and thank you for showing us. >> thank you. >> 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] >> san francisco is a positive impact on my chinese business.

>> i'm the founder of joe-joe. i'm a san francisco based chinese artist. i grew up in the bayview district. i am from china i started at an early age i started at age of 10 my grandfather my biggest inspiration. and i have followed with my traditional art teacher in china:i host educational workshops at the museum and local library. and i also provide chinese writing in public middle school and that way i hold more people fall in love with the beautiful of our chinese calligraphy. it is a part of our heritage.

and so we need to keep this culture alive. hand writing is necessary field that needs to be preserved generation toieneration. this art form is fading away. but since covid i have been very dedicated to this art and i hope that my passions and serving this art form. there are many stores and shopping centers and companies that are interested in chinese cal iing ravi. i feel motivated to my passion for chinese calligraphy in today's world. so people can always enjoy the beauty of chinese calligraphy, from time to time i have a

choice to traditional chinese calligraphy to make it more interesting. we do calligraphy on paper. i can do calligraphy different low. >> my inspiration is from nature and provide calligraphy that was popular style of persons time. i will invite to you check out my website or instagram. and there is some events and updated upcoming events that you can participate. >> hi, friends. i'm pria here and in a fabulous restaurant in san francisco with vicky. vicky is a long time broadcast

journalist in san francisco working for kron tv. tell us. >> i'm a veteran in the business but been with cron 4 with 23 years now. a new be. cron has been around more then 7 years. it is one of the premier broadcast stations thin country, not just san francisco. used to be part of the young family, the chronicle, which >> major. >> we do news morning noon and night, so we are on air and online and we served the community. we also do international news, national news, whatever is happening, we are on it like a cheap suit. >> you also love to feature local restaurants so you brought us today. tell us where we are. >> could i resest? there are a myriad of great places to wine and dine. we are at the cross roads of the best rest aurants in the

city. china town, north beach, embarcadero, the barbary coach. there might be ships underneath us. where we are now is a place i call my local cheers bar. it is lot more then that. it is cocary, [indiscernible] it is a greek rest aurant. >> and you are greek. >> i love this place because it has the greek term for welcoming of strangers, so it really cuts into what we are talking about. all the international journalists coming from the far corners of the earth. what better place then to come to some place the ethos is about welcoming. >> absolutely. and we welcome all you to come to san francisco. check out our many restaurants including this one. >> of course, we have to say welcome everyone.