>> welcome. i'm carlo the director of mission for st. anthony foundation i want to thank everyone.for joining us in this special celebration. blessing and dedication of this facility which moving forward known as the caplisten family oasis shelter. [applause] >> i want to extend a warm welcome to our mayor, thank you for being here. supervisor preston who i saw, thank you. and executive director of homelessness and supportive housing. thank you for being here today. thank you for everyone for coming. you know we are here to honor the people all of the people involved in transforming motel to a shelter. to support the families that

live here and also to celebrate had the facility stands for. jot oasis protect demonstrates that is public had the city, private sector and faith based organizations all come together to work around a common goal. that goal is to support our neighbors in need especially the most vulnerable. as you know, since the height of the pandemic, the founz agsz with the city operating the oasis as a shelter for families. in june, when michael and elaine heard about the challenges associated with keeping the shelter open, they stepped up in a major way. if not for the generosity of the family trust, backed by the board at st.an thon and he commitment of providence it continue this good work and of course lodgist cal and financial support of our city; we would not be here today. jot oasis is here to provide a

place of shelter and transitional housing. more importantly, a safe place for women and children had they have nowhere to turn. to speak more to that i invite the executive director of providence tah patricia doyle to share thoughts. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. providence foundation of san francisco believes that true change begins with compassion and collaboration. and prior to getting started i would like to introduce the board of directors and executive staff. chairman of the board mr. james blanden, please, [applause]. lanita williams. bernadette anthony and canisha

roads. thank you for joining me. providence foundation has proudly operated the oasis facility here as the emergency family shelter center since the start of the pandemic. march of 2020. providing a safe, secure resident, case management and support services to women and families. providence was introduced to the oasis by supervisor dean preston >> who not only assist in the obtaining the oasis hotel and also acysted in securing funds to operate and stay at the oasis. we have been here for over 3 years, a long time and the shelter in place contract will be here for the next 9 years.

[applause] had the previous owners first expressed the intention so sell the oasis that meant that the shelter in place was at risk of closing down. st. anthony stepped up and st. anthony foundation is a testament to our unwaivering commitment to address homelessness and improving the lives of our most vulnerable population. here in the city. together, we have built more than a shelter, we have created hope and opportunity for those in need. our homeless families with children and women who are at risk of violence. to tell you more about our partnership, i would like to bring forward st. anthony's

foundation ceo neil. [applause] [laughter] thank you. >> good morning, everybody we are here to celebrate and we want to celebrate that is right and good about our world and san francisco and about the good work of so many good people. we are here today because we are on a mission from god. this mission is not only to support those who are most vulnerable and in need of our help, but also to help them to sustainablely find a way out of that cycle of poverty, homelessness and abuse that too many experienced for generations. and we are here to help these most vulnerable people because -- we have decided and have a vision to bring together the best that we have to offer. providence foundation the operator of the shelter.

the city of san francisco and st. anthony to provide the services with the focus on the person so this we can help people to get out of the situation. and we are here to help 300 more people every year to exit the cycle homelessness and poverty and abuse every year. we are here today because of the good work of so many people of good limp we are here because providence our friends and partners set up the shelter on the very difficult circumstances in covid times and run it extremely limp and they will continue to do this, thank you providence foundation for this. [applause] we are here because the good work of providence foundation was supported by the good work of elected officials starting dean preston and his team who helped setting up this shelter. as a first step, thank you to them as well.

and we are here and we are here especially we because of the caplin's they had vision andien officersity to step and lay the ground work to prevent eviction, thank you very much you are an inspiration to us. [applause] >> and we are here the board and staff of st. anthony got inspired bigenerosity of the caplin's and put their money and work behind that and create a vision and stretch to make that happen. thank you at this time board and staff of st. anthony. and -- i'm coming to the end there are men to thank. moved by the spirit but not longer than 90 seconds. mayor. gone over. so -- we are here because the mayor and her team at hsh

supported this vision. and they found a way of supporting us in a very creative and nonbureaucratic way how to put the best of everything together that is something what we are grateful for which thank you, mayor and thank you to your team for that support. [applause] you know what, most of all we are here because we have a job to do and our job is to really serve the people we are called to serve. and to make the change happen. we are bringing things together in a now way that is now to all of us it is ditch, but the price is worth it. thank you for starting long journey with us we know we can be successful. thank you. [applause] and i would like to turn it over to our mayor. [applause] >> all right! let me say how excited i am to be here.

