dev mission's goal is aiming to train young adults, youth so we can be a wealth and disparity in underserved communities like where we are today. my name is leo sosa. i'm the founder and executive

director for devmission. we're sitting inside a computer lab where residents come and get support when they give help about how to set up an e-mail account. how to order prescriptions online. create a résumé. we are also now paying attention to provide tech support. we have collaborated with the san francisco mayor's office and the department of technology to implement a broad band network for the residents here so they can have free internet access. we have partnered with community technology networks to provide computer classes to the seniors and the residents. so this computer lab becomes a hub for the community to learn how to use technology, but that's the parents and the adults. we have been able to identify what we call a stem date.

the acronym is science technology engineering and math. kids should be exposed no matter what type of background or ethnicity or income status. that's where we actually create magic. >> something that the kids are really excited about is science and so the way that we execute that is through making slime. and as fun as it is, it's still a chemical reaction and you start to understand that with the materials that you need to make the slime. >> they love adding their little twists to everything. it's just a place for them to experiment and that's really what we want. >> i see. >> really what the excitement behind that is that you're making something. >> logs, legos, sumo box, art, drawing, computers, mine craft, and really it's just awaking opportunity. >> keeping their attention is like one of the biggest

challenges that we do have because, you know, they're kids. they always want to be doing something, be helping with something. so we just let them be themselves. we have our set of rules in place that we have that we want them to follow and live up to. and we also have our set of expectations that we want them to achieve. this is like my first year officially working with kids. and definitely i've had moments where they're not getting something. they don't really understand it and you're trying to just talk to them in a way that they can make it work teaching them in different ways how they can get the light bulb to go off and i've seen it first-hand and it makes me so happy when it does go off because it's like, wow, i helped them understand this concept. >> i love playing games and i love having fun with my friends playing dodge ball and a lot of

things that i like. it's really cool. >> they don't give you a lot of cheese to put on there, do they? you've got like a little bit left. >> we learn programming to make them work. we do computers and programming. at the bottom here, we talk to them and we press these buttons to make it go. and this is to turn it off. and this is to make it control on its own. if you press this twice, it can do any type of tricks. like you can move it like this and it moves. it actually can go like this. >> like, wow, they're just

absorbing everything. so it definitely is a wholehearted moment that i love experiencing. >> the realities right now, 5.3 latinos working in tech and about 6.7 african americans working in tech. and, of course, those tech companies are funders. so i continue to work really hard with them to close that gap and work with the san francisco unified school district so juniors and seniors come to our program, so kids come to our stem hub and be exposed to all those things. it's a big challenge. >> we have a couple of other providers here on site, but we've all just been trying to work together and let the kids move around from each department. some kids are comfortable with their admission, but if they want to jump in with city of

dreams or hunter's point, we just try to collaborate to provide the best opportunity in the community. >> devmission has provided services on westbrook. they teach you how to code. how to build their own mini robot to providing access for the youth to partnerships with adobe and sony and google and twitter. and so devmission has definitely brought access for our families to resources that our residents may or may not have been able to access in the past. >> the san francisco house and development corporation gave us the grant to implement this program. it hasn't been easy, but we have been able to see now some of the success stories of some of those kids that have been able to take the opportunity and continue to grow within their education and eventually become a very successful

citizen. >> so the computer lab, they're doing the backpacks. i don't know if you're going to be able to do the class. you still want to try? . yeah. go for it. >> we have a young man by the name of ivan mello. he came here two and a half years ago to be part of our digital arts music lab. graduating with natural, fruity loops, rhymes. all of our music lyrics are clean. he came as an intern, and now he's running the program. that just tells you, we are only creating opportunities and there's a young man by the name of eduardo ramirez. he tells the barber, what's that flyer? and he says it's a program that teaches you computers and art. and i still remember the day he

walked in there with a baseball cap, full of tattoos. nice clean hair cut. i want to learn how to use computers. graduated from the program and he wanted to work in i.t.. well, eduardo is a dreamer. right. so trying to find him a job in the tech industry was very challenging, but that didn't stop him. through the effort of the office of economic work force and the grant i reached out to a few folks i know. post mates decided to bring him on board regardless of his legal status. he ended his internship at post mates and now is at hudacity. that is the power of what technology does for young people that want to become part of the tech industry. what we've been doing, it's very innovative. helping kids k-12, transitional

