Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240713

Supervisor Hillary Ronen and mandelman to announce that even though we have had two competing measures, we have come together to do what is in the best interest of this city to introduce today at the board of supervisors a compromise that is going to help us address the most significant problem in our city. [ applause ]. Mayor breed i not only want to thank the supervisors, but i wanted to thank lou girardo. You remember lou has someone who worked with the board of supervisors back in 2012 and 2013 to help with a compromise for cpmc and the Community Benefits and the work that they needed to do to support San Francisco. Hes been an incredible advocate on this issue and were grateful for the work that he has done to bring us to this place. [ applause ]. Mayor breed and i want to thank the Labor Council. Kim taveloni is here representing the Labor Council. Thank you so much. Our Community Partners and advocates and so many people who care so deeply about this issue. You know, i think we need to recognize that everyone that is here today wants our city to get to a better place. We may have differences of opinion of how we get there, but we know that that is at the forefront of what we have to do as a city if we are going to make sure that we help those are who are most in need. So everyone recognizes the importance of coming together today to do just that. I am so proud to be standing here to talk just a little bit about where our system is and where our system needs to go. In fact, San Francisco does an incredible job. We serve over 30,000 people in our Behavioral Health system. But in that 30,000, we know that there are 4,000 that are dual diagnosed and are struggling with homelessness and we know that we have to do better. This is why so many people are frustrated. Not only the people working in our Public Health system, but people who are the ones who are sadly out there and need our assistance and need us to do better. Today with this compromise we are proposing to do better. Mental health s. F. Is going to be a program that is going to be settled at the board of supervisors with a number of compromises to make the right kinds of investments in the people that serve those with Behavioral Health challenges and expanding our Mental Health beds and to work with the community to get Community Input on changes and making sure that we are collaborating every step of the way. And let me be clear, this will be an expensive program and we will know it. I have made a commitment along with the members of the board of supervisors to make sure that we are making better investments because it is necessary. Those investments will be increasing the pay of some of the employees that are working in this system. It will be loan forgiveness and other programs that we need to do to incentivize people to want to work in this industry and go to city. It will be to make sure that we expand the number of beds. It will be to make sure that we have an Advisory Committee of people who work in this industry to help advise on policies so that when we make decisions, were not doing those decisions in isolation. We are working with the Behavioral Health system, and as i said time and time again there is a real issue around equity. Around those 4,000 people that we know we are not serving properly, 35 of them are africanamerican. We need to call out the injustices in these systems and make deliberate investments in targeting the population that continue to get left out when we propose new solutions to support the communities that we know are most vulnerable. So we are going to be making deliberate investments around making sure that africanamericans are supported as we move this process forward. [ applause ]. Mayor breed i want to thank dr. Nigusse bland and dr. Colfax because you have been doing the difficult work of managing the system with the resources that you have and not necessarily getting the support that you need to do it and that change starts today. That change wont happen overnight. We will be working towards making this a more justice, equitable, fair system using data, using data and resources, reforming our business tax system that were working on to identify new revenues and making the hard decisions to revise our happy plan so that we can identify the Capital Resources needed. Although we were looking at years later Public Health bond on the ballot, i have already sent a letter along with support from the supervisors to look at a way in which we can move that Public Health bond to november of next year so that we can expand our beds and we can acquire board and care facilities, and we can continue to make sure that we not only have the people in terms of resources, but we have the capital necessary to expand outthis out this system. Now, i know that time and time again people talked about what happened in the 1980s when our city was faced with a very still crisis, when we were faced with the aids crisis in our city, and how we were not supported by the federal government and so many people came together and San Francisco and San Francisco general in particular was the leader in the fight to really focus on addressing the challenges with aids and h. I. V. In our city. For the first time this year, we have less than a hundred new diagnosed h. I. V. Patients in San Francisco, which is truly historic. [ applause ]. Mayor breed that came with resources and us coming together and bold policy changes. Thats what were doing today. I am so excited for the future of Mental Health in San Francisco because i know that this is the right way to do it. This is the right approach to develop the resources and make the kinds of changes that will help the people that we know need it the most. We have to start looking at Mental Health in a whole other way than we did in the past, because when you think about it, we have hospitals that deal with physical