hi. good afternoon everyone. thank you. that's right. thank you so much for spending an afternoon with us today. i'm so excited to have you all here as we celebrate this major milestone for bayanihan equity center. i'm thank you. thank yo. i'm beatrice angel, the president of the board here at becc. and it's truly an honor to welcome all of you at this special event. we're here to

celebrate an exciting new chapter in bayanihan 25 years history. thisx one six minutes will allow us to expand our services and strengthen our community ties. let's get started with today's program. i'd like to introduce the bayanihan equity center's executive director, luis antoni. oh. shall i start or do you want to continuekay, great. mayor breed, consul general ferrer, supervisor dorsey. supervisor. chan. supervisor. peskin, our dear friend cory and miss eskander from the speaker emeritus office. cory powell. mccoy. good afternoon. i would like to wish each and every one of you a

happy filipino american history month. it's still october. and we are delighted that we're able to be with you during this month. we are at the bayanihan equity center, are happy and grateful for your presence this afternoon. the journey towards acquiring 616 mina started 280 days ago. 280 days. i guess when the stars are aligned right, it can happen. it was the new year. we had a board and staff meeting. we were looking at the prospects of the new year. we were thinking of how we can remain relevant. we are thinking of how we can expand our services to the community. but alas, our space is somewhat limiting. our ability to serve the community. so the board

uttered, perhaps we can we can grow, we can expand our services in a new space. and that was the beginning of this journey, the first before the end of the first quarter of this year. we were so happy that we heard that mohcd had the third round for the api equity fund, and i just wanted to thank the visionaries of city hall. i want to thank supervisor chan for championing the api equity fund with the support of the president, president peskin, and an overwhelming support from our mayor, london breed. what will we do with this space? i heard a lot of positive reviews. they

like it. there's going to be a lot we can do with the space in our old space. we have to structure our programing so we can pack the groceries, but we cannot do counseling. our movie days cannot be the same as our choir rehearsal. but as you can see, this space will allow us in the bigger room to have our choir rehearsal. we can also have movie days. i hope it's not the same day. this room is a counseling room. we can see clients while we pack the groceries and sing, or have karaoke. and if people need more space for arts and crafts, we have this space. okay, so there's a lot of potential. we leave itpen like this so we can imagine, you know, how we can innovate in this space.

upstairs you have the brilliant and innovative mind of the bcc staff who's who will be occupying half of the mezzanine. and then the other half, if we have partners in the community, who would like a space while they are visiting the south of market, they they need to have a conference area. if they happen to be here. this is open and this this is our home. so there's a lot you know to thank. but i just wanted to make sure that, again, i would like to thank president i i'm so sorry. not not ite but see where this is going. right. one day our mayor london breed. i got excited there for a few minutes. for a few seconds. supervisor connie chan, supervisor, supervisor aaron peskin, you know, for

making it possible for us to realize a dream. we also have partners at the mayor's office of housing and communityry development, brian chu, angie lee, stephen ford for making the contracting process for us a seamless one. i don't know if kelly aoshima is here, but perkins going the law office ofb perkins co has been very instrumental in helping us through, you know, the process, you know, from inspections and guiding us through all of the documents. that's why it this journey is 280 days and the i know davis is here. i don't know if john is here. they are the real estate brokers who showed us this gem in the south of market. and we are we are very grateful. but last but not the

least, i just want to thank the bcc board who are here, our supporters, our partners of the consumers, out there who rely on us for services and they have the confidence of coming to us all these years. it is a community effort. it is not just our effort, but we can spaces like this can be imagined when we all come together and work together. in the bayanihan spirit. thank you. i was told my work isn't done, so i have to be here for a few more minutes. i will be introducing our first speaker, who requires no introduction, but i just wanted to highlight several things. as the president of the board of

supervisors made sure that nonprofits like us are resourced, that we do have all of the resources we need to continue serving. but i just wanted to highlight the more recent one, the pandemic. we are able to get out of the pandemic with her leadership, all of the testing sites, the covid command centers that made it possible for us to not only to sustain, but to continue the much needed food security programing at the bayanihan equity center. she's there. and again, she is someone we should thank for having this capital d, our new digs. so without delay, please help me welcome mayor london breed. thank you. thank you so much,