age youth, families, parents, communities, understand and to be exposed to stem subjects. imagine if that mission one day can be in every affordable housing community. the opportunities that we would create and that's what i'm trying to do with this >> roughly five years, i was working as a high school teacher, and i decided to take my students on a surfing field trip. the light bulb went off in my head, and i realized i could do much more for my students taking them surfing than i could as their classroom

teacher, and that is when the idea for the city surf project was born. >> working with kids in the ocean that aren't familiar with this space is really special because you're dealing with a lot of fear and apprehension but at the same time, a lot of excitement. >> when i first did it, i was, like, really scared, but then, i did it again, and i liked it. >> we'll get a group of kids who have just never been to the beach, are terrified of the idea, who don't like the beach. it's too cold out, and it's those kid that are impossible to get back out of the water at the end of the day.

>> over the last few years, i think we've had at least 40 of our students participate in the city surf project. >> surfing helped me with, like, how to swim. >> we've start off with about two to four sessions in the pool before actually going out and surfing. >> swimming at the pool just helps us with, like, being, like, comfortable in the water and being calm and not being all -- not being anxious. >> so when we started the city surf project, one of the things we did was to say hey, this is the way to earn your p.e. credits. just getting kids to go try it was one of our initial challenges for the first year or two. but now that we've been doing it three or four years, we have a group of kids that's consistent, and the word has spread, that it's super fun, that you learn about the ocean.

>> starting in the morning, you know, i get the vehicles ready, and then, i get all the gear together, and then, i drive and go get the kids, and we take them to a local beach. >> we usually go to linda mar, and then occasionally ocean beach. we once did a special trip. we were in capitola last year, and it was really fun. >> we get in a circle and group stretch, and we talk about specific safety for the day, and then, we go down to the water. >> once we go to the beach, i don't want to go home. i can't change my circumstances at home, but i can change the way i approach them. >> our program has definitely been a way for our students to find community and build friends. >> i don't really talk to friends, so i guess when i started doing city surf, i started to, like, get to know

people more than i did before, and people that i didn't think i'd like, like, ended up being my best friends. >> it's a group sport the way we do it, and with, like, close camaraderie, but everybody's doing it for themselves. >> it's great, surfing around, finding new people and making new friendships with people throughout surfing. >> it can be highly developmental for students to have this time where they can learn a lot about themselves while negotiating the waves. >> i feel significantly, like, calmer. it definitely helps if i'm, like, feeling really stressed or, like, feeling really anxious about surfing, and i go surfing, and then, i just feel, like, i'm going to be okay. >> it gives them resiliency skills and helps them build

self-confidence. and with that, they can use that in other parts of their lives. >> i went to bring my family to the beach and tell them what i did. >> i saw kids open up in the ocean, and i got to see them connect with other students, and i got to see them fail, you know, and get up and get back on the board and experience success, and really enjoy themselves and make a connection to nature at the same time. >> for some kids that are, like, resistant to, like, being in a mentorship program like this, it's they want to surf, and then later, they'll find out that they've, like, made this community connection. >> i think they provided level playing fields for kids to be themselves in an open environment. >> for kids to feel like i can go for it and take a chance that i might not have been

willing to do on my own is really special. >> we go on 150 surf outings a year. that's year-round programming. we've seen a tremendous amount of youth face their fears through surfing, and that has translated to growth in other facets of their lives. >> i just think the biggest thing is, like, that they feel like that they have something that is really cool, that they're engaged in, and that we, like, care about them and how they're doing, like, in general. >> what i like best is they really care about me, like, i'm not alone, and i have a group of people that i can go to, and, also, surfing is fun. >> we're creating surfers, and we're changing the face of surfing. >> the feeling is definitely akin to being on a roller coaster. it's definitely faster than i think you expect it to be, but

it's definitely fun. >> it leaves you feeling really, really positive about what that kid's going to go out and do. >> i think it's really magical almost. at least it was for me. >> it was really exciting when i caught my first wave. >> i felt like i was, like -- it was, like, magical, really. >> when they catch that first wave, and their first lights up, you know -- their face lights up, you know you have them hooked. >> i was on top of the world. it's amazing. i felt like i was on top of the world even though i was probably going two miles an hour. it was, like, the scariest thing i'd ever done, and i think it was when i got hooked on surfing after

