beginning of the pandemic. we lost people, many were sick. many lose their jobs and even had the resources to be quarantined. so it's at the same time, i'm so proud of the community because everybody was able to come together and to look for each other and not let anyone behind, so we were able to survive. i'm so thankful to my newco workers at d.p.s. and i'm so proud of them. thank you.

[ applause ] >> all right. our next honoree is felicia thibedeau. she has helped get more than a 1,000 people vaccinated by referring them to vaccine clinics. thank you for being an unsung hero. [ applause ] >> thank you to mayor breed, dr. colfax, the dph staff and to the wellness hub. the we rock. that would be i.c.y., win, mary harris omicpp our kids first and african american early

childhood educators. together, we partner with our resources. they work hard, they bust, they rock. thank you everyone. [ applause ] . >> next up is isabella ventura with ryan martin health services. isabella's been on the front lines as a primary care provider and helps support our lgbtqi communities and especially our transgender residents to help get access to covid resources. thank you for your work. [ applause ] >> on behalf of my team, i'd like to thank dr. colfax and mayor breed for your amazing work. thank you for your dedication and your dedication to provide

health -- quality health services to our marginalized and underserved population here in san francisco. and thank you dph for this recognition. thank you. [ applause ] >> our next honoree is monica worked on street outreach medical teams to help people experiencing homelessness. monica, thank you for your work. >> so i'm so grateful to the city of san francisco and especially to you, mayor breed because you guys believed in science, you put that first and put everybody's well being in priority and i'm so grateful for that because we were able to go to the streets and help the misunderstood populations

and we were able to take this head-on. so thank you so much and thank you for this award. [ applause ] >> and our final honoree today is gwendelyn westbrook. i think as so many people know here to address food induring the pandemic. emblem attic of our wholistic approach. congratulations and thank you. >> everybody knows how much i love them especially people at united council. i want to thank everybody who helped me, even the ones i had

to chase down to make you get your shots. it's all good. the mayor, she knows how much i love her. we've got a girls group and we're all so proud of you. this has been a very difficult task, but without the team that we built that united council which includes maestro curtis and the c-notes. helping us get the word out. making sure people in the community knew we were out there to give food. he did all that. him and his wife and dhirn supported united council and i have so much love for all of them. my staff, you guys are the most remarkable people in san francisco. you never took a day off. you worked your tails off, we stepped up and we worked as a team. we know the team work makes the

dream work and that's what we did in bayview hunter's point. that not having any cases of covid at united council with as many people we serve is because of you. it's because you guys were diligent to the cause. we knew what we had to do and i'll be darned if we didn't get it done. i am so proud of all of you. this award is for us, for all of us, not just me because like i have always told you, i couldn't do it alone. so i'm up here accept. thank you, mayor.

>> well, gwenyth and maestro and the c-notes. i'm sure you caught them on america's got talent. the world i had to tell shamman, not the bayview. we even served the whole city, but they were born and raised in the fillmore. they're doing great things we have all these incredible people. just saying thank you. we are here to appreciate them and recognize them. we're grateful for their service and i'll tell you, whether there was a pandemic or not, whether there was an award or not, these are the people still on the ground doing the hard work every day and so we

appreciate them so much and grateful that they came out and we're here to celebrate and uplift you and thank you all so much. it's a true blessing to the people of san francisco. [ applause ] [♪♪♪] ♪ homelessness in san francisco is considered the number 1 issue by most people who live here, and it doesn't just affect neighbors without a home, it affects all of us. is real way to combat that is to work together. it will take city departments and nonprofit providers and volunteers and companies and community members all coming together.

[♪♪♪] >> the product homeless connect community day of service began about 15 years ago, and we have had 73 of them. what we do is we host and expo-style event, and we were the very force organization to do this but it worked so well that 250 other cities across the globe host their own. there's over 120 service providers at the event today, and they range anywhere from hygiene kits provided by the basics, 5% -- to prescription glasses and reading glasses, hearing tests, pet sitting, showers, medical services, flu shots, dental care, groceries, so many phenomenal service providers, and what makes it so unique is we ask that they provide that service today here it is an actual, tangible service people can leave with it. >> i am with the hearing and

speech center of northern california, and we provide a variety of services including audiology, counselling, outreach, education, today we actually just do screening to see if someone has hearing loss. to follow updates when they come into the speech center and we do a full diagnostic hearing test, and we start the process of taking an impression of their year, deciding on which hearing aid will work best for them. if they have a smart phone, we make sure we get a smart phone that can connect to it, so they can stream phone calls, or use it for any other services that they need. >> san francisco has phenomenal social services to support people at risk of becoming homeless, are already experience and homelessness, but it is confusing, and there is a lot of waste. bringing everyone into the same space not only saves an average of 20 hours a week in navigating the system and waiting in line for different areas, it helps them talk, so if you need to sign up for medi-cal, what you need identification, you don't have to go to sacramento or wait in line at a d.m.v., you go across the hall to the d.m.v. to

get your i.d. ♪ today we will probably see around 30 people, and averaging about 20 of this people coming to cs for follow-up service. >> for a participant to qualify for services, all they need to do is come to the event. we have a lot of people who are at risk of homelessness but not yet experiencing it, that today's event can ensure they stay house. many people coming to the event are here to receive one specific need such as signing up for medi-cal or learning about d.m.v. services, and then of course, most of the people who are tender people experiencing homelessness today. >> i am the representative for the volunteer central. we are the group that checks and all the volunteers that comment participate each day. on a typical day of service, we have anywhere between 40500 volunteers that we, back in, they get t-shirts, nametags, maps, and all the information they need to have a successful event. our participant escorts are a core part of our group, and they

are the ones who help participants flow from the different service areas and help them find the different services that they needs. >> one of the ways we work closely with the department of homelessness and supportive housing is by working with homeless outreach teams. they come here, and these are the people that help you get into navigation centers, help you get into short-term shelter, and talk about housing-1st policies. we also work very closely with the department of public health to provide a lot of our services. >> we have all types of things that volunteers deal do on a day of service. we have folks that help give out lunches in the café, we have folks who help with the check in, getting people when they arrive, making sure that they find the services that they need to, we have folks who help in the check out process, to make sure they get their food bag, bag of groceries, together hygiene kit, and whatever they need to. volunteers, i think of them as the secret sauce that just makes

the whole process works smoothly. >> participants are encouraged and welcomed to come with their pets. we do have a pet daycare, so if they want to have their pets stay in the daycare area while they navigate the event, they are welcome to do that, will we also understand some people are more comfortable having their pets with them. they can bring them into the event as well. we also typically offer veterinary services, and it can be a real detriment to coming into an event like this. we also have a bag check. you don't have to worry about your belongings getting lost, especially when that is all that you have with you. >> we get connected with people who knew they had hearing loss, but they didn't know they could get services to help them with their hearing loss picks and we are getting connected with each other to make sure they are getting supported. >> our next event will be in march, we don't yet have a date set. we typically sap set it six weeks out. the way to volunteer is to follow our newsletter, follow us on social media, or just visit our website. we always announce it right away, and you can register very

easily online. >> a lot of people see folks experience a homelessness in the city, and they don't know how they can help, and defence like this gives a whole bunch of people a lot of good opportunities to give back and be supported. [♪♪♪] . >> clerk: held on november 22nd, 2021. the meeting is being called to order at