issues, right . Cancer and if you break your arm or something that you can feel, but what happens when someone is a schizophrenic . What happens when someone develops dementia or these other things. What happens when we are helping those people and meeting them where they are . This is where we need to go as a city and a country. Im proud to be here to support Mental Health s. F. And achieving that goal with the members of the board of supervisors. [ applause ]. Mayor breed and i want to thank supervisor Hillary Ronen and supervisor Matthew Haney again for bringing great leaders in this process. I really, really want to thank supervisor rafael mandelman. We are going to Work Together to get this done. So without further ado at this time, id like to welcome to the podium supervisor Hillary Ronen. [ applause ]. Thank you so much, madam mayor. Matt and i are so happy to be leading on this issue together. Yes, we did it. We came together and were looking forward to continue with the bond to lead and fix this crisis in our streets. Before i make this comment, i want to acknowledge two people who changed their schedule to be here and might have to leave early, our null elected public defender and district attorney, minora aju and bodeen. [ applause ]. They were with us when we announced Mental Health s. F. And they are with us when were announcing its introduction into law in its final form today. Thank you for being with us every single step of the way. We really appreciate you and are so excited for your leadership. Everyone, we just created the first universal Mental Health and Substance Abuse system in the country. [ applause ]. If you are homelessness, uninsured, or on mediccal, we will treat you. We will create a plan and a path towards a stable and healthy life and guide you to stay on that path. If you have Health Insurance but you are not getting the care that you need or deserve, we will stand beside you and we will advocate with your provider until you get the care that you are legally entitled to. If we see any patterns of illegal behavior on behalf of private insurance companies, we will partner with our City Attorneys Office and we will hold those private companies accountable. [ applause ]. Once Mental Health s. F. Is fully up and running, no one in San Francisco has to stand alone when they are battling these diseases of the mind. San franciscans, if you see someone suffer secretarygeneral on the street with Mental Illness or drug addiction, youre no longer going to have to walk by and feel guilty because you didnt know how to help them, youre no longer going to have to debate with yourself if you should call the police, is that a good or bad thing, you will have a 24hour, sevendayaweek team of mobile clinicians that will come out and assist that individual at any time. [ applause ]. Guess what . When General Hospital Psych Emergency Services is on diversion, there is a new place to go, its called the Mental Health s. F. Service center. It will be open also 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This mobile team will have a place to take people who will get Immediate Care from psychiatrists and psych nurses and social workers. Guess what . Were no longer going to waste money, time, and the good will of patients and the rest of us, quite frankly, by watching people cycle from the streets to Psych Emergency Services and residential treatment, and right back out on the street where it is almost impossible to get better because were going to start the office of coordinated care that are going to help people get on a path to recovery and is going to expand services to ensure that there is availability at all level of treatment, including permanent, Supportive Housing. [ applause ]. Mental health s. F. Is visionary, universal, bold, comple complete. Ladies and gentlemen, it is soon to be the law of San Francisco. I want to join the mayor in a few thank yous especially to lou girardo who got us talking again and to the fabulous place we are today. I want to thank matt haney, my partner in health every step of the way. It is a pleasure working with you and it is so fun to team up. I want to thank you to the Mental Health committee because this was a team effort. We had incredibly brilliant representatives writing this law with us and serving the bridge between the frontline medical workers, patients, and families, and our offices sciu 21. The National Union of healthcare workers. [ applause ]. Progress foundation. The treatment on demand coalition. And phil tings office who has been there from day one and well hear from him in a moment. I want to thank our incredibly fabulous staff. We have been living and breathing Mental Health s. F. For a year. Please give a hand to my chief of staff. So my form er aide, ms. Morales and abigail moriante. And the campaign team. And to nate albie our special strategist. And finally i wanted to thank all the supervisors who were really there with us from the beginning, all of our cosponsors, supervisors yee, peskin, and walton and mar who didnt waiver and had our backs. They were along there right by our sides and we love you for it. Finally, i want to thank all of the Frontline Health workers, including the peer workers, social workers, the therapists, psychiatrists, many of who i see in the audience who do the most incredible and amazing work every day and dont get nearly enough appreciation, we see you and appreciate you and love you and we hope this is going to make your work more exciting and successful. Finally, i wanted to thank the mayor and the mayors staff who we started off with a different vision, but we did that hard work and we sat down. Especially dr. Colfa scprks colfax and dr. Bland. Thank you, ms. Mayor. Can you give a big round of plaza to supervisor Matthew Haney. Thank you. I want to echo all of those thank yous that you already heard from supervisor ronen, but theres one that we left out which is supervisor