>> really want to thank folks for joining us this morning for a host of reasons. i'm also very privileged this morning to actually serve as the mc. we will take you on a story today. one that we are not just so proud of, but everyone that is going it to have this experience today will leave i think excited, proud, but most importantly i hope energized for the work we are going to continue. today is marking an important moment. a important moment not just for home rise, not just for the city of san francisco, but really as we want to tackle homelessness. we for 30 years have known permanent supportive housing is the solutionmentf we also spnt 30 years building

staff, building systems, building and supplying resources so people with secure housing but besome self-sufficient so we so sforchinate this is another shining example and also you will learn by jazzy collins who jazzy collins is. i'm excited to introduce rick aubrey for brief introduction and framing of who we are and where we are go. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you gerald and as you can hear there is a bart training going underneath us as we speak. one of the many many obstacles that these amazing teams over-came over the last several years to get this building built. so, as joe mentioned i am the ceo of home rise rick aubrey. if i haven't had a chance to meet you. this project took as all

projectss do in san francisco a lot of people working very hard for a very long time to get this done, so many folks here that i'm going to make a point of recognizing. some i want to mention, michael cohen who is great partner since day 1. this was a public private partnership people said couldn't be done. it doesn't work, this is not how things happening in san francisco but thanks to strada and michael's effort, here it is. this is part of a much larger project that is going on, but they were very committed to the irk work we do at home rise, permanent supportive housing has to be a part of new construction that occurs in the city and they championed the work with the board of supervisors with two different mayors to make sure that this would happen. some of those early conversations which predated me were

with my predecessor gale gilman who is here today. [applause] and as a institution home rise is more then any one of us but it took the generation before me to be able to imagine this, to work with michael to work with the city to work with all of our partners. we are very grateful for the work gale made that happen. housing development at this project required many people to get this done. great team. gerald. serenea cal way here now and also helped carried forward. i remember the first day i got here when this wasn't a hole in the ground and snashing teeth is this going to happen and how to make it happen and had to deal with the fact there was a pandemic that hit us a few months after we started and are nobody

wanted to lend to projects like this and provide fifanc. serenea lead the efforts to make it happen and here we are importantly and a little plug for home rise, not only are we here but here ahead of schedule. this is unprecedented in san francisco. ahead of budget. a tribute to all of the generations of people who worked on this project to make it move forward. takes a lot of money to make a projbect like this work. if i leave anybody else my apologies but huge thanks to housing development to be a ernest and steadfast partner. we hit the pandemic thing. we all recall that was and all a sudden everything look like it would shut down have had a dilemma. do we sit and wait a year and mayor's office said, no we got to move forward with this. we are you

partners and figure what it will take to finance this, if it takes unusual things and stretch what we normally do we will keep moving forward and we did. here we are, done ahead of schedules thank you to the mayor's office of housing and community development. [applause] lots of other folks arefunding this as well. one of the great things about being on this site is this is a great union town and this is a union site and one of our essential partners in this has been the aflcio and their investment team and they are a core part of this so so proud to be union (inaudible) even more proud to be partnering with the aflcio to build housing for folks who are being pushed out of the e city and making this a possibility. we have funding from

merchant capital a bank essential to make this work. in order it do this kind of work you need tax credit intervesting and enterprise community partners stood up and stood with us even during all the times during the pandemic. we also have of course a great partnership with the state and california department of housing and community development is also core to making this work. unusually for a project like this, we also have a significant private foundation that when things were looking somewhat dire could we gelt across the finish line and make it work the harry fineburg foundation said the work you do is essential, permanent spoteive is the solution. unusual for a private foundation to provide funding but they did it. thank you to

