just the scariest undead thing on tv, and i really mean that. i am worried that you could give my kids nightmares if they see you, so i'm gonna have to block you. [sighs] so, that's it. oh, and tell the zombies they're blocked, too. >> when someone gets out and the winds hits their face they are making the decision whether they will go left or right. >> the freedom raider program came about because there was two things. one, there was the need for more program inside san francisco county jails. and with san francisco pretrial we work with presentence clients

who are fighting their case. the freedom program serves women in san francisco county giving them an opportunity to decompress everything they have been going through. what does freedom mean to you? how do you create it within yourself? >> having conversations with my daughter who we put out a call out to the expo page and they started to comment and say, i'm down. >> we are handing down the torch and it starts with us. but it does in the end with us. >> tell be a movement. >> yea. you have to start with a big movement. gi think the good thing about this program is that we will be able to also connect them with the partners we work with. like the latino task source. san francisco pretrial. and provides opportunity for

people to get llc's the san francisco sheriff's department. we are a one time thing but its jails. >> one of the main goals of the sheriff in the last strategic plan was to find better vocational programs specific low for women. this course is offered in both english and spanish meeted needs. our diverse community. the benefits of vocational training they take a real skill with them. bring it back to the communities. make money for themselves reduces recidivism and e eliminates the possibility of recurring the economic crimes that are out there that is

basically e why an are incarcerateed begin with. >> so i hope it will bring you more strength you have and i will see you outside. yes. >> the reaction to the program has been rewarding. the smiles, tears each monday you see a bit of growth inside of them. now, the ladies come in on monday, what is up! what is up! now they understand that you have sisters here. it takes a community to help a young person. i feel community needs to be in the county jails. we need that they need that. >> so on our first week there is a few that needed help

perfecting and a good amount of people this did in the know how to brave what so ever. today is our final week and all the women know how to braid. they are confident and excited to get out and start their braiding business or braid on fellow inmates. the freedom program spoke to me i was incarcerated and when you treat people like human incarcerated they come home and be human. when you treat them like animal its diminished the human aspect they come home and they are back they did in the learn skills temperature is important to have those kind of bonds. >> [inaudible]. feels good. tastes good. the community response has been overwhelming. in order for us to really expand and to the scombrars these

communities and other facilities, we need the funds to sustin a program like this. and when we tie it to breaking cycles to economically driven crime its rings a bell that's what happen in the our community. we have been getting a lot of response from our city officials like walton who gave a proclamation to the women instructors. >> we are grateful for the dedication and commitment to teach art of braiding to the incarcerated women at the san francisco county jail. >> not only has the freedom braiding class kind of paved the way of the training we want to have moving forward; we have already taken steps for more programs such as this. i think we are on the right electronic. >> my hope for this program is -- i want the women it get out and go home to their families to love on their

babies, nieces and nephews and mothers. and giving them the skill set for them to love themselves again. although the lives stay on 24/7. their place is dark. i hope this program is shining a bit of light in their histories and minds to wanting to stay alive and free. i used methamphetamine for 35 years. yes, 35 years. when i started using drugs, i think i was 15 years old. i went through a lot of traumatic experiences

as a kid. the height of my addiction, i was homeless. i was isolated from my family. i felt like i didn't want to live anymore. at the height of my addiction, i was a mess. it was just ugly. i constantly would ask myself, like, how did i get here if this is all that i was meant to be living from, not day to day, but hour to hour. because it was an all day chase, i knew that i was not living the life that i wanted to live, but i didn't know how to get back on track. my life was was chaos. i decided to enter recovery to make sure that my son had a good life and had a chance. i was inspired to quit using when i found out i was going to be a father. we were just like, if we're going to have this kid and she's going to be with us, then we need to take the help right now. i wanted to quit because i

didn't want to die. i was alone on my 50th birthday in a hotel, and i just caught a reflection of myself in the mirror, and it was like my wake up. i was like, girl, this is not cute anymore. every day that i use was a form of suicide. i just didn't die. i'm tired of committing suicide. i love my life. buprenorphine. it gave me the time and space to take life one step at a time. methadone gave me my recovery. it gave me my life back. my advice for anybody that would want to stop using opioids is that you can do it. recovery is possible if you let help help you. it's never too late to recover from addiction. we are living proof that >>