Hillary Ronen, who did incredible and tremendous work. Literally when i got elected, she pulled me in and asked, what do you think about doing a universal Mental Health care program for San Francisco. I said i just got here. How does that work . We brought in an incredible coalition of frontline workers. Everyone who was able to help us draft this legislation. So many folks with direct experience working in this system helped us draft what is in front of us today. I want to say this one more time which is that Mental Health s. F. Will make San Francisco the first city in the country to provide universal access to coordinated Mental Health care and Substance Use treatment. That is a huge accomplishment. What we know is that there is so many people in our communities, many of whom are living on the streets, others of who are suffering quietly who are not receiving the care that they need. Our system does amazing work, but were not doing enough to recognize that Mental Health is recognized as a right in our city. If you are sick and have someone you need to talk to, you need to have a system that actually takes care of you, that coordinates your care, and that doesnt turn you away. Mental health s. F. Will create a 24 7 Mental Health Services Center where anyone can go for care. We will have intensive Case Management and an office of care coordination so people do not fall through the cracks. We will have a responsive stream so that responders are trained clinicians. I want to echo and shout out the staff that are here because our jails right now should not be the place where people are getting Mental Health care. We need to have actual hospitals and Community Care and Supportive Housing where people are getting treatment. So our excitement to partner with the two of you and to create a system that works is so exciting. Were going to expand our system so were not putting people out on the street because there is not a bed available. We need to have a private service for a system that supports people. People are abandoned on our streets, cycling in and out of our Emergency Rooms looking for residences. We need a system that looks out for them, takes care of them, and has a place for them to go to get the care they deserve. I want to give a huge, huge thank you to mayor breed and her team, dr. Colfax and dr. Bland. This is the leadership that our residents are demanding. This is the leadership where we Work Together and we work out our differences, but we also make sure that were leading in a bold and a truly San Francisco way. We are done with the incrementalism. We are done with the tinkering. We need big changes and we need everyone to receive care. I want to recognize abbey from my chief of staff here. She has been working so hard. And thank you to everyone here with us, we could not have done this without all of you. Thank you. [ applause ]. Sometimes our Assembly Members go up to sacramento and forget about these members. Not phil tang. He has been with us dedicating his time and staff. I am so excited to be here today because its just an acknowledgement of San Francisco is that when we come together, we can solve major issues. Today is a day when we can all celebrate where we had a variety of concerns, real concerns about how do we implement Mental Health s. F. , how do we make this program a reality, real issues about how do we offer this in a universal way, how do we make sure that those who need it get this opportunity. Im so proud of our city that we were able to come together, come together as a unified city, on really what is one of the hardest issues out there. I have gone up and down the state to see what are the best practices of solving Mental Health. While many of them are here in San Francisco, its very clear if you look at our city. Were not doing enough. Were not doing it in the most efficient or radical or thoughtful way. Oftentimes its something that people ask you or people commonly talk about. When we talk about many of the problems, we all say Mental Health is one of the major issues. Well, until today, we hadnt really been putting it forward in the most bold way. This is saying that not only is Mental Health one of the major issues, it is one of the major issues for our city. This is us coming together and saying that we are all going to work on this together and we know this is not an easy problem to solve. This is the easy part. We know that dr. Colfax has the hardest part because he is going to have to deliver on what we are discussing. Let us own this together and come together as a city and say this is something that we need to solve together because it is something [ applause ]. Because its not about pointing finger s at each othe or whos doing what. It is an acknowledgement that we need to do more together and as a city enough is absolutely enough. My hope is that this could be a model for whats going to be done at the state and other cities will also take a look and see what we are doing here and seeing if they can replicate it. Thats what happens. One of our crazy ideas is crazy one year and five years later, it is the best practice across the state and the country. I believe once we get this right, the mayor is going to have other cities across the country say secretarygeneral h saying, how did you do that Mental Health program and we are going to make that a reality. Thank you to the mayor and supervisors ronen and haney for leading the charge, but most of all coming together and solving this problem together. Thank you. [ applause ]. Thank you. Weve got to give this next speaker, dr. Grant colfax, a major round of applause. Poor dr. Colfax had to start his job in San Francisco between a battle between the board of supervisors and the Mayors Office. That wasnt easy, and he did it with grace and kindness and willing to work with us. I have no doubt that hes going to do a great job implementing Mental Health s. F. Dr. Grant colfax. [ applause ]. