neighborhood with a face, this is something that we've seen work and something you can trust. >> together, city and community-based teams work daily to connect people to services, >> good afternoon. thank you for coming to the aapi heritage month kickoff press conference. i am the coordinator of the celebration. how many years have we been doing this? 18. in san francisco this has been going on for 18 years. in this country, the abi heritage month became federal law in 1978. this is the 44th year of celebration in the country. we are excited. we have an in person celebration

program. a lot from person we are excited to be able to come back to city hall for the events. the theme is forging community bondings. that is relevant to the times we live in when the aapi communities are confronting with and addressing anti-hate, anti-asian hate and many communities are fighting for equality and fairness in our society. we see it as an opportunity that we see promote the awareness of aapi, history and culture and traditions. we want this month to be a time where we create programs and welcome everyone to learn more about not only aapi but about

each other. forging community bonds is a call to action. we feel that it is really important at this time that -- how do we address hate? how do we stop hate? i think one practical way is to have opportunity that people can come together and become friends and one thing leads to another. we are all more supportive of each other. this idea i also got from hearing our mayor london breed over time. she talks about how people from different places and interests it is so easy to say, "hi," how are you, i am from where. start a conversation. get to know each other. we hope this is what this coming month is all about. so many of our partnering organizations offering programs just for that purpose. i want be to acknowledge our

official celebration partners. there are three of them. san francisco public library, the librarian michael lambert is here. the museum is here. thank you very much. of course, we can't celebrate without the 40th anniversary of kim fest. steven gong is here. thank you. [applause]. we are excited. this year in addition to the programs in san francisco our committee has been invited to be part of a national day of solidarity, celebration on may 14th. i want to thank the cultural center for organizing their festival which is part of a program that is happening throughout the country in 22

cities. they are all adopts our theme forging community bonds. we are very proud of that. we live in a city where we are very lucky to have a mayor that walked the talk and talks the talk. always encourages us to come together. without further, mayor breed. >> mayor breed: all right. life venthis event up a little bit. are we excited or what that there is finally the return of in person events for apa heritage month. when you think about what happened last year. even though we started to reopen. we had to do things virtually, the library was open. there was a limitation on the number of people able to attend the events.

we held this press conference outside of the asian art museum last year. it was windy. here we are back in city hall. i want to also mention and i know they are speaking later, our city attorney david chu and city administrator carmen chu are here today. i appreciate their work and partnership in our asian community in san francisco because the truth is this is exciting. we know there have been some real challenges during this pandemic that forced us, i think, to take a hard look at some of the challenges of our history. and to have honest discussions about a lot of the discrimination, not just during the pandemic against our api community but when you think about, 140 years ago this is the anniversary of the chinese exclusionary act.

what happened during that time 80 years ago, this country placed those of japanese descent into interment camps. it makes me want to do more to change some of those challenges that we have seen many people in our a pi community experience over the course of this pandemic. just this past week i was at the chinese cultural center for the opening of the bruce lee exhibit. you know what was so extraordinary about that experience is it was a relationship between the chinese cultural center and the african-american art and culture complex. they work together to provide insight into this legendary martial artist from my

perspective revolutionary artist about building bridges, faced significant discrimination in hollywood, discrimination against his own people when he tried to open up the doors to martial arts and teach to people not of asian descent. we know that he stepped out on faith and tried to build bridges, bring people together, and i got to tell you it was so fitting this exhibit came about at this time as we start to reopen, start to have these conversations and celebrations because this api heritage month as we think what claudine has done and the folks here trying to make sure that the programming and everything that is done during apa heritage month is not just an opportunity to share the stories of our asian community but to also

build bridges. to build relationships, to continue to come together, to tell and share our stories and our life experiences, and to learn about one another. that is why this is so exciting. we are able to do it in person. there will be a number of great events and campus is opening next week. that is coming up fast. they are opening at the castro theatre, red carpet and all. great event. i look forward to that. also something new. neon was never brighter festival by the chinese arts collaborative. there are a lot of arts organizations working together. a lot of resources in the past budgets to provide support not only to address safety and some of the challenges that we know existed but to enhance and uplift the community so that

these events are possible. we appreciate the numerous sponsors, support from the city. more importantly we appreciate the community and leaders of the community who worked to make these great events happen. not just during apa heritage month but year and for the folks in san francisco. they are great films. that bruce lee exhibit is impressive. you don't want to miss it with so many other activities happening both indoor and outdoor to celebrate apa heritage month during month of may in san francisco. i am looking forward to participating in many of those events. thank you all so much for joining us here today. [applause]. >> thank you, mayor breed. this celebration every year