>> growing up in san francisco has been way safer than growing up other places we we have that bubble, and it's still that bubble that it's okay to be whatever you want to. you can let your free flag fry -- fly here. as an adult with autism, i'm here to challenge people's idea of what autism is. my journey is not everyone's journey because every autistic child is different, but there's

hope. my background has heavy roots in the bay area. i was born in san diego and adopted out to san francisco when i was about 17 years old. i bounced around a little bit here in high school, but i've always been here in the bay. we are an inclusive preschool, which means that we cater to emp. we don't turn anyone away. we take every child regardless of race, creed, religious or ability. the most common thing i hear in my adult life is oh, you don't seem like you have autism. you seem so normal. yeah. that's 26 years of really, really, really hard work and i think thises that i still do. i was one of the first open adoptions for an lgbt couple. they split up when i was about four. one of them is partnered, and one of them is not, and then my

biological mother, who is also a lesbian. very queer family. growing up in the 90's with a queer family was odd, i had the bubble to protect me, and here, i felt safe. i was bullied relatively infrequently. but i never really felt isolated or alone. i have known for virtually my entire life i was not suspended, but kindly asked to not ever bring it up again in first grade, my desire to have a sex change. the school that i went to really had no idea how to handle one. one of my parents is a little bit gender nonconforming, so they know what it's about, but my parents wanted my life to be safe. when i have all the neurological issues to manage, that was just one more to add to it. i was a weird kid.

i had my core group of, like, very tight, like, three friends. when we look at autism, we characterize it by, like, lack of eye contact, what i do now is when i'm looking away from the camera, it's for my own comfort. faces are confusing. it's a lack of mirror neurons in your brain working properly to allow you to experience empathy, to realize where somebody is coming from, or to realize that body language means that. at its core, autism is a social disorder, it's a neurological disorder that people are born with, and it's a big, big spectrum. it wasn't until i was a teenager that i heard autism in relation to myself, and i rejected it. i was very loud, i took up a lot of space, and it was because mostly taking up space let everybody else know where i

existed in the world. i didn't like to talk to people really, and then, when i did, i overshared. i was very difficult to be around. but the friends that i have are very close. i click with our atypical kiddos than other people do. in experience, i remember when i was five years old and not wanting people to touch me because it hurt. i remember throwing chairs because i could not regulate my own emotions, and it did not mean that i was a bad kid, it meant that i couldn't cope. i grew up in a family of behavioral psychologists, and i got development cal -- developmental psychology from all sides. i recognize that my experience is just a very small picture of that, and not everybody's in a position to have a family that's as supportive, but there's also a community that's

incredible helpful and wonderful and open and there for you in your moments of need. it was like two or three years of conversations before i was like you know what? i'm just going to do this, and i went out and got my prescription for hormones and started transitioning medically, even though i had already been living as a male. i have a two-year-old. the person who i'm now married to is my husband for about two years, and then started gaining weight and wasn't sure, so i went and talked with the doctor at my clinic, and he said well, testosterone is basically birth control, so there's no way you can be pregnant. i found out i was pregnant at 6.5 months. my whole mission is to kind of normalize adults like me. i think i've finally found my calling in early intervention, which is here, kind of what we

do. i think the access to care for parents is intentionally confusing. when i did the prospective search for autism for my own child, it was confusing. we have a place where children can be children, but it's very confusing. i always out myself as an adult with autism. i think it's helpful when you know where can your child go. how i'm choosing to help is to give children that would normally not be allowed to have children in the same respect, kids that have three times as much work to do as their peers or kids who do odd things, like, beach therapy. how do -- speech therapy. how do you explain that to the rest of their class? i want that to be a normal