i, my name is peat. independent books on clement street in san francisco. green apple is a locally owned independent book store in the richmond district since 1967. the store has grown from 1150 square feet to 5 thousand. we have hundred thousand books. new, used, children books, all subjects. there is lots of stairs and nos and crannies so lots of places to get lost and discover things you might not know existed. we go out of the way in new books to support small presses and bring university press books into the store and just corky things not every store may have. used books we see books from the community that we get all our books over the counter downstair s so it is reflection of what people are

reading. brings they bring to sell us are in the community so we can buy them and recycle them in the community. the good parts of having a small business in san francisco are really the customers and people who live here are curious, interested in a wide variety of topics and ideas. they come from all over the country and world, so it is really whatever serving or goods you are providing there is probably a customer for it in san francisco. >> shared spaces have transformed san francisco's business communities are more resilient and their neighborhood centers are more vibrant and mildly. sidewalks and parking lanes can be used for outdoor seating, dining, merchandising,

and other community activities. we're counting on operators of shared spaces to ensure their sites are safe and accessible for all. people with disabilities enjoy all types of spaces. please provide at least 8 feet of open uninterrupted sidewalk so everyone can get through. sidewalk diverter let those who have low vision navigate through dining and other activity areas on the sidewalk. these devices are rectangular planters or boxes that are placed on the sidewalk at the ends of each shared space and need to be at least 12 inches wide and 24 inches long and 30 inches tall. they can be on wheels to make it easy to bring in and out at the start and the end of each day. but during business hours, they should be stationary and secure. please provide at least one wheelchair accessible dining table in your shared space so

the disability people can patronize your business. to ensure that wheelchair users can get to the wheelchair accessible area in the park area, provide an adequate ramp or parklet ramps are even with the curb. nobody wants to trip or get stuck. cable covers or cable ramps can create tripping hazards and difficulties for wheelchair users so they are not permitted on sidewalks. instead, electrical cables should run overhead at least ten feet above sidewalk. these updates to the shared spaces program will help to ensure safety and accessibility for everyone, so that we can all enjoy these public spaces. more information is available at sf.govt/shared

spaces. >> we do in a way which is exciting engaging-the idea is bring the stories to life, because they are so relevant to the questions we all are asking today about where we belong, who are we, who do wree want to be. we wanted to be do something about food, because it is such a wonderful entrance. to get people to think what are these cultures, how did they come about and how do i relate to them. we can't live the idea [indiscernible] >> there is hundreds if not thousands of immigrants kitchens and we wanted to show how immigration from 1849 through now the different dishes bought

here and how it shaped the culture of the city. . not the thing we have to sit down and read for hours and hours, but you get a 2 and a half minute story and the feeling you can eat those foods and never get a dish the same way again. you have the context. >> we decided to set an journey across the city. the result is [indiscernible] >> san francisco is a place where there are so many different immigrants communities. we are a sanctuary city, a welcoming place to be and the melting spot is a great to get out and explore the city, the history and how we got to have some of the best cuisine in the country and maybe even the entire world.

>> my mother and myself and two sisters--we had to leave quick. my mom had one hour to pack and gather her things and gather her kids and head to the airport and evacuate. we found ourself in san francisco. my grand mother was already here. that is why san francisco was the destination for us. it goes back to my grand mother and who loved to travel and she was also very afraid of the war going on in vietnam. she came to san francisco and she kind of fell in love with the sitdy. city. she visited the italian deli by oakland beach because she loved the beach and met the owner and the owner told her that this place is for sale and she decided this is her opportunity to stay

in san francisco and her dream to be a business owner and open a restaurant. >> i was born [indiscernible] i graduated from a french program culinary school, then i [indiscernible] at that time, we had college of san mateo in the back yard and had a program for foreign students and we got together and went to the american embassy and this woman welcomed us and e gave both. it is not [indiscernible] and then after that i got accepted and [indiscernible] ended up in san francisco where

i had friends so i came to college of san mateo. from there, i transferred to chico state college, so i graduated there and that is when my culinary adventure started. i love cooking and also remind me of my >> my father had a dream and grit and determination. worked very very hard. to me, food is one of the most readily accessible to understanding a culture. i don't think many people have the opportunity to travel to armenia or lebanon. we are lucky in the city, the abundance of asian cuis [indiscernible] restaurants are in many ways an opportunity to engage with another culture through food. >> my grand father had his backyard you name it, we had it.