the wineburg foundation. also, earlyfunding came in from the federal home loan bank of san francisco, so we are grateful for that. let me also talk about the people who actually did the work. first and foremost the workers on this project. [applause] some of us show up at the ground breaking and the ribbon cutting but every day all the works from suffolk construction were here rain and shine. whatever it took to get this done, they were here, they built it. amazing building we are so grateful to the union workers of suffolk who made the project so and it is beautiful building and you will get a chance to see it, but again, early. when do you get to say that in california? when do you get to say that in san francisco? this project came in earlier then promised so that is great thing and ua

local 38 of course was a great partner in this. larry muzola is here. their site they could have done many different things with this project. they were really complited committed to what we are doing here and so grateful larry to all your brothers and ist sisters you represent. i would be remiss if i didn't mention we were privileged and fortunate jazzy collins and friends and family of jazzy collins is on the door. most know jazzy collins was a fierce advocate for the work we do throughout the city. a first in so many ways in the city in terms of advocating for people not getting the respect they needed and we were so happy that we were able to include jazzy in this permanent testimony to her long work that she did in defense of

and in support of and in fierce advocacy for the people in the city that we will now be able to serve in this building. so, [applause] you know, she devoited a lifetime it to it, she did the work and so grateful for that. let me turn the platform if i might back to you gerald. many more folks you will hear from. let me just briefly mentiont that we have 3 board members from home rise. board members--sor ry-we have 4 board members from home rise. thank you very much for that. board members are a essential fabric of all non profits in the city. they work tirelessly. they make sure that the work gets done, here for the right reason for the core mission of the organization. they make sure

we stay true to what we are trying to achieve so shealy, david and deborah, so grateful you were able to be here today. so grateful every keeping us true to what we signed up for and give us the guidance to make sure we do it work we need to do. if i might, back to you gerald. [clapping] >> thank you so much. you ready for the first part of the story about jazzy? many of you know and think many are familiar with jazzy's place. but many may not be familiar with the intricacy, the importance of her story. jazzy wasn't someone at 13 years old knew she would be this amazing advocate. in fact, she in late 30 into 40 she realized and had the life experience that told here she needed to move. she needed to move effectively, she needed to move

expeditiously and glad to bring up a partner that embodied the same sentiment and that is strada. so much what you see around you, you delivered on time, delivered on budget. those are things jazzy believed in. she believed you had to step up, be there and make a way out of no way. i will not say we made a way out of no way because strada team does it all over it bay area but did it with us knowing the impact that this is the type of development that permanent supportive housing can live within, both the fiscal impact, the jobs created and most importantly not forget the convenience. bart is right here. think about the access that affords anyone in the community so grateful they partnered with us. michael will join us quickly but thank you william. sydney is out here somewhere. the entire team over at strada, thank you so much for keeping us

humble. keeping focused and making sure we delivered on time. michael, please. [applause] >> thank you gerald. it is nice every once in a while to be overcome with feeling proud about something, and i think gerald said at the beginning, this is a day for a lot of us to be really proud and there's two things that i'm most proud of about this project. the first is we have been checking, but i think this is the only supportive housing project for formally homeless individuals that is built on private property as part of a market rate development not just in san francisco history, but we haven't been able to foond a example of this anywhere in the state of california, and it is

really quite awesome and as you heard from gerald and i'm sure you will hear more of, it takes a incredibly collaborative effort to make something like this work, and you heard all the financial people who were integral related to the support of this effort. i do want to shout out and there is a bunch of them here, building a project like this on time and on budget in a pandemic is really hard, and i want to thank -we had great partnership from the city. i think i saw rich (inaudible) in the planning department and topea, judson true and his entire team. i was talking to robin a bit earlier, and it is not one thing, but it is over and over again, there is problem that if

it is not going to be solved it will cause delay and cause budgets to sprirel out of control and having the city as a partner was incredibly partner. people have been asking like how did you guys do isthe at this price. we started november 2020. we had an aggressive budget, an aggressive schedule, and if nothing else it is testament when you have really smart people, you put them in a position to succeed and they work their butts off and i want to shout out to will, to nick, to sydney, to steve to lee, to clark, to everybody on the strada team. there is a huge amount of resources. i think we had more people working on this building then we dild on the 3 other buildings and it is