and in bureaucratic years this went pretty fast. things take long to do things with the city and county of san francisco and i gotta say, how everyone came together to make this possible was extraordinary. i am really honord and grateful to st. anthony for the w they do in san francisco all over the city to help families and help people in need. i'm especially grill for the partnership with providence foundation and i want to shout out to patricia dole for hard work in helping to take care of this shelter and other family shelters throughout san francisco. [applause] thank you. for in the only always stepping up but also the job opportunity you provide to so many african-americans in this city. we know that after can americans represent almost 40% of the homeless population and the work

that you do to help make sure they are housed and provided with opportunity to work in the same facility system irrelevant extraordinary work that needs to be recognized. we appreciate our relationship with providence foundation so thank you very much. >> i want to say to the caplin family and your generosity, we would not be here were not for the lord puting project on your heart through st. anthony to make this possible. i money this is how god works. in is how we make magic happen for people and families. and i want to give perspective here because -- i have been you will be hearing from others who will be talking a bit about their various experience. living through this place and being able to exit into permanent supportive housing

opportunity. i want to just put something in perspective. this city does extraordinary work. there is a lot of criticism but since 2018, we helped over 10,000 people exit homelessness in san francisco. and we have never had even a point in time count with 10,000 on the street in the city that is some perspective. i heard a few claps back that. [laughter] [applause]. every single night we are housing almost 15,000 people in our shelter and permanently supportive housing developments. doing extraordinary work. in our last time count san francisco was the only count in the bay area that saw a reduction in homelessness. 15% in unsheltered homelessness and 3.5% reduction over all in

homelessness. the thing is, we are investing we are doing the work, and fortunately for us, we are blessed to have extraordinary partners to help us achieve goals especially sometimes when the city is not able to step up completely and provide the necessary resources and the capacity to dot work. and this is where st. anthony come in the fear of loseing as a shelter they're supported families and supported people who are escaping situations of domestic violence and supporting folks to turn their lives around, this place was be threatened. and shafereen mcfadden and her team because of when we were dealing with jorge reasonable doubt up their sleeves and made sure not one family was displaced. in fact, they helped to get people in a more permanent, stable position. worked really hard to do this. and when the opportunity came, and neil reached out and said we

can pull something together >> a great he hold me unanimous donor i'm grateful the family agreed to allow us to recognize them for what they are doing here today. but if were not for them this would not be happening now. this is a big deal. the city will provide the resources for the operational expenses related keeping place going. the steal pay for a number of other repairs and other thing this is need to occur. so we are doing something bulled not do it without the support of perking this building and in our housing portfolio for families who need it the most. this is extraordinary. and i'm so proud of everyone involved in this project and makeing possible. in sees this as a beacon. home and life and dh space is a place of light and a place of

hope. one that will be open and visible to families who need it when they do need it. because this city has done extraordinary things to help people and i'm proud this is just another opportunity to ensure that families have a safe, affordable place to call home as a transition to something permanent in san francisco. i want to thank each one of you for being involved. this is a game changer and we will continue to do all the amazing work we are doing. no, we are not where we want to be. but working together with our private partnerships and our religious institutions and including the inter~ faith council i see michael thank you for joining us. working together, we will get there. thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> i will introduce myself.

i'm shafereen mcfadden director of hsh. homelessness and supportive housing. so, i am so excited be here today and i want to thank supervisor preston for your initial advocacy ongoing advocacy on this building. certainly, patricia doyle and the work your team has done this is an exciting space for us. i think the first time i came here as canearbya said it was 13 months ago. i was struck biby the sense of the community. women, children special fathers here. everyone i talked to said we want to retain the sense of community. we feel safe here and we are concerned this place will close before we have a chance to move into permanent housing. at the time, i think we were really trying desperate low to figure out how this would happen and you know i think we put it

in the winds. i agree with the mayor that god works in mystereius ways. thank you to the caplins for your amazing donation and neil to spearhead this to make sure we were able to come together and figure out how to support families at the oasis. you know this is the way we are going. thinking more about noncondition agreeigate shelter. families need privacy and community this is a good location for that. . i want to thank my team at hsh. also providence and your teams. and neil's and everyone at st. anthony this was in the easy. part of the reason is because we have 2 different organizations with 2 different cultural identities. and so coming together and