[indiscernible] but my grandma's cookie the memories of the [indiscernible] very powerful. when you channel these memories there is a image because it is a experience all 5 senses get if to it. i think that is why city is so important for immigrants. the first thing you [indiscernible] we got to eat. you got to nourish the body and you remember and i went from memory really. >> i remember my grand mother telling me stories that when she first opened in 1971, people really didn't know much about vietnamese food and she started selling the italian deli food

and half the food and half vietnamese food and she stands in the corner trying to pass samples just to lur customers into the restaurant and try vietnamese food. i think when you enter a new place and you have your family and you have each other and food is what holds your family together. at least for my family for sure, that is the time we get to enjoy food, make connections, bond, sit together and be together. i just remember my grand mother and mom working hard all the time and once a week we would have family dinners. we gather and she would cook the food.■2 all the kids we always look forward to that. my grand mother coming in 1971, she

brought vietnamese food in san francisco. we are one of the first vietnamese arrest raunt restaurant in san francisco. >> for san francisco to have this map and look at all the people who came here and made things you can only find in sf. we are the place to get a mission burete. burrito. that could be overlooked and not seen [indiscernible] >> important because it highlights the san francisco, the diversity for each restaurant and each spot on the map to share their story through food they serve to diners. i think it is special way to highlight the welcomeness and the

[indiscernible] san francisco community is bay area has. >> it is one of the project that is so uniquely san francisco that speaks to the long history of immigration and cuisine the city has been known for. the melting spot allows the small businesses that have been around for a while to really shine with their own unique stories and flavors and so we really love it. the ecosystem in san francisco is very unique and very welcoming of immigrants and immigrant initiatives. san francisco choice to honor us with the legacy business recognition really shows their support of small local businesses. a legacy business is a business that has been around and open in san francisco for at least 30 years. legacy businesses are the most foundational businesses in our

neighborhood corridors. they provided services and a place for community to gather for often times for generations. they are really part of the culturally fabric that makes san francisco neighborhoods so unique. >> the idea is take what i think is [indiscernible] about immigration, about belonging, about some of the amazing history of the city. [indiscernible] ♪♪ >> san francisco! ♪♪

>> this is an exhibition across departments highlighting different artworks from our collection. gender is an important part of the dialogue. in many ways, this exhibition is contemporary. all of this artwork is from the 9th century and spans all the way to the 21st century. the exhibition is organized into seven different groupings or themes such as activities, symbolism, transformation and others. it's not by culture or time period, but different affinities between the artwork. activities, for example, looks

at the role of gender and how certain activities are placed as feminine or masculine. we have a print by uharo that looks at different activities that derisionly performed by men. it's looking at the theme of music. we have three women playing tradition japanese instruments that would otherwise be played by men at that time. we have pairings so that is looking within the context of gender in relationships. also with how people are questioning the whole idea of pairing in the first place. we have three from three different cultures, tibet, china and japan. this is sell vanity stot relevar has been fluid in different time

periods in cultures. sometimes being female in china but often male and evoking features associated with gender binaries and sometimes in between. it's a lovely way of tying all the themes together in this collection. gender and sexuality, speaking from my culture specifically, is something at that hasn't been recently widely discussed. this exhibition shows that it's gender and sexuality are actually have been considered and complicated by dialogue through the work of artists and thinking specifically, a sculpture we have of the hindu deities because it's half pee male and half male.

it turns into a different theme in a way and is a beautiful representation of how gender hasn't been seen as one thing or a binary. we see that it isn't a modest concept. in a way, i feel we have a lot of historical references and touch points throughout all the ages and in asian cultures. i believe san francisco has close to 40% asian. it's a huge representation here in the bay area. it's important that we awk abouk about this and open up the discussion around gender. what we've learned from organizing this exhibition at the museum is that gender has been something that has come up in all of these cultures through all the time periods as something that is important and relevant. especially here in the san francisco bay area we feel that it's relevant to the conversations that people are having today. we hope that people can carry

that outside of the museum into their daily lives.

okay good evening and welcome to the january 22nd 2025 meeting of the san francisco board of appeals. president jose lopez will be the presiding officer tonight and he is joined by vice president john trasvina, commissioner rick swick and commissioner j.r. eppler. also present is deputy city attorney jen hooper