ruth clay, steve williams, and vanessa conrad. please line up. >> good afternoon. i am the managing director of programs at first place for you. our mission is to work with young people emancipating out of foster care. we provided with housing, employment, and healthy living services to maintain their independence and interdependence. mr. clarke already talked about the difficulty of finding housing for youth raised in san francisco. it drains san francisco of its use and affects the youth and the city by separating them from each other. it makes it harder for them to maintain connections they have had as youth. this project is unique. i believe it should be recognized as a model and replicated across the country. you are utilizing the strength of local organizations to maximize the strength of the city's greatest asset which is our young people. i want to point out that for young people in foster care in san francisco, they are often moved to other county to grow -- counties to grow up. it is harder for them to come back when the emancipate. most of the youth we w

ruth clay, steve williams, and vanessa conrad. please line up. >> good afternoon. i am the managing director of programs at first place for you. our mission is to work with young people emancipating out of foster care. we provided with housing, employment, and healthy living services to maintain their independence and interdependence. mr. clarke already talked about the difficulty of finding housing for youth raised in san francisco. it drains san francisco of its use and affects the youth and the city by separating them from each other. it makes it harder for them to maintain connections they have had as youth. this project is unique. i believe it should be recognized as a model and replicated across e

my name is ruth clay. i was born to a drug-addicted mother and father whose whereabouts is unknown. and was placed in foster care system of birth. throughout my life in foster care, there were some good times and bad times. after leaving the foster care system, i was bouncing from house to house. i knew someday i wanted to become owners. without support and placement, i knew that my career would be placed on hold. moving back to san francisco independent skills living program referred me to first place you. after entering the program, first place taught me how to manage my time, money, pay bills on time, and the job searching. it got me back into school. after leaving first place for years, i maintained a 3.5 gpa, started nursing school in the fall, and continue living on my own. i am also keeping a job. without first place, i would still be sleeping from couch to couch with my career put on hold. first place is a great program for all youth to exit out of care to achieve their dreams. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker, please come forward. >> i am kathy peck. and the ex