trying to figure out how we make that work with all of the services and programs that providence offers, and all of the service that st. anthoniments to bring in was not, it was a challenge. i thank everybody for continuing on that vision and able it say. we know we will get there in the end even had it is hard. appreciation to all of you. and i'm excited to bring up -- she is going to tell her story but somebody when has been at the oasis for a number of months. her daughter and you will speak, too. i believe after, so, i just they are good examples of what the oasis means for families. means for women and children. and what we realliment to see is people to leave places like the oasis, go on in housing and be

the great people and the san franciscans they will be. looking forward to hearing your words. thank you. [applause]. >> good morning, everyone. thank you for having mow. a special thanks to providence and patrish why and everyone here at providence. thank you so much. thank you for the staff you have here. i would like to say thank you to providence issue st. anthony the mayor and everyone who made it happen i was not sure what would happen or where i would go or that the future would hold. after losing a child to suicide last year, i became homeless and hopeless. since move nothing providence i gained permanent housing at city gardens in san francisco. now i have hope they can do

anything the support my family and provide a safe and permanent housing for them. a thanks to the staff in the case managers here at providence. they encourage me never to give up. and to also put me and my children first. thank you for supporting my son and encourage him to play football. he is now playing football at galileo high school and he is the honor roll student. i hope that -- [applause] i hope this future family who is in to providence utilize the services and the support than i have to offer. thank you so much. [applause] >> i will translate.

>> [speak spanish] i would like to thank everyone for being here today. it is not easy for some of the families that arrive here for the first time to get a head start. [speaking spanish] >> thank you for projects like this. my family can come with a safe, welcoming and warm place for mow to be. thank you. [applause] thank you very much. >> all right. now going to be time for blessing st.an thoen is fran civic an ministry i like to invite father ma sada and

michael the executive director of interfaith council. they will be joining us on stage and lead us in a blessing. >> good morning, everybody. you join me in blessing this beautiful place. god, you are beauty, you are faith you are hope you are love. you are everything that we have. we ask to you bless this place. this beautiful place. that everybody was here is feel safe, peaceful and be welcomed. as a community. we thank you for everybody who make this happen. we thank you for the heart this is came together to help people in need. we praise your will and timing and love, for your people. i bring the love and the prayers of the 800 communities of faith

and religious institutions in san francisco. moles and pat have been part of a round table of ceo leaders and i have been hearing about this and many of you who travel up franklin did in the pay attention to it before. now i look at it in a different life it is an oasis. a respite from struggle as people gain the strength to move on. the place is blessed. it blessed by the generosity of the caplin's and response. it is blessed by the good people of faith here and add to that. thank you for giving hope to people in need. they are not forsaken and you brought everyone together through faith and love. to make our assistant district attorney a better place, amen. [applause] now like to invite tim dunn the chair of st.

anthony, forward. >> good morning everybody. delighted be here. want to thank all of our donors for everything than i have done for us including the caplin family and the city for being a great host with us on the project. it is pretty phenomenonal to see what if we get people together wheno can accomplish, so. i'm not going to speak long, i wanted to say thank you and thank you for joining us and it is grit to be a part of this. [applause]. >> short and sweet. i want to thank everyone for coming and being a part of this special blessing. and dedication to what this facility means for the families living here.

this will conclude our ceremony but before that on behalf of st. anthonies i invite to you max's opera cafe to join us for lunch. all right. thank you. [applause] is a very exciting day welcome to the city gardens brand opening very, very excited i want to thank mayor london breed this is acquired and

helping us to get families here. i want to thank supervisor dorsey for your for the support for the acquisition stream and shout out to you you all are amazing (clapping.) i know that was this was tough that was tough, tough and very quickly i heard mayor breed talked about how that was an incredible and everyone in here worked for us worked to make that happen and thank you, staff and the department of homeless and supportive housing for the wonderful job as well and working with all of you (clapping.) and exile dan adams our strategist i want to shout out to him unfortunately, was enable to be here. but those are two hundred now units of pouring and

stability and hope for families experiencing how many of those i heard how wonderful the support and it made a difference to families and funding for public housing and homelessness recovery program the acquisition of city gardens was fund by 56 point plus that million dollars and $100 million in the local home fund the acquisition contributed to the success of this plan that supported the expansion of the supportive housing by at or near 3000 units the building that is constructed in 2021 included a large lobby and residential lounges on every floor and office and bike storage and a courtyard this project will change lives and the lives of hundreds of

families that are experiencing homelessness in our community the building offers a pathway towards families that have experienced hardship of homelessness and weighing in partnership and community supporting for this made that possible in addition to the city gardens will have a range of support services we case management. and by addressing the many underlying causes of homelessness city gardens will give families the tools they need for the future and with that, i want to thank london breed for her leadership and toss the mic to her (clapping.) thank you, serene and it really is great to be here you know this project happen very fast and specifically with the city and county of san francisco it