wort it because this project is good for the city, it is great for this neighborhoods and hundreds and hundreds of peoples lives will be better because of this project. the second thing i'm immensely proud of is the fact that on time on budget during a pandemic, supply chain collapse and we did this project and think you heard gerald allude to it earlier, with 100 percent union labor. [clapping] and i hear it a lot, people say to you, you cant do it that way, you can't make this budget, you cant make this schedule with a 100 percent union job. you can tell them they are wrong, because we are living proof of it, so thank you. [applause] >> such a great segue

into another really important speaker. impact on us and looking over at (inaudible) who is my colleague in housing who is negotiating our union labor agreement right now. we are so proud of the union staff members who make up home rise. they are our front line. they are the reason not only does the brick and mortar impact live but the service and impact and being there consistently is one of the hall marks of not just supportive housing but 30 years making sure families are housed and stay housed and get better, they achieve self-sufficiency. but all part of that and our own union labor was very much complemented by what you see around here. excited to have larry come up and talk about the impact on not just union labor on this project but the long-standing commitment. larry. thank you.

[applause] >> thank you larry muzol isa plumbers union local 38 and president of san francisco building trade council. thank you all for being here today. this is exciting day, proud day for us. you guys takes a lot of smart people to build a building like this. i figured you would have done a eir for this event and had sunlight here but you screwed that up. anyway, i just want to say how proud i am in local 38 is of this development and it is long time coming when this property was bought in 1947, my grandfather joe muzolea had a vision of this but think he would be surprised of this part of it. 53 colten. we have done a lot. we helped

the community out. we have gulf tournaments we like to give money to when we raise money for charities and we like to keep it local and do things for the citizens of san francisco. we have given to a lot of places in san francisco that helps our kids thrive but i think this is probably the most important and exciting and most proud one we have done in partnership with strada to build supportive housing for homeless people and low income people that are going to have a permanent home and couldn't be more proud to be partners with strada and suffolk. cant say enough about suffolk and strada. they are a great team with us, and we got to this point and like michael said, and everybody said, to have a job like this come in under budget, under the timeframe, ahead of schedule that was built 100 percent union and we

didn't do it with modural housing and someone came to me early on and said you need to build this modural it isn't going to work and said 100 percent no. it can happen on site and be built better and look at it. beautiful building and done 100 percent union labor so any developer out there saying it cant be done, bull shit. i want to thank all the workers. they are already thanked but enough credit cant go to them because this doesn't happen with them and this is it proof that skilled labor what they can do and i'm proud of each and every one of the members that worked for all the different crafts and i want to thank them for the stand up working through the pandemic and this job actually kept a lot of members working like michael said during the pandemic. there was no other job that started when the pandemic hit. this job started and it is finished and

it is a beautiful building and we appreciate the partnership we had. all the people involved in this so i want to say from our union as a partner with strada, thank you and we look forward to and we are proud of this commitment and we cant wait to see it come to fruition when everybody is moved in, so thank you. [applause] >> in the fall we were at the richardson apartments and the (inaudible) was with us. the bart is going by as you can hear. and secretary fudge was with us and we were on the roof and i pointed over and said ipa few mujts we will be opening a new building and who i dident know was standing behind me was the mayor and in that time and space i realized something that is important and i really hope

everyone understands why jazzy collins and this legacy. today we have a vice president who is a black woman from the bay area, secretary fudge who is a black women, a mayor who is a black woman, a black women at hsh. that is progress and that is what jazzy was talking about, the advocacy and glass ceiling and path she created for us but so grateful are we we have a mayor who is blazing that trail keeping it moving, delivering over 1500 units of permanent supportive housing and the economic impact each of these jobs creates support and retain. grateful today not only do we get to acknowledge the legacy and progression with jazzy collins we have a mayor that will keep pushing us forward. please welcome the honorable mayor breed.