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, supervisor ronen and mayor breed, for bringing us here today and the city leaders together to solve the most urgent problem facing our city. You made sure that the department of Public Health and the clinicians, Community Partners, clients, patients, the people we serve, contributed their collective wisdom to this transformative plan for asterisk. Under your leadership, mayor breed, with the help of people here today, we will make a positive impact in transforming our Behavioral Health system to serve the people in greatest need. Thank you again, supervisor ronen and haney, for your commitment to health and dignity for san franciscans experiencing homelessness, Mental Illness, and Substance Use disorders. The department of Public Health shares the passion and urgency you bring to this vital work. I really want to thank the Health Department staff who spent lots of time in city hall figuring this work out. I particularly want to acknowledge including dr. Bland, director of health reform, dr. Hammer, dr. Sung, greg wagner, our finance director who is going to figure out how to pay for all of this, but much of the work laid out in Mental Health s. F. Is under way and many of the people are already doing this work. Our incredible street medicine, shelter health, and Community Outreach teams are Building Trust with those on the streets, finding ways to engage them and care and saving lives to overdose preventions and saving lives every day to treat their Substance Use in Mental Health disorders. The department of health is collaborating with the department of health and homelessness support to make sure that the most Vulnerable People on the streets get into housing and other safe care settings because we know that this is key to helping people in their recovery process. We are already planning to expand the Behavioral Health Access Center and to create a methamphetamine service center. We recently released those results. We are focusing on intensive Case Management so that people on the street can develop strong, trusting, and therapeutic relationships with the persons who can get them the help that they need. We have identified that we need to help more people in this role and serve more people who lead this level of intensive care. Thanks to mayor breeds investment, we have seen the addition of 212 Behavioral Health beds across our system and we are planning to add 800 more in the future. The agreement we are announcing today will allow us to scale up the things we are doing well, change the things we are not doing well, and modernize our Behavioral Healthcare system to catch up with Behavioral Health, so that san franciscans can be confident we are providing the best solutions possible. Mental health will allow us to invest in the workforce, both in Civil Service and community organizations, so that those dedicated to serving others can afford to work here and do the things they do so well. This is a visionary framework, and im optimistic that resources will follow. This will enable the department and the Community Partners to carry out the plans in a way that is evidencebased, that advances equity, and reduces harm. We know that wellness and recovery are possible for everyone. This agreement and the unity we are showing here today are part of San Franciscos legacy. We come together to do great things. Weve done it with h. I. V. And with healthy San Francisco. Now is the time to transform Behavioral Healthcare. Together we can make a difference and save lives. Thank you. Thank you, dr. Colfax. Now we are going to hear from two members of the Mental Health s. F. Steering committee that are leaders in this field. I also want to correct a mistake. I forgot to personally mention one of my heroes, kim tavaloni, that represented the Labor Council and played an incredibly important role. Thank you, kim. First we are going to hear from the executive director of the progress foundation, steve fields. Good afternoon. The communitybased nonprofit agencies were invited to the table by supervisors ronen and hains rig haney right from t beginning of this effort. I think its been no secret for a long time that hiring people with lived experience to be primary caregivers has been pioneered in one of the richest communitybased nonprofit systems of care in the country and thats in San Francisco. Were proud of that. The process that started back with supervisor ronen and haney coming up with a bold and exciting new idea within not just to tinker around the edges but to go for broke and go for the fundamental idea that Behavioral Health services should be a right, that access to services should not be denied to individuals because of their lack of capability and their status in the community and because they have a silent voice that never gets heard. We signed on to that effort because it was exciting and interesting and promised to bring some fundamental change. The promise of the new vision and for addressing the challenge of serving people who are suffering on the street, but also of strengthening a treatment system that is creeking at the edges that without more support is not going to be able to to deliver the services that it has is going to help us deliver the agenda of Mental Health s. F. Without the work of the department of Public Health and the support of the Mayors Office and the incredible staff that showed up to help work through the differences between Mental Health s. F. And the mayors proposal, we wouldnt be standing here today. This represents the best of leadership, two visions that fundamentally were not different from one another but had different approaches had to be brought together because we couldnt lose everything because we had to come up with a way to put everything in one package. Its only within with the leadership of mayor breed and the leadership of supervisor haney, ronen, and the support of members of the board of