my name is steve adomi and i'm the director of the adult probation department. i do want to thank our partners from the department of public health with community services we've opened 300 units in the individual justice system trying to live drug and alcohol-free. so, before i begin, i actually want to thank destiny pledge and victoria west brook who --

they're my staff and one of the advantages of this project is the city spent no money remodelling this building. the ownership took on the remodel and it's 75 units. it will be an opportunity for 75 adults to mitigate the barriers and provide real-time access for people in jail that need to get support in the community and not in custody. so i want to say thank you to destiny and victoria for all your leadership on this project. now, i have the honor of introducing our incredible mayor london breed.

[ applause ] >> first of all, i'm glad to be here. i love what you're doing and i love seeing my people do well in san francisco. let me tell you, it's been a hard time for so many folks who are part of this community over the years. in fact, there have been a lot of conversations happening around criminal justice reforms and this whole d.a. recall and it's a set back to supposedly a set back to criminal justice reform. and, what i reject as the mayor of this city is the need to choose between justice and reforms. we can have both. both exist. it exists for the moms whose children were gunned down in the street who deserve justice. it exists for the people who have been falsely accused of crimes that they did not commit. it exists for people who suffer

from addiction of various things who want to turn their lives around and when they come home want to re-enter society and have the dignity of having a roof over their heads. it exists when we make it a priority. we don't have to choose. we have to invest in it all. we have to invest in people in this city. and, part of that includes supporting folks who are re-entering society who want a second chance. i can't even list the number of people that i grew up with who paid their debt to society and some others that paid somebody else's debt to society and they would come home looking for help. and maybe their mom or their grandma was displaced from the

place they grew up in. and they were rejected time and time again for employment opportunities to make a decent living to be able to have money to pay rent. and so, what happens is -- what happens when everyone is slamming the door in your face. what happens when everyone is telling you no. what happens is when you're trying to figure out where you're going to sleep. that's why this is so important. it's important for people to have dignity. the for people to have a foundation. for people to truly get the second chance that they deserve in life and to have stable housing at the center of all that. but also what steve has created is more than just housing and

abstinence based programs. who uplift 1 another and in turn, all of the folks who are part of this incredible family, they're going to try and continue to help other people, other people who are struggling with some of the similar issues that unfortunately they've had to endure and they are living examples of when it's done right. they are living examples of when redemption happens, when second chances happen, when opportunity happens. this is more than just a building when it's being remodeled and beautiful artwork and nice paint. it's more than that. it's what we are, what we represent in san francisco. and what we have to continue to invest in. we can't keep saying that we

believe in it, but not make the investments to change it. and, so that's why we're here today. and, i couldn't be more proud because seeing people that you know who've been through challenges and seeing them here doing this great work, gaining a little weight. now, some people are like i don't want to gain weight, but trust me, this is the good kind of weight. the good kind of weight. and so i'm so proud to be here. and i'm so happy for what this is going to do for not just the folks who are part of this family, this community, but what it's going to do to turn around peoples' lives. so congratulations. i guess we're cutting the ribbon. i guess we're almost full. we're going to get full soon.

but, steve, i've got to say, are i'm so happy that you are really spearheading many of these projects because i know they'll get done and they'll get done right and every single dollar that the city provides will be invested in the people to make this kind of difference. thank you for your work. thank you for your commitment. and, let me take this opportunity to introduce the next speaker. can i do that? so i want to introduce the next speaker because you know a lot of you know where i grew up. sadly, addiction was not only common, but involvement in the criminal justice system was common and getting access to programs and opportunities was definitely not really an option and many instances. and, so when i was trying to make a decision about who would serve on the board of

supervisors for district six, the reason why matt dorsey is a person that i picked had a lot to do with his compelling story having very similar experiences to so many people i know and so many people in this community. someone who has unfortunately suffered through an addiction, has been through rehab, has been through resources to get through help. and he and i had a very in-depth conversation and i'll tell you this is really important to me because we know it's hard and we know there are people who aren't with us because of their addiction including my sister. you know, waldon house tried to help, but we need more.

and we don't need people who've not experienced things in the same way that you have experienced making decisions about what should happen. part of what i'm here to do is not only listen to what you're struggling with and provide it necessary but also making sure we have representatives, policy makers able to help me on the board of supervisors instead of against me to help me to get the resources necessary to turn things around for so many people in this city. and the person who is definitely going to be a leader in helping all of those efforts because of his own personal story is the supervisor of district six matt dorsey. [applause] >> thanks everybody.