wouldn't happen with ought all of the sponsors we have, businesses, communities and all of the volunteers. throughout the month of many events and the celebration guide you can find from our website aba sf.org. take a picture of the qr code and it will show up. i hope you will look up the celebration guide in our website and to really spread the news, make sure all of your friends and communities know about it. next i think is the reason why we are here to announce every year the apa recipients heritage awards. city administrator carmen chu, it is most appropriate you introduce all of the awards. our city administrator was the

first recipient of the award. she has a career and devoted here entire career to our city with the budget office and the board of supervisors and recorder. now our city administrator. we appreciate your work and your commitment to our city and our community. carmen chu. (applause). >> hello everybody. welcome to the san francisco city hall. i am the city administrator. i am so happy to be here to kickoff this wonderful event. i want to thank mayor breed for championing this event. i can't tell you about someone who talked about re-opening the city, re-energizing the city and who has spoken to me how it is we build bonds between the communities and help to heal divisions that we have seen in

recent weeks but also through the course of our city history. i want to thank mayor breed for her commitment to our chinese elderly community, who she has had many, many conversations with with what we have seen in the community in recent years. i thank her for that. as we think about the coming theme about building bridges. there is no more important theme. i think about my young daughter about to turn three. a covid baby. she has not interacted with other kids. she goes to playground. the highlight is the kids, not the slide. what are those people, they look like me? what i hope is that she comes to the city to join me and see the amazing history part of her history, too. all of the people that built our san francisco asian-american community in the bay area, the history we contributed and how we helped to build this wonderful country that we all

live in. i hope she feels proud and recognizes how she is part of that and she feels proud of here identity and can contribute and be anything she can be. to celebrate by recognizing that story telling, common struggles and some of the amazing work these recipients have contributed is really an amazing thing. i am grad to be part of this. i it is my honor to announce this year's recipients. we not only recognize organizations but people for amazing contributions. please stand when you hear your organization or name call. these individuals are going to be recognized at our event, awards ceremony may 4th at the theater. we are going to light city hall this coming saturday in recognition of the launch of apa

heritage mall. i hope you will see the beautiful building and take a photo. we will light up city hall on may 4th as well. with that what is the hashtag for apa heritage month? apa heritage month. how about that? thank you. with that please stand when you hear your name or organization. apa asian pacific island cultural center celebrating 25 years. [applause]. 50 years kearney street workshop.

when we have the ceremony on the fourth they will speak about the work they have done. they have an opportunity to speak. three who will be receiving the inspirational achievement award. robert honda. robert is someone we are familiar on nbc. he brings a face to the asian pacific community when we don't see so many faces on television or in the arts representative. i want to thank you for highlighting the apa heritage stories. [applause]. rudy storiano. dancer. he founded a school. thank you for connecting people and promoting filipino community heritage through the expression.

of course, someone with a close connection to me that i love food and food connects community. please stand. martin. you know martin. if there is a way to break down the first barriers. it is through bread breaking bread and sharing a meal. thank you very much. with that i am turning it back over to claudine. >> please take a picture with the mayor real quick.

>> i would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the sponsors here. we really appreciate your support. for our major sponsors, i know

representing heritage. judy lee is here. thank you. unfortunately some are working and cannot make it here. we are fortunate to have three sponsors this year. us bank. [indiscernable] we want to appreciate your support and belief in what we are doing. next i would invite our friend david chu for remarks. he was my supervisor in district three. he states us in the state assembly. we are happy you are back as our city attorney. david. [applause] >> thank you. let me first start by thanking claudine. 18 years ago when she was 6 years old she came up with the idea to pull the celebration

together. it is an amazing time for us to come together as a community. give her a hand, please. [applause]. i don't know about you. i love month of may. may is amazing not just because it is spring, summer is coming. we have a chance to come together as community and really celebrate diversity and celebrate history and celebrate where we have come. i was listening to my good friend carmen chu talk about her experiences. i have to tell you i was thinking about the moment when we first met about 15 years ago before we had ever been elected to office. the thought that we would be in the positions we are in today really because of the work and the partnership with so many of you i am so grateful. i know the mayor had to read

back to her busy work. i thank her. if she were here i would say she celebrates and parties with the community and has been fighting for the community during this very, very difficult time. our community has come a long way. we are in the city hall where asian-americans were not accepted 100 plus years ago. we are all in places today where that is not the case because of the leadership of so many of you. i want to congratulate honorees. because of you, you make the community proud. robert, thank you for our stories on television. i want to thank you, rudy. martini want to thank you for making us hungry every time we turn on the television. with the api cultural center and the workshop for decades they are showing images, stories and it is amazing. part of my role today is to help