supervisors. Ive been working in the system for almost 50 years and this is the first time ive seen such a confluence of leadership in the political side of the city committed to improving the Behavioral Health Services System here. We all have ideas and energy, and i want to recognize supervisor mandelmans leadership. We know better in San Francisco and were not going to lose an opportunity because were going to be fighting for what we believe in on both sides of any issue. So i want to acknowledge dr. Colfax and the mayors staff who contributed enormously to this. We want to acknowledge the advocates in the community who kept the pressure up on all of us to not let this opportunity slip away. Its an exciting time to be in San Francisco. It is about to engage in a powerful exercise of implementing a shared vision for Behavioral Health services for the most vulnerable citizens of our city. Communitybased providers, the Nonprofit Sector in this city, are ready to begin the challenging work of collaborating with city and county services and with the various other people providing Major Services to the mentally ill unfortunately in the criminal Justice System and other sectors, to make sure that this is our opportunity to create a program that will become a model. Were excited to be in this engagement with everybody. Keep watching, participating, keep bringing your ideas into the system because were going to build an incredible Behavioral Health system in this city. Thank you. [ applause ]. Thank you so much, steve. And last but not least, an incredible woman whos going to close this out. Jennifer stein, a registered psych nurse and a union leader with sfiu. Where are you, jennifer . Here she is. [ cheering and applause ]. Ive heard a lot of constituthank yous, so im going to skip that part. It is an honor today to be here with my colleagues, especially those from the community and frontline staff. Weve been working together and are bringing a milestone in our country. The first Mental Health program for those who made care. This will enhance the lives of residents in the city of San Francisco. As a registered psych nurse, it has been my passion and duty to make sure that adequate care is provided to all my clients, regardless of their stations in life. Together with supervisors ronen and haney, our Community Health providers and advocates, the department of health, and mayor breed, weve created something truly revolutionary. [ applause ]. Weve come together to form a social policy that will serve everyone who has been touched by a Mental Health issue and also those who were unhoused or struggled with Substance Abuse. The people from San Francisco will benefit from Mental Health s. F. For years to come. My hope is that by implementing this new Mental Health care system and by enhancing and increasing the services that we found, the people here will finally get the care that they need and deserve, regardless of their income or insurance. Everyone deserves to have their Mental Health conditions treated. They shouldnt be in crisis to get care. They shouldnt have to wait multiple days, weeks, or longer to be seen by a clinician. Were were also suffering with a crisis of bed capacity. I work for the department of Public Health and my work site is at the Behavioral Health care center. We have been fighting to make sure that beds do not close that serve people for life. Right now, 54 people have been evicted from their homes in San Francisco and our mayor has dedicated a promise to make sure that beds at boarding care homes will be allocated, yes, reinvested in and that these people will not go homeless. Today, we do not have a place to move these people into and this is a crisis of the highest order. No one should be destabilized because their housing that the city is providing is going away. So as providers of care and creators of policy, we set a new standard for the country to follow. Im proud of being part of the process to make a way for those who struggle with minlt and addiction. This is a good way for the people of San Francisco. Let us hope that this is a National Trend because we need and deserve it. America is a rich country, San Francisco is a rich city. We can provide this care. Thank you all. [ applause ]. Give it up one more time for jennifer and all our workers who provide care every day. This is a good day for San Francisco and a day we came together to address with a bold solution the issues facing our city. I want to say clearly we are not done yet. There is a lot of work that needs to be seen through to fund it and we will need Assembly Member ting to help us. Were going to have to keep this coalition together. What we did is provide a vision, framework, and a path forward. Thank you for your vision. Thank you, supervisors, and mayor breed. Lets get it done. Thank you. [ ] we spoke with people regardless of what they are. That is when you see change. That is a lead vannin advantage. So Law Enforcement assistance diversion to work with individuals with nonviolent related of offenses to offer an alternative to an arrest and the county jail. We are seeing reduction in drugrelated crimes in the pilot area. They have done the program for quite a while. They are successful in reducing the going to the county jail. This was a state grant that we applied for. The department is the main administrator. It requires we work with multiple agencies. We have a community that includes the da, Rapid Transit police and San Francisco Sheriffs Department and Law Enforcement agencies, Public Defenders Office and adult probation to Work Together to look at the population that ends up in criminal justice and how they will not end up in jail. Having partners in the nonprofit world and the public defender are critical to the success. We are beginning to succeed because we have that cooperation. Agencies with very little connection are brought together at the same table. Collaboration is good for