would have taken a really long time to add 200 units to our protocol let alone a little with 2, three and 4 bedrooms. i mean this when adams brought this to may attention last year, we are applying for dollars and san francisco has been a big benchmark of homekey dollars allowed to move people into the buildings faster a lot of challenges in our city around family housing so i must say to a bode and the team and all the people who are working here and the fact you choose to be here and work in this cadet is very much appreciative we are

grateful to each other and you're choosing to be here at bode and helping people whether they're challenging or not thank you, so much we appreciate that and let me say a couple of things i'll let you guys deal with that you'll get into the deal yeah [off mic.] >> yes. >> and, you know. there are different people with different sets of challenges but at the end of the day, had i appreciate about all of you, you are here to help people and know that is not easy and now this is so important i want it is a thank you and express my appreciation and give you a view of for all

the work we've done in 2018 san francisco has helped over 10 thousand people exit homelessness and over 10 thousand people (clapping.) and that's not including our shelter system on any recommendations given night we're housing over 16 thousand people including over 36789 people in the shelter system this city working hard to support people we understand it is not a one-size-fits all a family housing shelters and supportive housing there are housing attached to resources and housing attached to independence all those examples everything we need to san francisco and i can name so many families we're doing it right

but in and out without help without the people that work for you who are showing up to this base everyday we are doing it for people like la seize will talk about and make sure that our families especially who are raising children in the city have a safe affordable place to call home this is what this is about and this project is truly about we - the fact we got in building and didn't have to build it ourselves is amazing i want to again really thank dan adams for, you know. dan is not here today but dan went through the city for us to buy or lease for the people we're trying to house i couldn't believe this building the details especially

with the rooftop gardens it is previous thank you to dan adams and i also want to thank serene and her team did an amazing job to help people strushlgz are homelessness in san francisco matching the right people with the right opportunities it is really a thankless job a very, very hard job we want to express our appreciation to you sherri republican and all people to make sure you're shelter beds and challenges that exist exist we are using the dollars to match with the opportunity and with the oasis last week all those great opportunity i couldn't be admonish powder of work in the city and so that many pieces of preschools by the

reason we say this is to give you you a perspective this is an important place here by more importantly san francisco is doing a lot on the large-scale most people don't know that san francisco is one of the only cities in the bay area that actually saw a reduction in homeless a 3.5 percent reduction in overall homelessness and 15 percent in unshredded homelessness. it because of all this work to assure that places like we are today we're able to connect people the opportunity. so it is great to be here and great to to be here with the supervisor matt that work hard to make sure that we have this space but also provide the funding necessary to keep the operation going to keep the doors open, to keep this place in good condition there is so

much goods into it i didn't ultimately the smiles on the kids faces that get to life and thrive here that makes that worthy we're grateful to be here with each other and thank you so much for your hard work (clapping.) with that, please welcome our supervisor matt dorsey. >> (clapping) thank you, mayor breed and welcome to district 6 everybody i got at thes starting with the mayor london breed's really want to express my appreciation for your leadership to doing everything we can to provide people exist to homelessness for projects like this and a strategy that is really making progress i think the mayor makes it an important point so many people kind of look at the issue of homelessness as an issue that is being solved what is really

unseen in that? thousands of lives that are being changed. because of the work that hsh is doing that's my second thing thank you to everybody at the doecht and homelessness they're on the front line i feel they're doing god's work because they're all lives are changing is getting people exits to homelessness and turning their lives around we'll be hearing about that is it great to have this - it is great to know. that we are fulfilling what san francisco is about. this project is part of a the civic creed of the city and county of

san francisco the city of st. francis of assisi and the partnerships and mayor thanks many of people behind us but being a trusted procedure and partner means the world to me as a district supervisor knowing i can count own our partners we have challenges south of market and 6. i want to say more importantly thank you to it my new residents, you know. i had the opportunity and brought some cards i say this whenever i meet a district 6 resident i hand them my card this is my number i know when i signed up and if i hear from you that's good and if you don't call me i know you're good. he's volunteered to be the point person but i actually you can call us or e-mail so if you,