[applause] >> thank you jerome and thank you to home rise and thank you to strada and local 38. it is good to be here with each and every one of you to celebrate jazzy collins apartment complex that truly does represent jazzy collins and her legacy and what she fought for here in san francisco for so long. let me just take us back just a tad bit because when muzola and i were kids growing up in san francisco even though i know he looks a lot older then i am, we are basically the same age, we grew up in a city where it had its challenges but we saw a lot of possibilities. we saw the possibility for a better life, a better opportunity and we in fact you know, i'll be honest, homelessness even existed back then, but it want as problematic and it seems to be because as someone who

grew up in public housing, as someone who grew up around a lot of affordable development, one thing that even through our challenges of poverty and sometimes substance use disorder there was still a opportunity to access housing in some capacity. the people who built this city lived in the city, the people who worked in the city for the city and county of san francisco lived in the city. the people who started businesses in the city lived in the city and over the years something has changed. we can point to a number of challenges that existed that made things difficult for us to continue to move forward as aggressively as we should to build housing and who access the housing. we can talk about the challenges of those things, but today we have a real solution. we have a real tonight. we know what happens when we come together and we

put aside our differences and we focus on what needs to be done. and specifically in my homeless recover y plan, we already as we committed built a thousand units of permanently supportive housing with 1500-we built and got about a thousand more in the pipeline and these 96 units that are for people who struggle with homelessness. this is a game-changer. when we provide a opportunity without the layers of bure ocacy that make it difficult for people to access housing we make a dif rnsh ference in san francisco and when we have partners who believe in this because this land, all of this is a legacy of the plumbers union with muzola, jr. grandfather who we know a park will be named for him people in the city can enjoy. the fact that he was willing to work with this city and partner to

do something to give back to the city that he loved is significant. this place is born out of working together out of relationship, out of really trying to combat some of the real challenges that exist in san francisco. this is what happens when we put aside our differences and we make something happen for the people here in san francisco. so, yes i know we have our problems and i see former supervisor jane kim here. thank you so much for your work helping to get this project done in our city because it did take a village to get us here. but it is also going to take that village to continue to stay together to get us even further until not one person is sleeping on the streets of san francisco. until not one family is sleeping out on the streets of san francisco. untul we do a better job to address the

challenges and disparities and access to this housing for the people that we knew know need it the most. that really represents san francisco values at its best and today as we celebrate i truly want to thank our partners who make it possible. who make it possible to do extraordinary work like this. my favorite favorite favorite thing of any project and believe this is probably the first project that i even saw in the notes and had to read it again because i couldn't believe it muzola, on time and under budget. thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> thank you your honor. as always privileged to be a part of the solution and moving things forward. i have one more guest. as rick pointed out not only does it

take money but it takes money to not do it once but again and again and we have a unique partner in merchant capital who not only stood and supported this projpect but we will put another 58 units in rehab and keep this going. we are serious about the solution and serious about the partners who make it happen every day. lee. [applause] >> good afternoon. lee auler the executive vizdant of merchant capital out of caramel indiana and i run the chicago office. this was such a collaboration working on this project together. it started in the middle of a pandemic. you had forest fires, people were exiting the city. we never met a single person until this grand opening. i'm meeting everybody for the first time because i met you

all over zoom. we spent months together, collaborating so i have to take a couple minutes here to thank a couple people and merchant capital is in partner with the housing investment trust. i worked with the housing investment trust all most 30 years and any time that my bank and the housing investment trust can partner together to create housing, affordable housing with hundred percent union labor i'm on board. it takes a lot of extra effort, but it is well worth it and as you can see the 96 units is beautiful. at merchant capital affordable housing is not a secondary line of business. it is not a after-thought. we are the third largest affordable housinglener in the country and we are so excited to be a part of jazzy collins. again, i want to give a special thanks to my partners in the