my name is matt and i'm an addict and alcoholic. [cheers and applause] it was the convergence of a public health crisis in accidental drug overdose deaths in the last couple of years. in my own personal journey in drug addiction that moved me to ask mayor breed to consider this vacancy. it was the collective toll of being on a monthly call with the office of the chief examiner and the officials of the department of public health. and it was the heroic championship of mayor london breed in the tender loin initiative and the hard fight that was and if there was a moment that moved me to say to think in my heart. i want to be an ally on this. i believe in the promise of recovery. and i believe that the city has

an essential role to fulfill that promise. and i am inspired by the stories of my brothers and sisters in recovery. i'm inspired by the people, i go to meetings. as part of this journey, i was prepared to talk about how i was going to tell my personal story publicly. but it was interesting when i was sworn in and announced, i hadn't prepared for what i was going to talk about publicly. in a meeting of crystal meth anonymous or some of the meetings i'm apart of where they knew i'm interviewing for a job and people were supportive of me but they didn't know i was going to be on the board. i didn't know. we've been through a journey

together. we've seen hell and back and to hear from them hey matt, now we've got a seat at the table. it is terrifying to have that expectation on my shoulders, but it is an honor. it is the inspiration of my career to have this opportunity to work for my neighbors and my city on the issues that i care about. people that i love and people that i want to support. the real lesson of recovery i think is that we help each other. it is something that i know for a fact what i have learned in recovery and i've had some setbacks over the years and what i've learned again and again in recovery is when i help others, it's 100% effective in keeping me sober and if everybody can internalize that, we're here for each other. that's the work that steve adomi is doing and that's the kind of work that i'm really excited to be supporting on the

board of supervisors. so, thank you everybody. thank you, matt. >> thank you, mayor, and thank you, supervisor dorsey. >> you know, when programs like this move into neighborhoods, neighbors usually lock their doors and i got a letter from a neighbor who was concerned. i want to welcome a couple of our neighbors here today because they're no longer concerned, they're excited and happy and we welcomed them into our family. they all live on this block in this neighborhood and are part of this energy and they're making this project happen. i want to say thank you for welcomed them. >> you know, sometimes collaborations are complicated, but they're not complicated when peoples' visions, missions, and values are aligned.

in march, the adult proand we didn't have any funds for it. and our next speaker made this happen and i'm so grateful to partner with the san francisco department of public health who stepped up and made this dream a reality. so dr. colfax. [applause] >> thank you mayor breed. thank you supervisors. and thank you, steve. i really appreciate everything you do for the community. you know, i get a lot of e-mails. i always read yours because they're so informative and they're also really inspirational. they're very meaningful. so thank you. and i just want to take a moment to thank everyone in this endeavor. this is a shared collaborative effort. a wonderful example of when departments come together. we can solve things with community, with the neighborhood and most

importantly with the people who we are serving and i really want to take a moment to thank the dph team that works so hard on this. dr. hillary our director of behavioral health. dr. payting from behavioral health. and she's in the back a little bit right now but she's amazing. we are so fortunate to have dr. lisa pratt our director of jail health. that's jail health director in the country if not the world. i just want to put that out there. >> so i'm so pleased to be out here. we all know the story, right. people coming out of incarceration having complex needs, experiencing homelessness, substance use, behavioral health crisis. many experience stigma and

discrimination. and, for many people and for many systems, the culmination of these challenges at first may seem insurmountable. and we know what happens when people are not supported. the cycles of incarceration, of homelessness, of mental health crisis. we see people landing back in jail. landing back in the e.r. and back in the psychiatric emergency facilities. well, this is going to break that cycle. this is going to break that cycle meeting people where they are and supporting them on their journey to recovery. 75 people will be able to access these services offering stability of housing. we know it takes whatever it takes. every door's the right door to get people to support them with their behavioral health and other life needs.