the department. It gets us all working in the same direction. These are complex issues we are dealing with. When you have systems as complicated as police and health and proation and jails and nonprofits it requires people to come to Work Together so everybody has to put their egos at the door. We have done it very, very well. The model of care where police, district attorney, public defenders are communitybased organizations are all involved to worked towards the common goal. Nobody wants to see drug users in jail. They want them to get the correct treatment they need. We are piloting lead in San Francisco. Close to civic center along market street, union plaza, powell street and in the mission, 16th and mission. Our goal in San Francisco and in seattle is to work with individuals who are cycling in and out of criminal justice and are falling through the cracks and using this as intervention to address that population and the Racial Disparity we see. We want to focus on the mission in tender loan district. It goes to the partners that hired case managers to deal directly with the clients. Case managers with referrals from the police or city agencies connect with the person to determine what their needs are and how we can best meet those needs. I have nobody, no friends, no resources, i am flatout on my own. I witnessed women getting beat, men getting beat. Transgenders getting beat up. I saw people shot, stabbed. These are people that have had many visits to the county jail in San Francisco or other institutions. We are trying to connect them with the resources they need in the community to break out of that cycle. All of the referrals are coming from the Law Enforcement agency. Officers observe an offense. Say you are using. It is found out you are in possession of drugs, that constituted a lead eligible defense. The officer would talk to the individual about participating in the program instead of being booked into the county jail. Are you ever heard of the leads program. Yes. Are you part of the leads program . Do you have a case worker . Yes, i have a case manager. When they have a contact with a possible lead referral, they give us a call. Ideally we can meet them at the scene where the ticket is being issued. Primarily what you are talking to are people under the influence of drugs but they will all be nonviolent. If they were violent they wouldnt qualify for lead. You think i am going to get arrested or maybe i will go to jail for something i just did because of the Substance Abuse issues i am dealing with. They would contact with the outreach worker. Then glide shows up, you are not going to jail. We can take you. Lets meet you where you are without telling you exactly what that is going to look like, let us help you and help you help yourself. Bring them to the Community Assessment and Services Center run by adult probation to have assessment with the department of Public Health staff to assess the treatment needs. It provides meals, groups, there are things happening that make it an open space they can access. They go through detailed assessment about their needs and how we can meet those needs. Someone who would have entered the jail system or would have been arrested and book order the charge is diverted to social services. Then from there instead of them going through that system, which hasnt shown itself to be an effective way to deal with people suffering from suable stance abuse issues they can be connected with Case Management. They can offer Services Based on their needs as individuals. One of the key things is our approach is client centered. Hall reduction is based around helping the client and meeting them where they are at in terms of what steps are you ready to take . We are not asking individuals to do anything specific at any point in time. It is a Program Based on whatever it takes and wherever it takes. We are going to them and working with them where they feel most comfortable in the community. It opens doors and they get access they wouldnt have had otherwise. Supports them on their goals. We are not assigning goals working to come up with a plan what success looks like to them. Because i have been in the field a lot i can offer different choices and let them decide which one they want to go down and help them on that path. It is all on you. We are here to guide you. We are not trying to force you to do what you want to do or change your mind. It is you telling us how you want us to help you. It means a lot to the clients to know there is someone creative in the way we can assist them. They pick up the phone. It was a blessing to have them when i was on the streets. No matter what situation, what pay phone, cell phone, somebody elses phone by calling them they always answered. In officebased setting somebody at the reception desk and the clinician will not work for this population of drug users on the street. This has been helpful to see the outcome. We will pick you up, take you to the appointment, get you food on the way and make sure your needs are taken care of so you are not out in the cold. First to push me so i will not be afraid to ask for help with the lead team. Can we get you to use less and less so you can function and have a normal life, job, place to stay, be a functioning part of the community. It is all part of the home reduction model. You are using less and you are allowed to be a viable member of the society. This is an important question where lead will go from here. Looking at the data so far and seeing the successes and we can build on that and as the department based on that where the investments need to go. If it is for five months. Hopefully as final we will come up with a model that may help with all of the communities in the california. I want to go back to school to start my ged and go to community clean. It can be somebody scaled out. That is the hope anyway. Is a huge need in the city. Depending on the need and the data