you don't see me well make sure you get me or bryan and express my gratitude to. >> thank it is an honor to be here i'll ash a supporter this the department and thank you, hsh residents will hear, you know. some project is coming and there's a lot of people a people public school hostile to that sometimes, i. really appreciate the department and mayor and the community members and resident its that are good neighbors i when i support those and people push back i'm confident talk to me as a year or two i'm confident you'll be grateful this is building a county and san francisco represents thank you and i want to introduce the

abode ceo for remarks. thank you very much. (clapping.) mayor and supervisors thank you. for being here today and nice to do a celebration and very nice to do a celebration 90 in those times i know your jobs are impossible sincerely the nonprofit is hurting we're sfooufr what a great difference and, you know, i want to shout out for my staff here i mean, you people (clapping.) who work hard everyday to get things done and we're human beings we make mistakes more importantly we had a conversation about the influence in the neighborhood we're going to need to be aware of it and talking about the problem

solving and a member of the supervisor dorsey's district you are a citizen here completely many in partnership with us that's true for each and lots of things to celebrate we're actually putting people in a place they can have an agency and meaning in their lives again and doing the things that give them joy and happiness and in a moment more importantly is to provide the children that are going to be in the building a family project in the middle of santa fe i mean san francisco (laughter) we're in 8 county and i forgot where i am this is san francisco think of san francisco urban to address family homelessness an incredible building like this was made for middle class people a building. to have that and

have the your team put together the purchase of this. and then to collaborate o collaborate with the services to do do property management at least on this on time by the way. (clapping.) i mean this was a pretty ambitious timeline. collaborate so, you know. sometimes this is okay for the general public but takes government, nonprofits and citizens in the community working together to make this happens that makes this happen i can't tell you how overjoyed i am i san francisco i got it right this time and only begins here we're open to doing more and interested in addressing the bigger thing. which is the

incredible social problem in california around unhoused people not being thought of for as long as it is predated you folks and san francisco it is california, and where in the hell this the (inaudible) we need to keep on plugging away we'll get there one project at a time and program at a time. i will stop there because the person you need to hear from is a resident here been here 5 months with her son and talked about from her heart about what this means to her and any of the thoughts she has (clapping.) hello, mayor hi and i lost any

voice so i want to week everyone many people know me and will la and city gardens this is a grand opening celebration i'm celebrating too. years ago san francisco was my escape today it is like i'm celebrating my new home and new life. my old life i left this part behind you is that my childhood was unstable toxic and abused that would be an understatement and i was in years in foster care and - but then i ran away as a teenager

(baby crying. >> i never went back home in my 20s i worked as a professional model and i was seen and no further heard and existed and not respected but i flirted with disaster i ran with a bad crowd that crowd is justified and abused me when i was a kid. and this crowd showed the kinks he eventually would on the street without a home and i was traumatized. my life spiral down and down i hit rock bottom but given a choice a new chance at life i took life my life. and i

never looked back. i joined a program and goat sober and today, i'm celebrating 5 weeks sober (clapping) thank you. >> slowly but surely rebuilding my life and city gardens help a lot too it is important it is not easy and i learned it is never too late to change. >> i take him he's a mouth full and change but when i was making progress i had adversity here's an example i began taking classes at a school and get a housing voucher but one problem i was about to lose my housing

voucher it was about to expire i was stressed all my hard work would be done gone and homelessness one again, i would not give up and at the last minute i got the call they told i had a home and finally this amazing home i had of my own a whiff place called city gardens. and this is the second best thing that ever happened to medical the best thick my baby? in our thoughts and prayers my the boy is the truly the best thing ever happened to me and my goal promise to him have a place for him (baby that's a good question.) >> as for me, i'm a person of checking off lists and the folks

at city gardens they offered so in services like pavrnt services and we even get to play bingo on saturdays. so i feel i need to thank a few people jill any of the paerp and rob and the family rising the homeless creative program and john austin. cynthia herrero and fought for me when i didn't feel like fighting for myself and and kenneth thank you for move to approve i walked with my head high and everyone at city gardens means a lot to me and a lot of people they're super kind and work hard their

angels and everyone has been too important to my journey those programs really work thank you for the help and their help to keep this going to say vital for city gardens the creative sense of community they are eir plausible i never feel loan and i want to use any credentials to help other families just like me bring me joy i look at my personal growth. i think of my his over the years i collected a bunch of plants and taken snippets and they have their story before i was never stable enough but as long as i've been sober my thoughts have grown and we're healthy and my plants are

used it is satisfy safe to say in a flapts like this and guess want i can't wait to see how big - you see city gardens where i found hope, hope for me and my little son this use to be my escape but now my home i could not leave my heart in san francisco like the song i found my heart, i love living here in san francisco and city gardens and city by the bay never too late. >> thank you for giving me this chance mayor and appreciate you coming today and listening to my story thank you,