now we call this lots of bureaucracy here. our goal is for people to make lasting changes in their lives and transition to independent living and i know this program's going to be successful and i'm so thrilling to be working collaboratively. >> hello everyone. this is really an amazing day. it is a continuation of the work that adult preservation does to help restore their lives. at adult prevation we're a small department but we lead

with passion and commitment. we believe that building therapeutic pathways for people is what works. we believe that recovery works. the minna project reflects a lot of pain and experience that people experience, but more than that, it reflects hope and promise that comes with the opportunity to transform your life. we are so grateful to the mayor's office. andrus powers, sean elburn. and you, mayor. thank you so much for this support. [applause] we are so grateful to be in partnership with dph and west side community services, positive directions equals

change [cheers and applause] we are -- that's right. we are very grateful for the support we receive from the board. supervisor safai, supervisor dorsey. supervisor stefani, and supervisor mandelman. at the adult probation department our revision is led by steve adomi. [applause] and destiny pledge, victoria westbrook, devonna smith and daniel amaringa. [applause] this is their vision and they put their heart and soul into

making sure that this is a right environment for change. we are so honored and feel so much responsibility for making sure that this works. there are endless possibilities for anyone that will come through these doors and we're really grateful for this opportunity. thank you. [applause] >> you know, a couple years ago, 2019, we kind of set out on this mission with one of my then staff joffreya morris who then went to work for supervisor safai. then we created a portfolio and we had no money at the time and we started to try to figure things out and there was about 50 of us that have been to prison. went back to school. got our liveses together and

felt obligated to share our lives with others to ensure everybody had the same opportunity we had. and one of the leading voices of our cause is going to come up and speak next. for 30 years, this guy was behind the scenes doing the work for this partner in crime, craig johnson. [cheers and applause] if you have ever spent any time with cedric, his phone does not stop ringing, you can't get him alone and he is working day and night. he manages nine programs for us. he also is dealing with the courts. dealing with clients. i've never seen anybody do so much at one moment. i want to bring up my peer, my

friend, my colleague, cedric. [cheers and applause] >> all right. [cheers and applause] >> all right. good afternoon everyone. >> good afternoon cedric. >> so once again, the community has spoken, and once again, the mayor has listened. the reason why this happened today because the name of this project is called the minna project and we were trying to figure out a name until i looked it up and found the arabic meaning of minna and it says, god will provide. [cheers and applause]

so that has to be the name. so the first thing, i again, i just want to first thank mayor london breed for all her support and for all her love. i want to thank supervisor safai also for all of his support. this is the time in san francisco right now. we all have our differences. we all see ways of how we think this should happen. but this is a time for us to come together. i'm serious. it's time for us to come together no matter what walk of life we come from. everybody is scared to talk about recovery when it comes to substance abuse, prison life and addiction. all you've got to do is look out on that street and see there's a whole lot of recovery that needs to happen and take place. we need to work with the people that live on this block. we need to take it block by

block and we have to start within our own hearts. don't blame nobody else if you ain't doing nothing, but we have to start within ourselves to be able to make this work. i ain't going to hold you long because i appreciate everybody for supporting and coming out. don't just come today. i want to see you here tomorrow the next day the next day and come out and support this situation. so, right now, thank you all for coming. i appreciate you guys. love you. and -- [cheers and applause] yeah. and i want to bring supervisor safai to the table, please. >> supervisor safai: i don't know if i want to follow him. let me just start by saying god is good ya'll. all the time. all the time. so let me say this and he hit

on it and mayor breed said it right. the best elected officials, the best public servants listen because we don't have all the answers. and a few years ago, the black community got together, the recorpse led by the black recovery community got together and said the city is not listening to us. they're not providing the services that we need. they're not giving us the opportunity to go into an abstinence-based environment. but let's at least offer that service. so they came and i had the good fortune of having jwithoffrea morris on my staff. we connect wednesday apd and they had things sitting on the shelf. i heard from public leadership and they said how did this happen so quickly.

first when we did the therapeutic community over there in knob hill. i went into the mayor's office, it literally took one minute. i said it to her and she said absolutely. we're going to do that. we're going to make that happen. and we did it. and then here we are again when she declared her state of emergency and i teased her. i called her "scrooge" because we had to work on christmas eve. and she said, "asha, do your job" and i said okay madam mayor but i'm going to ask for one thing, the minna project. and it took one more minute to convince her this was the right thing to do. so i want to thank mayor breed and andres for putting in the hours. i know you gave a big round of applause let's give it up for

positive direction for change. [cheers and applause] that's right. we have to recognize when leadership is happening in the black community in this way and it's okay to say black. it's okay. thank you everyone. let's cut the ribbon. >> so if everybody on the stairs can clear a pathway for the mayor, dr. colfax, supervisor safai. we're going to cut it here. oh, sorry. thought we were cutting it outside. sorry.

>> everybody. five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause]

>> clerk: if you could please rise if you're able for the pledge of allegiance. ["pledge of allegiance"] >> clerk: and vice president elias, if i could take roll. >> vice president elias: yes, please. [roll call]