experience. i was working on a certificate and kind of getting think early childhood credits before i started working here, and we did a section on transgender inclusion, inclusion, which is a big issue here in san francisco because we attract lots of queer families, and the teacher approached me and said i don't really feel comfortable or qualified to talk about this from, like, a cisgendered straight person's perspective, would you mind talking a little bit with your own experience, and i'm like absolutely. so i'm now one of the guest speakers in that particular class at city college. i love growing up here. i love what san francisco represents. the idea of leaving has never occurred to me. but it's a place that i need to fight for to bring it back to what it used to be, to allow all of those little kids that come from really unsafe environments to move somewhere safe. what i've done with my life is work to make all of those

situations better, to bring a little bit of light to all those kind of issues that we're still having, hoping to expand into a little bit more of a resource center, and this resource center would be more those new parents who have gotten that diagnosis, and we want to be this one centralized place that allows parents to breathe for a second. i would love to empower from the bottom up, from the kid level, and from the top down, from the teacher level. so many things that i would love to do that are all about changing people's minds about certain chunts, like the transgender community or the autistic community. i would like my daughter to know there's no wrong way to go through life. everybody experiences pain and grief and sadness, and that all of those things are temporary.

>> welcome to our city's newest park, the park at 5m. welcome to our city's newest

hub of creativity, commerce, and community. welcome, everyone, to 5m. [applause] >> this is an exciting day that has been more than a decade in the making, but it's just the start of great things to come for the people who live, work, and spend time here at 5m. when we broke ground, we were surrounded by four acres of mostly parking lots. today, brookfield properties is proud to announce the completion of its development commitment. the first is the parks at 5m. about the size of five basketball courts, this is the city's largest privately owned open space. it has been wonderful to see just the immediate reaction that we've had to this open space from the neighbors that have come in today. this stage directly connects to

the dempster building. children from all ages will be able to play in our play area, which is right behind the camline building, and our lawn areas, as well. dog owners used to walk their dogs here in the parking lot because there were so few places to go. now, they can chase their tails in an area made just for them. this here is 415 natoma. it is a 25-story office building designed by k.t.f. 5m opens into a courtyard of terrace spaces. to my left, right here, is the george apartment building, with

302 rental units, which is now leasing. it includes 98 middle-income units, including housing units for seniors and formerly homeless individuals. finally, the two historic buildings were also renovated: the camline building that is earmarked for retail and nonprofit uses, and the dempster building. new tenants, programming, and residents will bring energy to the site. beginning this spring, community programming for the parks at 5m will feature a mix of events, performances, art, and food curated by brookfield

properties. our long-standing community members will be on this property. off the grid will return with popular weekday lunch markets. cast will take its programming outside of the walls through that door and host a series of arts and cultural programming featuring its tenants and partners. we are incredibly proud to have worked with so many individuals and organizations to help create this transformation. this is a testament to our sponsors and collaborators, and we are very, very happy to have completed this project without a delay through the pandemic, and it's a great testament to the tenacity of our team that we were able to do that. residents are moving into the george. we have some residents right now. the dempcenter is now home to

push dance company and women's audio commission, and soon, we'll be home to restauranteurs, nonprofits, and community. i'd also like to thank ann topier, judson true, former supervisor jane kim, and laura cressemata, and the architects for their incredible design of 415 natoma, among others. and of course, i'd like to thank our incredible team,

current and past. a special thank you to mayor breed for your support of 5m, your leadership and relentless efforts to create more housing for all income levels in the city. we appreciate your efforts to help all people of ages, background, and income in the city. please welcome mayor london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. i am so happy to be here, to see the almost completion of this beautiful project, 5m, which has been going on, jack told me, for 14 years, and we just broke ground in 2019, and here we are, just a few years later, and look at the magic

that can be created as a result of us coming together to push projects like this in san francisco. i can't even believe it. i was here for the topping off ceremony of the george. not the george in washington, d.c., the george in san francisco, and when i think about what this project means to this community, the fact that we have this open space, this building that supports artists, and artists performing here, the community, the people, this project and what it will do for this community will be something that we can all be proud of. we've worked really hard to ensure that this project, we worked hard to make sure that we implemented neighborhood preference. now, when i was on the board of supervisors, we got

