i have failed at things in my career and they are opportunities to continue on. it's important for women and women and people of color to see representation matters. when i first started my career 25 years ago, there were not that many other women. so it is amazing to respond to meetings and go to meetings and see other female leaders and learn from each other. this career is my dream job from working on [ indiscernible ] to being the chief and overseeing a division. it's been challenging and rewarding and inspiring.

well, happy women's history month to you all. i'm kimberly ellis. i'm the director for the san francisco department on the status of women. and i have the incredible honor of not just working for a department that's dedicated to women, girls, and nonbinary, but a city and county that's committed to uplifting women, girls, and nonbinary. but the best mayor in the country who is committed to supporting women, girls, and nonbinary. not just in march, women's history month, but 365 days and 366 days on leap year of the

year. and so i want to thank all of you for making time in your schedule, for us to come together in community as we round off women's history month. we know there's a lot of angst and heart break and uncertainty in the world right now. the other thing that we know to be true is that women, especially strong bold tenacious women like the women of san francisco will ensure that we are doing everything to bring about peace and love and justice not just here in san francisco, not just in the great state of california, not just in america, but all over the world. i am incredibly privileged and honored to bring up our mayor,

your mayor, give it up for mayor london n. breed. >> well hello everyone. thank you all for joining us to celebrate women's history month in the city and county of san francisco. what was that? thank you. i want to first acknowledge the two amazing women that serve on the board of san francisco here in san francisco. we have with us today supervisor kathrine stefanie and supervisor myrna melbar and our fire chief and a lady who's an institution in san francisco

who is a historian. ellen, please stand up and take a bow. and i think i got all the department heads, but there's also a lot of commissioners. so all the women commissioners in the house. please raise your hand. i need a little more enthusiasm from the fact that we have 55% of the commissioners that serve the city and county of san francisco are women. thank you. and today as we really think about how far we've come, we also just have to be reminded that there's so much work to do and we talked that. there was a time when the majority of the women on the board of supervisors were women. there was a time where we had to fight to get to that point and so we want to get back

there and, you know, sadly, i'm only the second woman in the city and county of san francisco to serve as mayor and we want to make sure that it doesn't take another 30 years before another woman serves as mayor of the city. and i see debbie from from the department of environment. thank you so much for being here. and i know there are a number of other people we have in the audience. duane you are not a woman so you're not going to take away the attention okay. this is televised. so before i forget in honor of our extraordinary women that we are fortunate enough to have to honor here today, today we're going to be lighting city hall in the color purple to recognized the three of you and

recognize your extraordinary accomplishments not only in your life, but what you have always done to touch the lives of other people. the theme for this women's history month in san francisco centers around philanthropy. it centers around women without the desire to be recognized consistently have given financial resources to things that have not always been a priority. things that matter to that community group but it's not always the big, bold, exciting, shiny new car or penny, whatever you want to call it and they do so because they care and they believe it's how people should be and they do so

because of san francisco and their desire to see things change for the better and so when i was thinking about who are the women i could honor, i couldn't help but think about the four women that i'm honoring here today so we're going to start with my friend brenda wright. let me tell you something about brenda. i remember when i first started getting active in san francisco and i used to see this woman who walked around with such grace and took charge of a room and everyone was trying to be her friend. they were trying to be her friend because not only was she the type of woman to get things done, she was the type of woman that you wanted to be like. she also had a kind word of

advice. and when she worked for wells fargo, let me tell you wells fargo has not done half of what it should be doing if it were not for brenda wright. and let me tell you, one year alone, $60 million to almost 300 organizations because it wasn't just about giving to the large institutions that had development teams to apply for funding, it was about the small african american art art it was

about the different groups. they have the heart for the community and no one could wear stillettos like brenda wright. and let me tell you she will step just as good in those halls of power in those stillettos just as she would step in the halls of the hood to transform community in the way that uplifts people. and so the reason why we're honoring brenda wright for her philanthropy is because of her not only able to support and uplift organizations, but to support and uplift a mentor for young women and girls. part of why i dress so nice is because brenda wright and i see her daughters all in here. her daughter amanda, but her