we are getting we can definitely see an expansion. We all hope, obviously, the program is successful and we can implement it city wide. I think it will save the county millions of dollars in emergency services, police services, prosecuting services. More importantly, it will save lives. Working with kids, they keep you young. They keep you on your tones on your toes. Teaching them, at the same time, us learning from them, everything is fulfilling. Ready . Go. [ ] we really wanted to find a way to support Women Entrepreneurs in particular in San Francisco. It was very important for the mayor, as well as the Safety Support the dreams that people want to realize, and provide them with an opportunity to receive funding to support improvements for their business so they could grow and thrive in their neighborhoods and in their industry. Three, two, one because i am one of the consultants for two nonprofits here for entrepreneurship, i knew about the grand through the renaissance entrepreneur center, and through the Small Business development center. I thought they were going to be perfect candidate because of their strong values in the community. They really give back to the neighborhood. They are from this neighborhood, and they care about the kids in the community here. When molly molly first told us about the grant because she works with Small Businesses. She has been a tremendous help for us here. She brought us to the attention of the grand just because a lot of things here were outdated, and need to be uptodate and redone totally. Hands in front. Recite the creed. My oldest is jt, he is seven, and my youngest is ryan, he is almost six. It instills discipline and the boys, but they show a lot of care. We think it is great. The moves are fantastic. The women both are great teachers. What is the next one . My son goes to fd k. He has been attending for about two years now. They also have a summer program, and last summer was our first year participating in it. They took the kids everywhere around San Francisco. This year, owner talking about placing them in summer camps, all he wanted to do was spend the entire summer with them. He has strong women in his life, so he really appreciates it. I think that carries through and i appreciate the fact that there are more strong women in the world like that. I met dandrea 25 years ago, and we met through our interest in karate. Our professor started on cortland years ago, so we grew up here at this location, we out he outgrew the space and he moved ten years later. He decided to reopen this location after he moved. Initially, i came back to say, hey, because it might have been 15 years since i even put on a uniform. My Business Partner was here basically by herself, and the person she was supposed to run the studio with said great, you are here, i started new Nursing School so you can take over. And she said wait, that is not what i am here for i was by myself before for a month before she came through. She was technically here as a secretary, but we insisted, just put on the uniform, and help her teach. I was struggling a little bit. And she has been here. One thing led to another and now we are coowners. You think a lot more about safety after having children and i wanted to not live in fear so much, and so i just took advantage of the opportunity, and i found it very powerful to hit something, to get some relief, but also having the knowledge one you might be in a situation of how to take care of yourself. The selfdefence class is a new thing that we are doing. We started with a group of women last year as a trial run to see how it felt. Theres a difference between selfdefence and doing a karate class. We didnt want them to do an actual karate class. We wanted to learn the fundamentals of how to defend yourself versus, you know, going through all the forms and techniques that we teaching a karate class and how to break that down. Then i was approached by my old high school. One once a semester, the kids get to pick an extra curricular activity to take outside of the school walls. My old biology teacher is now the principle. She approached us into doing a selfdefence class. The girls have been really proactive and really sweet. They step out of of the comfort zone, but they have been willing to step out and that hasnt been any pushback. It is really great. It is respect. You have to learn it. When we first came in, they knew us as those girls. They didnt know who we were. Finally, we came enough for them to realize, okay, they are in the business now. It took a while for us to gain that respect from our peers, our male peers. Since receiving the grant, it has ignited us even more, and put a fire underneath our butts even more. We were doing our summer camp and we are in a movie theatre, and we just finished watching a film and she stepped out to receive a phone call. She came in and she screamed, hey, we got the grant. And i said what . Martial arts is a passion for us. It is passion driven. There are days where we are dead tired and the kids come and they have the biggest smiles on their faces and it is contagious. We have been operating this program for a little over a year all Women Entrepreneurs. It is an extraordinary benefit for us. We have had the Mayors Office investing in our program so we can continue doing this work. It has been so impactful across a diversity of communities throughout the city. We hope that we are making some type of impact in these kids lives outside of just learning karate. Having selfconfidence, having discipline, learning to know when its okay to stand up for yourself versus you just being a bully in school. These are the values we want the kids to take away from this. Not just, i learned how to kick and i learned how to punch. We want the kids to have more values when they walk outside of these doors. [ ] are we ready . Okay. Five, four, three, two, one. Here we go whoops. Roll it. [applause] the hon. Londo