neighborhood preference passed. it's been very challenging to implement because of other state and federal laws, but we got it done, and as a result of our work, 40% of the affordable units built in this project will go to people who live here first. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and before neighborhood preference, that was not happening, and the community was asked to support projects like this, and they fought for projects like this, and now, they're a part of projects like this. and i see rudy walking through the crowd from united playas, like they're coming to do something on the stage. they put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in this project, facing opposition to this community, and united playas fought to make sure this

happened. and none of us could have thought that the pandemic would set us back, but the 1200 people who helped to make this project possible, their jobs continued as a result of our work, and they got this project done. just imagine if we didn't do that. just imagine the number of people who would not have housing because we delayed it due to the pandemic. we knew that we could build housing safely, and that's exactly what we did. and now, as a result of waiting five years, this project, after breaking ground in 2019, is done. what year is this? i keep forgetting, because i

don't count 2020 anymore. i stip that year, but the work that we're continuing to do and to revitalize this downtown corridor, we are trying to make this feel like a neighborhood, that there's a dog run and there's open space, and there's family that can interact with our senior. there's so much amazing things that is happening in san francisco, and this is a testament to what happens when we work together with the private sector, with nonprofits, with the board of supervisors, with my office. anything is possible, and my commitment to eliminate

bureaucracy is someone that i will continue to push for so that bureaucracies do not stop projects like this. people are counting on us to make it easier to do business in san francisco. to cass, to united playas, and i know that rudy is going to work hard to make sure that filipino seniors are going to get in this housing. they said mayor, don't forget about us. when we get through down the

street with that housing, we are going to make sure that they are up there. last but not least, before i leave, i want to take a moment to really recognize someone who has been in the news world for over 30 years. i remember watching him on ktvu when i was a kid. today is rob ross' last day on ktvu, and we just want to let you know how much we appreciate you, your objective reporting, your commitment to san francisco, sending your kids through the public school system, your love for the city, but also, your ability to bring the news to us in a way that we would understand and sometimes

be concerned, but more importantly, be excited and feeling good about san francisco, so we appreciate your reporting. we wish you a wonderful retirement. thank you so much, rob, for your work in san francisco. and with that, thank you so much all for being here, and i think i want to turn it over to -- i'll turn it back -- okay. supervisor haney? i'll introduce supervisor haney. so supervisor haney and i have been working around the clock, sometimes fighting with each other, but more importantly, making sure when the time comes to do the important work, that we are aligned, that we work together, because we know that people are counting on us to deliver for them. so i really enjoyed working with them on this project, but a number of housing in his

district. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the supervisor for district 6, matt haney. [applause] >> supervisor haney: all right. it's on. well, first of all, welcome, everyone. this is a beautiful day to open what is an incredible beautiful space, and i want to thank mayor breed and her team. she has been working so hard to get more housing built in our city. she has a piece of legislation called cars to houses, which turns areas like what used to be a parking lot, like what we have here, into housing, and seeing this transformed into a

beautiful form of housing, this is what can happen when we listen to the community. thank you, brookfield, for the way that you've gone about this. we are here in the middle of the filipino cultural district, for a long time, the home of filipinos here in our city, and to be able to sit here and say that the filipino community, united playas, were a part of this since the beginning and helped to shape it is a huge testament to what is possible in our city. contrary to what people may say, san franciscans want more housing. they want more housing. they just want to make sure it's housing they can access. they want to make sure it's housing that includes community and open space. they want to make sure when we build housing, that we do it

with them and for them, and that's what we've done in this project. this is a very happy day in our city when we're building more housing. it's an even happier day for our city when we're building more housing, and for the south of market neighborhood, you deserve to have more housing in your communities, but you deserve to have open space, you deserve to have places for young people to come and grow, and know this is a place that they can live here and thrive here for many years to come. i don't see her here, but i want to thank my predecessor, jane kim, for her leadership. she really stormed this through the process, and i get to be here to espouse what it would mean for our future, so thank you to everyone who was a part of that, to our city

departments, rudy's here, to all of the architects, the funders, to the hearst corporation, thank you. the future of this neighborhood will be bright, and this will be an important central part of what makes it so. thank you. >> thank you so much. i'm jocelyn, community engager for brookfield properties, and i grew up just a block away from 5m. 5m was created from a decade of partnerships with the community and the city, including organizations that truly make a difference in soma, and those partnerships made this project possible. those partnerships made 5m