(clapping.) it was amazing. >> i don't know how to follow with that, i. yeah, it is beautiful. thank you very much. >> so i guess want to thank everyone for being here at the abode for you're amazing services and sharing your story and thank you supervisor dorsey. >> thank you and i think we're going to do a ribbon-cutting is that correct? where are we going to go oh, we're going to be right here. need everyone to come up and go ahead and cut the ribbon. >> okay. >>

[off mic.] >> that's fine. >> all right. >> thank you very much. (laughter). >> all right. are we ready? yes. >> let's start counting 4, 3, 2 , 1. >> wow.

>> it is one of the first steps families and step to secure their future and provide a sense of stability for them and their loved ones. your home, it is something that could be passed down to your children and grandchildren. a asset that offers a pathway to build wealth from one generation to the next. and you need to complete estate plan to protect the asisets. your home, small business, air looms and more. you and so many communities, black, indigenous, latino and asian worked so hard to make yours but estate plans could be costly and conversations complex proud to partner to bring free and low cost estate plans to san franciscans. by providing estate plans we are able to keep the

assets whole for our families, prevent displacement, address disparities and home ownership and strengthen the cultural integrity of the city. working with local non profit organizations and neighborhood groups bringing the serveess to you and community, to workshops focused on estate planning and why it's important. >> i'm 86 years old and you do need a trustee. you need a will and put who ever you want in charge of it. >> that's why i wanted to be here today. that is why one of the first steps i took when become assessor recorder is make sure we have a partnership to get foundational funding to provide these resources to community. but even more important is our connection to you and your homes and making sure we know how to help you and how to protect them. >> if you don't have a living trust you have to go through probate and that cost money and depending on the cost of the home is associated the

cost you have to pay. that could be $40 thousand for a home at that level. i don't know about you, but i don't $40 thousand to give up. >> (indiscernible) important workshop to the community so we can stop the loss of generational wealth and equity and maintain a (indiscernible) >> why are estate plans important? we were just talking before we started the program, 70 percent of black americans do not scr a will in place. >> as mentioning being in community we had a conversation with a woman who paid $2700, $2700 just for revocable trust. what we are talking about today are free or low cost estate plans that are value between 3,000 to $3500. free or low cost meaning free, or $400 if you make above $104 thousand a year, and capped larger then that

amount. because we want to focus on black and brown households, because that's whether the need is, not only in san francisco, not only the bay area but the region as well. and, >> i was excitesed to see the turn out from the western addition and bayview and want to make sure we cover all the different steps from buying a home to making sure homes stay within the family. >> work with staff attorneys to receive these free and low cost complete estate plans that include a living trust, will, financial power of attorney, and health directive. >> that's why it is so important to make these resources and this information accessible. so we can make sure we are serving you and your families and your generations and your dreams. >> we insure the financial stability of san francisco, not just for government, but for our communities. >> on behalf of the office of assessor recorder, i'm thankful for all the support and legal assistance they have given that

makes the estate planning program a realty for you in san francisco and are thank all the community partners like san francisco housing development corporation, booker t washington center and neighborhood leaders and organizations that help families and individuals realize their dreams of building wealth in san francisco from one generation to the next. to learn more about this program e-mail inquiries at har

>> we have private and public gardens throughout the garden tour. all of the gardens are volunteers. the only requirement is you're willing to show your garden for a day. so we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. it's a variety -- all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. >> i have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history.

in the early 1800s the portola was farmland. the region's flowers were grown in this neighborhood. if you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. in the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. one of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of san francisco so they can share that history. >> when i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. we started doing this as a fund-raiser. since we established it, we

awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. >> the scholarship programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a win-win-win situation all around. >> the scholarship program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. >> i was not sure how i would stay in san francisco. it is so expensive here. i prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in san francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i don't know where else i would have gone to finish. >> the scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪]

>> you come into someone's home and it's they're private and personal space. it's all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their outdoor living room. >> why are you here at this garden core? it's amazing and i volunteer here every year. this is fantastic. it's a beautiful day. you walk around and look at gardens. you meet people that love gardens. it's fantastic. >> the portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. mark your calendars every year. you can see us on the website

good morning. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the november 2nd, 2023, regular meeting of the government audit and oversight committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i am supervisor catherine stefani, viceha