children. pull your dress up right, fix your hair because she cares. her whole life has really been about uplifting people. helping to support young women. helping to provide opportunities. helping to make sure that the right resources are at the right place and nothing was too little, nothing was too big for her work, for her advocacy and for her efforts and no one fries chicken better than brenda wright. but at the end of the day, she has not been appreciated for all she has done for san francisco. she has not been recognized in a way she should for what she's done to help people in san francisco. yes, when she did her job, she made sure that the ballet and the symphony and the opera and

the large institutions received resources, but so many organizations were the beneficiary of wells far go because brenda wright didn't see through them, she saw who they were and what they represented and it meant a lot to be recognized by brenda right because you know that you must be doing something right if she took the time to understand what your organization was about and how she could help you because she was always there wanting to help. she's saying okay. no. brenda, this is about you. yes, she served on the retirement board and the asian art museum board and now the war memorial board. she's worked and opinion appointed by the california for

i can't even read my own writing here. yes. and you can talk a little bit be about that. the women's foundation of california. a number of other very great organizations that have led to real change and, yes, she's my friend, but i'm also in awe of her ability to continue with grace to always figure out a way to do something great, to touch the lives of other people and, brenda, on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, today in celebration of women's history month, we recognize you for your contribution to san francisco and we are grateful and honored for everything you've done to touch the lives of individuals and organizations in san francisco. [ applause ]

>> these are beautiful. thank you. >> you can say a few words. >> amanda. >> be a dear. >> okay. you want us to take the picture. >> and we're going to do more afterward. >> well, thank you. you know, i'm like the biggest cry baby. i have all these emotions that always show up but i want to thank you and one of the things that makes me so proud is to

see london and the woman and the leader, i mean, are a courageous warrior in the woman she has become. so if you ever do anything for everyone i don't know why i'm here, but i do know that in my very young life, i was taught that it was always about service, it wasn't about you and my mom said this is not about you and when you're little, you don't understand why it's not about you because you think you're everything and my grandpa used to always say, if you want something to change, go do the work. and that's all i know is doing

the work. but i just wanted to say there's so many wonderful women in san francisco doing so many wonderful things and for you i'm very grateful because many times, we do them together. so i'm very grateful for that. i'm thankful to my friends who hold me up, lift me up. my partner steve who gets the brunt of my anger at home. not at him. thank you for always supporting me. thank you to amanda, my daughter. and a person growing up saying i'll never have children, it was the best thing i've ever done. but i just want to say that when you think about, i want to tell you, one of my favorite quotes and you've heard it

before but it's a tenant by which i live and exist. service is a rent you pay for living and i always ask people, have you paid your rent today? if you can't answer "yes" when you leave here, you need to go pay your rent. even if you put a down payment on a bigger place, you know, because the world needs you. we're just in such desperate times. you know, the world needs you and no disrespect, but if you want a job done, give it to a woman. no disrespect and those of you men that are here and the women, you're probably yeah i know. i know. you don't want to hear it.

thank you so much. i'm so proud of you. i'm proud of your courage every day and i know this isn't an easy job, but i'm proud of you. to my fellow honorees, thank you. i'm just proud to be in your company and just know that we are not finished yet. so thank you. >> all right. i'm just feeling good already. our next honoree is my next friend who is equally amazing and sophisticated. i've got to say i've heard about dd and her.