better. they are relationships steeped in the history of this neighborhood, especially the filipino community, and because of community participate, we learned what was important to the neighborhood. it's why there's a playground right around the corner, adorned with screens inspired by filipino textile patterns. it's why we provided support for the filipino cultural heritage district. neighborhood incubators, senior housing, women's programs, and youth in arts and cultural programs. 5ms community d.n.a. was created by groups like united playas and cass, and for those members of the open space advisory board, which was created to ensure that we rely

on community input, thank you. we built a park that made sense for the neighborhood now and in the future. this is a special day. these relationships will continue to help us provide programming for the parks and ideas moving forward. thank you to our partners for your passion, commitment, and per severance, and your continued partnership. one of our great partners, cass, the community arts stabilization trust, and you see the building right behind me, they are housed right there, each day, they make it possible for more arts and artists, creative entrepreneurs, and arts and cultural organizations to continue to inspire us here in the city and the bay area.

their inspiration of arts and culture in the dempster building is critical to the development of arts in the building. so please welcome their executive director. [applause] >> i have to put on these sexy reading glasses. thank you, jocelyn. as she said in her introduction, her very kind introduction, i'm the executive director of community arts stabilization trust, otherwise known as c.a.s.t. i want to thank the mayor, supervisor haney, brookfield properties, and the entire neighborhood for your support. c.a.s.t. is a living laboratory

that creates permanent, i said permanent, affordable space for artists, creative entrepreneurs, and arts and culture organizations in one of the most expensive regions to live and work in the u.s. we use financing and structural models to make and steward space to secure opportunities for the future and the present. we believe, as i think do you, arts and culture play a role in preserving the fabric of a neighborhood. arts and culture such as women's audio mission, w.a.m., push dance, who you just saw open the ceremonies, have a new home right behind you in the dempster building. they are pushing the boundaries of creativity and equity while

also creating community cohesion. c.a.s.t. wants to make sure that artists have an opportunity to grow in the community. now you may be thinking, what additional new programs are happening, so let me give you a little preview. among the prospective developments this year are a community mural for the building's exterior and a chance for the arts and culture neighborhood to create a new name that captures the resilience and energy of the region. we want to thank hewlett, foundation for the arts, start

small, mobile coin foundation. it is this day that reinforces all of our commitment to the arts, to bolster our commitment to this area, the bay area. thank you. [applause] >> and now, another community partner that we have. i'd like to introduce rudy corpus, jr., a long time leader for youth advocacy and has been a resident of soma, whose whole family has been here for decades. an organization that is rooted into ensuring safe places for youth and young children to shine.

>> we here, y'all. first of all, i would like to say thank you to 5m, brookfield, the hearst family, london breed. you know, i'm from the city just like you from the city. i'm born and raised in this neighborhood, so when they asked us to come, we walked here. and when we're done, we going to walk back because guess what? we belong here. this is our neighborhood, this is our community. our motto is it takes the hood to save the hood. what does that mean? that means all of us collectively, the mayor, the homeless people, the drug dealers, everyone in this community makes collectively this neighborhood happen.

now, one important thing that i want to say is the mayor -- the late mayor, ed lee, who was a big -- who made a big impact in this process of happening, may he rest in peace. he was there and fought, and if there's one thing we like, you know that, london, we like to fight. one thing that i understand and i know about community building with one another, that we can only be stronger when we work together, so when you see all of us as part of coming together, these are the things that happen. this right here was a parking lot that was dilapidated. it had rats, it had homelessness, it had nothing up in here. so for the project to be built and be full of people that you see in front of you now is a win-win situation, so i want to see this lastly.

what made this project happen was the tremendous women that made this happen. this is women's month, right? march 1. like misha, like carla, like jocelyn, like jane kim. there's so many women -- like alexa, who used to work for 5m. there's so many women who helped make this happen, that you should see the strength of the women that helped make this right here? we're here, and we're going to continue to be here. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, rudy, and thank you to all of our speakers. we're looking forward to seeing

all of you on thursday, march 3, at 4:00, for our larger grand opening celebration event. i'd like to call my fellow speakers up to the stage in order for our ceremonial ribbon cutting photo. if i could have my colleague jocelyn step up to the stage, and then moi and rudy. supervisor matt haney, as soon as he's done with the photo, and then, mayor london breed, as well.