afl housing investment trust, but also to the skilled union labor workers. without the general contractor of suffolk construction, we still be looking at blue prints today. to wrap it up. i to say how proud i am to be a part of this from merchant capital and celebrate the successful completion of jazzy collins apartment. the life changing benefits that will house people and that is what is important to the city of san francisco. thank you so much. [applause] >> alright. we all learned a little about how and why we are here. now let's go see this building. we are going to-thank you. we are going to do this in hopefully a way in which everyone really does get to see what does it really mean to be a part of a 500 unit mixed use multistage

development. i want you to feel our building. i want you to know what we are proud of and really what we are now setting as a standard. i would love for folks to please join the mayor downstairs. we are going to unveil the heart of this building. we--yeah. i'm going to talk about jazzy downstairs. i'm going to have-(inaudible) dolores street to talk about jazzy's place and have hsh join us and also seen ocd join up so grateful for everyone to be here. please join us downstairs as we do a quick cutting of it ribbon then we will get into property tours and lunch. thanks everybody. one more part of the program downstairs. [applause] >>

[difficulty hearing speaker] both organizations recognize and honored jazzy collins her advocacy, impact on the community and support of lgbtq seniors and other san francisco. it is exciting to be able to honor this space and recognize the services both (inaudible) to the san francisco community. at home rise we work with our residents to increase self-sufficiency once in housing. to heal from the trauma of homelessness experience and rebuild community and connection with each other within the building and within the broader neighborhood. i believe that this really speaks to the heart of jazzy collins hopes and passions and efforts

and we as (inaudible) continue working in that (inaudible) at this point i think we are ready to officially do the unveiling. >> you want to take it this way. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! [cheers and applause] how pretty.

>> happy pride. everyone. [applause] [crowd noise]. [music] >> amazing. incredible for the city. for the citizens. for our visitors and the fire department and our public safety partners to come together today and to celebrate pride weekend. >> i came because this is my first, year of pride and i wanted to experience with my mom. i'm most excited for everything i will see.

celebrities just surrounded by so many fun people. my besties. we'll have a great time. >> >> i'm most excited about the expression of freedom and things which have to be this way well is no other way to do it. everybody is wrong and we should all be like the pride people and proud to be who we are >> we are here to celebrate pride >> san francisco pride. it is my first one experiencing the new atmosphere and learning. >> my first one, too. >> so close we could not pass it up. it is san francisco it is the biggest ones can you pass it up. [crowd noise] [music]

[crowd noise] >> it means everything that we have a common goal a common operating picture and a common mission. it is great to be together and walk together and show that. [crowd noise] [sirens].

the message is the lbgtq community is reflect in the our police department in san francisco. it sends a message that there are members of the department the police department, sheriff's department, fire department that are just like the people that we encounter in san francisco. and i think it sends a message of hope the more we honor the lbgtq community now, the stronger we can be in standing up against those that don't want our representation. [crowd noise] [music] >> [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish]. [crowd noise] [music] [music]

[drums] [crowd noise] this is my first time at the san francisco pride even though i have been here a couple years, i felt like now was the time to go. um -- really just coming to show my support and love for the whole community out here. um, i'm really excited to be here today. >> i think i am most excited be such an arc mazing community come together. just the love and support i think that especially in san

francisco, um, people bring together it is this such a deep feeling. and i'm excited feel that today. [crowd noise] [music] [music] [sirens] [music] [crowd noise] whoa!