thank the folks helping to sponsor this organization and this event we are going to have in the coming weeks. i will take a moment. are either heather here? senior vice president from u.s. bank come on up. frank lee, c.e.o. of virus gates. is he here? you are going to represent all of the corporate sponsors. no pressure. thank you for being our honorary asian and sponsoring this and truly on behalf of this organization, celebration on behalf of san francisco thank you very much. [applause] >> o behalf of u.s. bank i am grateful to stand with the amazing people today to kickoff asian-american pacific islander heritage month. i am heather kester san

francisco bay market leader for consumer banking. equity and inclusion are the core of everything we do and are committed to standing with the asian-american and pacific islander community. we look for opportunities to build viable programs that enrich the lives of the aapi people worldwide. last year we committed a five year donation to the pac fund to focus on raising awareness and helps to make sure that we are expanding our advocacy, alloy ship, education and community engagement to create sustainable change. this year i am very, very pleased and excited to share that we have also right here in chinatown in the city as part of the u.s. bank new chinese flagship branch program a branch in the city. this is one of only four in the

country for u.s. bank. we are proud of that. we have grand opening in may. we would love to have people join us. this includes branch locations staffed with employees speaking both english and chinese languages and helps future renewed designs and pays tribute to the chinese culture in the communities with the large population of chinese living. thank you all for being here today and standing with us to say happy asian american and pacific islander month. thank you. [applause] >> our good friend from u.s. bank, thank you for being here. we have a diverse community committee to put this month together. i see a number of the

representatives here from osaka, vietnam and all places. indonesia. they come perfectly dressed in costumes. we want to thank the friends of indonesia for being here. we do have not a complicated structure but organization with good volunteers. we have three celebration coaches. two of them are tied up with work. thomas lee. grace is here. we want to thank grace so much. [applause]. we call her the amazing grace. i know we have hundreds of volunteers on may 4th at the heritage awards and reception event. i want to thank courtney and her

team for volunteering for all of the labor. really there is a lot of people to thank. it is a great community effort. i am excited because the community is diverse. as you can see from the program if you go to the website and see the array of programs you can see what is offered. there is something for every age and interest. i would like to bring up the chair of the heritage foundation to give closing remarks. >> thank you. thank all of you for being here. your amazing support makes this possible for those that we have honored today that we will hear more about next week. i hope you all have may 4 on your calendar around this time. we will see you, right?

okay. great. it is amazing to be able to come together. we have talked about community, heritage. it is all of you that may being that possible. it is wonderful to come together for these types of events. thank you to claudine and her energy and work. i don't know where she gets all of that energy. it is definitely something that drives us forward in these types of occasions. you heard the word from colveers and the apa celebration committee as we head to next week and activities for next month. a round of thanks. a round of applause for all of you. [applause]. for all of your hard work that we have honored for today. we will see you next wednesday on the fourth at the same place. thank you.

please register. go to the website and register for that. see you then. >> thank you for coming. registration is required. i hope you all tell your friends about it. see you all next wednesday. thank you. [applause]. learned and expand it across the city. [♪♪] the tenderloin is home to families, immigrants, seniors, merchants, workers, and the housed and unhoused who all

deserve a thriving neighborhood to call home. the tenderloin emergency initiative was launched to improve safety, reduce crime, connect people to services, and increase investments in the neighborhood. >> the department of homelessness and supportive housing is responsible for providing resources to people living on the streets. we can do assessments on the streets to see what people are eligible for as far as permanent housing. we also link people with shelter that's available. it could be congregate shelter, the navigation center, the homeless outreach team links those people with those resources and the tenderloin needs that more than anywhere else in the city. >> they're staffing a variety of our street teams, our street crisis response team, our street overdose response team, and our newly launched wellness response team. we have received feedback from community members, from residents, community organizations that we need an extra level and an extra level of impact and more impactful

care to serve this community's needs and that's what the fire department and the community's paramedics are bringing today to this issue. >> the staff at san francisco community health center has really taken up the initiative of providing a community-based outreach for the neighborhood. so we're out there at this point monday through saturday letting residents know this is a service they can access really just describing the service, you know, the shower, the laundry, the food, all the different resources and referrals that can be made and really just providing the neighborhood with a face, this is something that we've seen work and something you can trust. >> together, city and community-based teams work daily to connect people to services,

>> this committee will recon until the committee can meet in person. public comments on each agenda item. each speak letter be allowed two minutes to speak. 415-655-0001 to speak access 24975490870. then pound and then pound again. when connected you'll hear the meeting discussion but you'll be muted and listening mode only whchlt your item of interest come up, dial star three to be added to the speaker line. call from a quiet location, and speak cloerly and slowly and turn down your television and radio. you may submit public comment to ocoh dot con dot