luisa, and congratulations on your new home. this is such a beautiful place. i don't just like it, i l it. looks like you don't have to do much work, which is very nice. as luisa said, we are celebrating the month of october as filipino heritage month in san francisco and i want to thank council general ferrera for being here with us, for being an extraordinary partner and continuing to build bridges between the filipino community of not just san francisco, but the entire bay area. he's been a great person to work with, and we're so grateful and honored to have you here today. thank you so much. council general. i got to say, this is extraordinary, and this is extraordinary because when you think about san

francisco and its history, this is a city tt has been built by so many communities. when we talk about san francisco being strong because of our diverse communities, we can really point to so many examples of the filipino community right here in the soma community. and when i think about, you know, in the past and what happened and how so many people lost housing, lost organizational support, lost a lot of resources that they so justly deserve. this is really full circle when you think about the number of housing that we are building in the south of market community, using neighborhood preference and focusing on our filipino seniors to make sure that they too, are a part of the fabric of the community that they were a part of building. it's beenx] a game changer when you think about the many organizations that haveeen able, filipino led and also serving like united

players, west bay cool arts, and now beck the heart of the soma community, bringing transformative services to, especially our seniors, a place that belongs to you, a place that allows for the services that you need, allows for coming together as a community and especially the food pantry that was an important part of the covid pandemic when others were not able to just easily go to the grocery stores and purchase and do what you needed to do to take care of yourselves and your families. beck was there and it's only fitting that they have the appropriate space to continue to be there, to serve the community in such an extraordinary way. we are so grateful for your commitment and your service, and what's so great about the api equity fund? it came about under the

leadership of connie chan, who will be speaking in just a moment. she helped to point the lens to the fact that so many aapi serving organizations did not have their own place, did not have their own secure footprint ination that this cems your home and gives you that level of protection, so that organizations like this are here long term and for future generations is really extraordinary. and i'm so happy that my office had an opportunity to play a role in helping to do the work, to see the investments, to purchase so many of these buildings, and to provide city resources to make these dreams a reality. it is really the least the city could do for the harm that has been done in the past that have really separated and destroyed

the fabric of so many of these communities, whether it's here in the soma neighborhood or the fillmore or the mission. this really is a chance for us to right some wrongs to make these investments and to ensure the growth and protection of extraordinary organization like this. for generations to come. and i'm so happy to be here to celebrate this great milestone. thank you all so much. how about you? thank you so much, mayor. next we are honored to welcome consul general neil frank ferrer from the philippine consulate. the consulate has been a long, valuable partner in supporting the filipino community. and we're grateful to have you toda, congen. thank you. mayor london breed and other local officials present filipino community leaders. magandang tanghali po sa lahat. good afternoon.

■? congratulate the bayanihan equity center led by executive director luis antonio and the board for acquiring this new place with t support of the city. congratulations to you, and i'm sure that you will be able to service more once you start operating in this beautiful facility and place. as the mayor has earlier noted, and as miss luisa mentioned, this october, we are celebrating filipino american history month, where we remember and celebrate the contributions of millions of filipinos and filipino americans who have called the united states their home. and they include our filipino world war two veterans and their families who immigrated to san francisco and other cities here in the bay area. and we are also marking tomorrow, actually, october 23rd, the milestone 80th anniversary of the battle of leyte gulf, which is the largest

naval battle in han where over 200,000 american soldiers led by general douglas macarthur fought shoulder to shoulder with filipino guerrillas and soldiers, launching the campaign to liberate the philippines during the second world war and through your announcement today, we honor the sacrifices of all the men and women who fought for the freedom and the democratic way of life that we enjoy today for providing welfare to filipino veterans and their families, and for educating younger generations of filipino americans about our proud history. the philippine consulate general expresses its profound gratitude to the bayanihan equity center for keeping the flame of our veterans heroism alive and well into the modern times, and my sincerest appreciation goes to mayor london, breed and the city government for your support to the bsp and to the other filipino american organizations