[music] [cars honking] [sirens] [music] [horns] we never been to

a parade or something like that. >> i'm excited for the parade never been to an actual pride parade. pretty pumped. [crowd noise] [music] i'm excited celebrate with all of my queer people and to stand together in a hard time like we affirm each other and support each other. >> same, ditto. >> [laughter]. [music]

[crowd noise]. you love who you want to love >> happy pride. >> happy pride! >> go san francisco! happy pride! happy pride. >> happy frigin pride, everybody. [music] [music] happy pride!

of [laughter] [music] >> you know, i remember when i was a teenager, they did i

think it was on the grammys, boss scags narrated the san francisco scene and they did a spot on it and how it's evolved and convergence of multi culture and the emergence of gay community, lgbtq, it was not even called that then. >> so like any good listening back then, i played softball and a friend on the team said, the fire department is recruiting women. i took the test in 88 and 89 i got hired. and i always say this, it was like a perfect career, it was like social work, i love that connecting and helping people

aspect and physical. so i was like a social worker with an ax basically. and i just thought, this is like, this is it, i hit the jackpot. part of my story is, i grew up across the street from a fire station and as a young girl, i use today love going in there and would go in there whenever my parents voted, they the old fashion voting machines. sxifs in awe of the place but i never saw anybody that looked anything like me. it was all men, it was all white men and so, i never knew that i could do that. this was in the 70s. and i worked in several different things and i was at the pride parade in 1991. >> and the chief of the department, she i did give her courtesy card to come in, i remember it to this day, june

30th. the hand and hand together and i was with a friend of mine and fire fighter named anita prattly came up to me and we had a mutual friend and we didn't meet. and she came by the table and as soon as i looked at her, i said hi o to my friend, i could see she was super athletic. >> and she knew my friend and she said hey, do you want to be a fire fighter, here's an interest card, join us. >> there was something about her that could roll with the punches and also give a few punches. she would be great and i just knew it. i did give her the courtesy card. it was my greatest achievement. >> and it was something i saw myself, yeah, i love a good crisis. and i'm good in crisis and i'm

good on thinking on my feet. and i'm you know, super fit and physical, maybe i can do this awesome. >> but just in terms of pride in general, being able to go to pride and be who we are and be who i am, it's like the sense of digity and equality and inclusion. i was always incredibly proud to represent the community and to be doing service for the community, because that's what i love doing. >> coming to san francisco for me, was really key because i love the city. the city is so vibrant and diversity is really, it's one of its treasures. so being part of a department that represents diversity is huge and so important to me

that we welcome everyone. and not just face value, truly to integrate to have diversity, have representation not just on the fire fighter level but all levels in this department, all ranks up and down the chain of command. it's huge and it's, stepping in as a woman of color as part of the lgbtq community, means more than just myself, right. i represent more than just myself. but as a leader, other people in this department, other people in the community that are looking at me and seeing that there is space for them. and so that is really creating space for everyone. >> when i first joined the military, it was still under don't ask don't tell. i had to be super cautious about what i was doing.

i was still figuring out what i was doing. i joined when i was 19, i knew i was part of the community i was not accepting yet. my first duty station was officer guam and that's where i got to explore who i was. and being under the umbrella of don't ask don't tell, and having a friend being separated because he was gay. it was very rule. had you to make sure that you were following the rules you needed to do everything you need today do. i was fortunate to be there when don't ask don't tell was repealed. you find people who are making a big deal about it, the next day everybody went to work like nothing happened. we were accepted and nobody made a big deal about it. work performance was even better because you didn't have

to hide something and worry about hiding. the transition from that world into this one is basically the exact same. i was able to just jump in and just you know, not even test the waters. >> i grew up with firefighters, my uncle and cuss infor a volunteer department in canada. here it's quite different, bigger department, a lot of different people. you know, just working with san francisco i really enjoy having all the different personalities, background, experiences, i'm a pro lead rhyme now. i'm a year into my probation and i'm already finished. and i felt like everybody has brought me in and show me what they know. and regardless of my sexuality, my gender, my race, i was 28 when i decided to change my

career and go any different direction. i'm 35 now just starting out in a whole different field. >> san francisco has a large population of lgbtq community in general and our department is reflective on that. the one thing i love about the san francisco fire department, is we do look like the community we serve and we're making every strife to reflect that. so even in our out reach, recruitment efforts, we're trying to make sure that every single person including the lgbtq community has an opportunity to become a member of our department. soz a subpoena officer, it's important to make sure that i welcome my crew. that includes every single member that is on my apparatus, i feel we can do a better job. >> my dad was a football coach