you're watching san francisco rising. today's special guest is monique gray. >> hi.

i'm chris mannis and you're watching san francisco rising. the our guest today is marquise gray. he runs out of the office of the mayor in the city and county of san francisco. and he's with us today to talk about the recent progress of the sunnidale hope sf housing project. welcome to the show. >> good morning. thank you for having me today. >> let's start by talking about the existing residents of sunnydale and their history. >> so sunnydale was built in the 1940s for a workers. it's the largest public housing community west of the mississippi. it's about 50 acres. pretty huge. about 760 single story units one to four bedrooms. >> i understand it's an

ambitious rethinking of the residences. can you briefly describe the scope of the program and hope sf's involvement? >> yeah. the work of hope sf is this idea of more than housing. that acknowledging that our public housing community, the levels of violence and poverty that are in these communities are not by accident. you know, it's our opportunity to address a system issue, you know, that people need more than housing. they need health services. resources. economic investment opportunities, jobs and things of that nature. and so hope sf strives to work with our city systems to better serve our public housing communities. >> so recently, mayor breed and speaker pelosi toured the site to both put focus on a national housing initiative and also to highlight the completion of the first new building. how many units does it contain and when will people start moving in?

>> yeah. it was an amazing event. honored to have the secretary here with us as well in our community. it's 167 units. it's about 75% going back to the original families that currently live on site. so the replacement. so i did forget to mention i want to say real quick, the beauty of hope sf is housing development, new development without displacements or anti-displacement initiatives. so, for example, the building is 167 units. 75% of those units going to families that have lived there in the community for generationings and the other 25% are tax credit units adding to the affordable housing stock here in san francisco and those units are up and running now. they're leasing them as we speak. people are picking their units each week until they're filled up. >> so was this particular building put on a new plot of land or did people have to move

out so it could be constructed? >> that's a good question. our first building was vacant which you may have saw across the street from this building and then this plot of land is the way we kind of do it, we do it in phases. once one goes in, we're able to move families into the new unit and where they previously were occupying, able to demolish old buildings to build the new. so this area had some older units that were demolished. >> it's impressive that construction has been able to continue during the covid-19 pandemic. can you talk about some of the challenges that needed to be overcome and how the community has managed during the crisis? >> that's a great question. you know, in san francisco, if i understand it correctly, i could be wrong, i believe housing was an essential service. the mayor made a strong commitment early on in the pandemic that we would continue to build housing as housing has been a critical issue in our

city. so the housing part hasn't impacted us too much. 67 units have been going on its current time line. the bigger challenge for us was showing the families in our communities, low income families had the resources we need to survive the pandemic. many of our families didn't have the luxury of working from home, working in the zone and things of that nature. making sure they had access to covid testing and things of that nature. so i want to give a big shout out to our resident leaders, our service providers across all four sites. for those that don't know, hope sf is four sites. sunnydale is one of the four sites. and so across those four sites, the most critical thing was making sure folks in these neighborhoods which have historically have been

disconnected from resources have the things that they need to remain healthy, to, you know, survive the pandemic as we all had to survive the pandemic and we did pretty well. we were able to bring back scenes and covid testing on site. food distribution was happening all throughout the week. wellness services and things of that nature were all happening on site thanks to our resident leaders and our service providers across the sites. >> so, finally, when could we expect the next set of residents to be ready? despite -- i guess we just said covid doesn't have an impact on the schedule. when will the next residences be ready? >> yeah. things are rolling. we have block a3 and block b3 to the building we were referring to earlier. and things are on pace. things are going really well. so we're looking at starting construction spring of 2022 and

that will be 170 units and the goal is to have that lease up around 2024. >> well, thank you so much. i really appreciate you coming on the show, mr. gray. thank you for giving us the time today. >> thank you, chris, and i really appreciate your time as well. >> and that's it with this episode. you've been watching san francisco rising for sfgov tv i'm chris manners. thanks so much for watching.