. indeed, it takes the communit, and i am deeply grateful to the city and county of san francisco, led by mayor london breed for being an important ally and a friend and partner of the philippines. maraming, maraming salamat po. mabuhay ang bse. mabuhay yang san francisco. maraming salamat. i'd like to introduce a representative. excuse me. i'd like to introduce supervisor connie chan, who has been a strong advocate for equity community building. and we are fortunate to have your support. thank you. thank you. it is great to be with you all and it is again that it's good to be able to showcase the partnership that we have in this city and the amazingeadership that you have that we have in city hall, and that we do work together to serve our community for far too long. our aapi

community, including our filipino american community, have been told that we don't belong. we are others. we are we. we come from somewhere else, and sometimes even being asked to go back to where we came fro. but here today is a milestone that we are saying we're here to stay and we belong. we belong here. and i want to say that we do this with a lot of hard work from the community, and that we came along with the ride and to say, how can we make this work for our community and with our community? but i also want to say, you know, there's still a lot of work ahead of us, ahead of us to say, let's continue to make sure that bayanihan is funded and funded well and that we continue the services because we need to continue to make sure for generations to come that they too, that they know that they belong here. thank you.

great. thank you for those remarks. supervisor chan. next, i'm honored to welcome supervisor aaron, who's been another strong supporter and are grateful to ongoing partnership. consul general, mayor. to my colleagues, supervisors, chan and dorsey. luisa. to the beck staff and directors, on the occasion of you 25 years in havin permanent home, bayanihan coming together, i want to thank supervisor chan as the chair of the budget committee for bringing the entire board of supervisors together, and then subsequently with the mayor to create the aapi equity fund, and then promises made in this case,

promises kept. but many promises made and promises broken, promises made by the united states of america relative to giving veterans benefits and even u.s. citizenship. those were promises broken promises made to the community at the i-hotel and manilatown for having housing and being part of a community. those were promises broken, and today i am proud of the city and county of san francisco for a modicum of promu luisa. i met luisa when she was 12 years old when she started in 1999. the fact that you have stewarded and grown this organization to what it is today and now in january, will open your doors in a permanent home is just remarkable. those are promises made and promises kept.

and if i could, luisa, with supervisors dorsey and chan, give this to you from the board of supervisors on the occasion of opening up your permanent home a quarter of a century in. spacex. thank you, supervisor peskin, for your remarks and the nice little award. next up, we have supervisor matt dorsey. thank you for coming today. thanks so much, everyone. so i am in the enviable portion of my career where i'm early enough that i get to come to events like this and bask in the glow of successful policies that i

played really no role in doing. but i want to express my gratitude to my colleague, supervisor, and longtime friend, supervisor connie chan and board president aaron peskin, for their work. i think, you know, as as i go along there, there i will be going to events where i actually did play a role in it. but i also want to say that not just as the district six supervisor, but also as a resident. i live a block away. i want to say welcome to the neighborhood and what it means to me as a beneficiary of housing activism from the filipino community. that was instrumental in creating trinity place, where i live, as a supervisor who represents the soma filipino cultural district and all the cultural benefits that san francisco derives from that. and especially now as our city istaking an economic comeback, it's inspiring to see the number of filipino community businesses that are really

driving the restaurants that are opening and the it is really delivering for san francisco. and i just want to say on behalf of a grateful board of supervisors and city, thank you. and then the other thing, too, whenever it comes to the filipino community, i also feel that there is i want to express that there is a special place in my heart for this community, and people may wonder why an irish italian guy who grew up in massachusetts would have a real bond with the filipino community. you know, on the on the west coast and if you guessed the catholic church, you would be 100% right. because when churches opened up after covid, i started going to saintt patrick's and those of you who are catholic should know this. saint patrick's has the best candles in christendom. those things burn all week. and when you have a prayer to say you want to have, you want to go to saint patrick's and light a candle. but what i found there