and he taught me to persevere and be committed and i'm showing that i'm doing that. i'm very proud to say that i get to start my career off as a fire fighter for the san francisco fire department. and i'm proud to be who i am, proud to be all the colors that i represent, proud to be, you know, i love being a woman in the department and to feel comfortable with who i am and very secure and excited to come to work. >> you know, one thing my mom also en grained anything we set our heart to and anything we wanted to do, the only thing stopping us was us. it's my dream to be a fire department member and i'm here, being changed because of who i was and now being able to out and proud of who i am, it's, i feel it should mean something. >> it's important as a san

francisco fire fighter, that we understand the community that we serve. it's important that our department is made up of different genders, different ethnicities, different sexual orientations, because the community that we serve need to reflect the apparatus. >> i've seen, i've seen the evolution of this department, i've seen it change through the years. we're in a better place than we were many years ago. i think we continue to evolve. i'm really hopeful for this next generation of leaders who do smart, determined, lead with heart and i'm hopeful for our future for this department going forward. >> we're your department. we're here for you. we're you and that, and i really believe that san francisco really embodies that. i tell you, it was the greatest decision i ever made.

i kept thinking, my gosh if i didn't play softball i wonder if i would have heard about it. it's funny you plan in life and gu to college and you plan your next steps, but the most profound decision nz life, is how you meet people are random. i was meant to be i think and it was such a great fit being that social worker with the ax, that's it. >> so i see san francisco and san francisco leadership and government as a beacon for the entire country. because we are so up front about what we believe in, we're really up front about inclusivity and i know that, others look at us, many look to us. we've had other departments, contact us in terms of how do

you, how do you do this? how do you create a diverse equitable and inclusive workforce? and so, but i would be lying if i said that we don't have any problems in california or in san francisco or in the department. we are out liars, sure? are we doing our best again to address those things with implicit bias training? with changing the culture, our department has made huge huge leaps as has the city and i really feel like san francisco is part of the solution to moving forward in a better way. people are individuals, there are a lot of different types of people in this world and celebrating our differences is what pride is all about.

>> my name is holly doudiet. h2 firefighter with the san franciscowired. what inspired me to be a firefighter was in 2008 i graduated college . the recession had happened so there weren't any jobs. i was having troublefinding a job. and i was kind of looking around . my dad was a firefighter and i thought what a great career he had. so i asked my dad, never thinking about it at first before. i said dad, what you think about me being afirefighter and he goes yeah, thatwould be a good idea . i took some classes, i ended up

loving it . i grew up and actually and i think it was a good fit for me because it's a physical job and it's enjoyable. you never know whatyou're going to get and it's a team effort . i first realized i was part of the lgbt+ community in sixth grade. i looked on the other side of the classroom and i sawthis girl i thought was really attractive and i thought i want to be her boyfriend . though my experiences in the city growing up in the city and countyof san francisco were always verypositive . i came out in high school . i actually ended up being prom king my senior year in high school and a lot of peoplewere very supportive . myparents were very supportive . they just let me do my thing and my dad knew of a lot of lesbian women in the fire departmentthe time because he was a san francisco firefighter . for me it's very important to

be part of a community and organization and an agency that supports my lgbtq status because if you're not yourself, how can you perform to the best of your abilities? you're always holding back in some way whether it's your personality or your abilities or your overall skills and with agency that supports me being a lesbian i can truly be myself. i can be happy. i can be social with other people. it makes me want to work as a team and we all work better together when we are happier and we can be ourselves. >>. [music]

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>> thank you. welcome everyone to the july 13, 2022 police commission meeting. if we can stand and do the pledge of allegiance, please. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you so much. welcome everyone. can you please take roll ? >> yes,