was also when i recognized some some fellow parishioners, what i found there was also a phenomenal faith community, and it means a lot to me to be a part of that. every sunday i sit by saint anne. i come 930 mass. but this community, culturally, in terms of its activism and obviously its faith community, means so much to me. it is an honor for me to be a part of this. and congratulations on this new facility. thank. thank you neighbor. we'll invite you to karaoke soon. and finally, i'd like to introduce someone very special to bcc, alicia iskander, who has been both a client of bec and a daughter of filipino world war two veterans. alicia's story reflects the heart of our mission, and we're honored to have her share a few words with us. hello everyone! i'm happy to be here and i am happy to be lid

my gratitude to all the members and the staff of bayanihan equity, headed by miss luisa antonio, and allow me to read this on my language. mayor bree, consuleneral ferrer, supervisor peskin, manga kagalang galang na panahon. magandang hapon ako si alicia iskander anim na taong gulang na anak ni felix niya. isang pettorano na digma ang daigdig ang aking ama ay siyam na po taong gulang at at madalas ng nasa bahay dahil sa kanyang eda. mayor breed, consul general ferrer, supervisor peskin and other respected guests. good afternoon. my name is alicia

escandor, an 8068 year old daughter of felix luna, a filipino world war two veteran. my father is now 97 years old and stays mostly at home due to his advanced age. ang aming familia i na two to pinag malaki ang bayanihan equity center sa kanilang bagong opisina. maraming ni tulong ang bsi sa aking ama at nakaraang dalawang limang taong tulungan po nila ang aking amang makakuha ang benepisyo mula sa bais at mag proceso. aming bisa ng aking kapatid na si priscilla na punta sa america, patuloy pa rin kaming binibigyan ng bsi nang ration na malaking tulong sa aming familia. my family and i are very happy and proud of the bayanihan equity center for their new office. bec helped my father a lot for the last 25 years. bec helped my father

apply for va benefits and assisted him with the immigration visa processing for me and my sister priscilla to come to the united states. bec continues to provide us with regular food assistance, which is a tremendous help for our family. alam kung maraming na tulungan ang senior na siya ang bsi ang aming familia. i love sa nagpapasalamat sa mga tahanang bsi sa pa ni miss luisa antonio. hindi naman ang isang tagumpay ng bqe sa kanilang mission mag shelby sa ating pamayanan sa matagalpa ng panahon. i know bec helps a lot of behalf of my family, i would like to thank the bec staff. under the leadership of miss luisa antonio and wish them success in their mission to serve the community for years to come. thank you so much everyone. have a great day and god bless us all.

thank you for those words and thank you all again for all the speakers who came and really your support. not only your support, funding wise and with your leadership, but everyone here for your support, for taking some time out today to see our space. we've been in an exciting part of soma called sixth and mission for quite a while. soma is still very exciting as we all know, but■g it's nice and quiet so we can really dedicate some time and services for our seniors and more populations to serve as well. now, i'd like to invite all of you if there's still any more. there's coffee still. thank you. thanks to our new friends and neighbors at sightglass. and we had some filipino pastries left as well. and with that, do we have anything else? got the thumbs up from luisa? that means we're good to go. and for those who

want to stay, we're also doing some tours of the upstairs so you can see what we're all talking about as well. great. thank you. >> come shop dine and play. taraval street is open for business. >> i am a coowner at 19th. this establishment came about when me and my brother andy, coowner, we decided that it time for us to take a step up in the barber industry, and

open up a space of our own. ory business is a community that shows their true artistic side of the barber industry. we are involved in teraival bingo so stop by, get a hair cut and when you do you get the barber sticker made just for us. i say in three words we are community, arts and here to help any way possible we can, so come by, visit at barber lounge, 907 taraval in the sunset. you can find us on instagram. >> time for teraival bingo supporting small business, anyone can participate. it is easy, collect stickers on a bingo gameboard and enter a raffle event.

2024.) >> commissioner stacy here. >> commissioner arce here. >> commissioner jamdar we have quorum well, does that feel good welcome to the you knew commissioners i'm tlierl you agreed to to working with i thi that everyone brings amuse and different expertise and experience with