when the de young museum was getting built and the whole ventilation system on the ground. they said, no, we have to make sure they're just small enough to dee dee's heels don't get stuck in the vents. i said i know that's right, take control and get it done. dee dee has been an institution in san francisco for as long as i can remember. the work she has done is people have heard about how she single-handedly raised all the money to rebuild the beautiful deyoung museum today. she continued to give to over 100 organizations annually both

large and small. but i do know what her favorite organization is and it has a lot to do with her canine babies, an organization that she has been giving to for so many years, they recently honored her for her philanthropy. and the thing i like about dee dee is when you call her, she didn't even know who i was and she still took the time to talk to me. and this was before i was an elected official or anything else. she wanted to know more about the organization and what she could do and she's like that with everyone. yes, she looks amazing all the time just like b. wright. but, again, another woman who cares about giving back but she

consistently vests in san francisco and as i said, whether it's our cultural institutions like the deyoung, like the opera, like the symphony, there have been times i'm at events and the whole event is sponsored by dee dee and she's not even there. because she always makes herself available to give. to give up her time if she can, but also give up the resources to support the causes that, of course, are worthy. and when i think about how fortunate we are in san francisco, how fortunate we are to have dee dee and her desires to want to be that person to contribute and support, it's important for me to make sure she knows how much she's

appreciated. i remember when the new millionaires came to san francisco. she feels as though when you have it, you have to make it a responsibility to help somebody else's life. for continuing to serve the city and making sure that she is spearheading a lot of the major causes that keep the opera, the symphony and the ballet, these incredible world

class institutions here in san francisco that are recognized all over the world and they're like that because of dee dee. so, today, let me just honor you and let me make sure i don't forget the other thing. we honor you because as a woman in philanthropy, dee dee doesn't ask for anything. all you do is ask for something that's going to make san francisco better. it's never about anything personal. it's always about how do you change the lives of people in san francisco. how do you work on this project. how do we get this done, how do we clean up this, how do we make things better. so today, dee dee, we honor you because of your commitment to san francisco and i know you don't do it for the recognition. i know you do it because you love to do it. i know you love san francisco. and we are so fortunate and

blessed to have you as one of our well-known, well respected citizens of the city. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, we honor you today for women's history month. thank you so much for your philanthropy. so this is your little gift in there. >> well, london, thank you for everything. i have to say i have been a grown-up in san francisco because i didn't come here until i was a grown-up and i've known a lot of mayors and some have been really fun, but no one's been fun like london. nobody is the breath of fresh air and you know when you call

her or she calls you, i always just sort of get a dog, put it in my lap and think this is going to be nice and relaxing and funny and i laugh and i laugh and even if it's something serious, we find something to laugh about, something that's good. i have to say when i was 14, i was growing up in washington, d.c. and one day, my father said to me, "do you realize that you could grow up to marry the president of the united states. you could be the first lady of the united states." and i said to him, "daddy, i'd like to be the president." [cheers and applause] >> well, that didn't go over. in those days. in the late '50s, early '60s absolutely didn't work. my father at first was horrified and then he laughed. that's really she's so funny.

so i have to say, i listened to him because he used to always say, "you were lucky enough to be born in the good right bassinet, now you have to give back." and he always said that to me. it took me into my early 20s to figure out what he was talking about because i lived in the city with a building called the capital. and i couldn't understand how you possibly could spend it. those are the two things i kind of live by. i have to say as far as the president goes, i'm very pleased to live in a time now where i have two beautiful, smart granddaughters. one is here today. i am absolutely convinced either one of them could be president if they wanted to. at least they have that

possibility which my generation has not. i have hit more glass ceilings and glass walls, even some glass floors that most people that you'll ever meet because i couldn't understand why i couldn't go where i wasn't supposed to go and often that was in a room full of men and i will never forget being introduced to an important dignitary from china when we were building the deyoung. i was standing next to my husband who was alive at the time and harry said i'd like to introduce you to the chairman of the board and the guy puts his hand right out across me to my husband. i thought, that's interesting, isn't it. i guess in china, they don't have chairman who are women. my husband had a very good sense of humor and he directed his hand and said i'm so happy for you to meet my wife. i thought, lessons learned. this is the way it is and we

have to work very hard, very carefully and try not to irritate as many people as possible and find a way to be sure that women have the opportunity they may not want to do some of these things, but we just need to have the opportunity to do that and, of course, i agree with brenda if you really want a job, well done. you should find a woman. and i'm happy you found all of us, london. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> don't you just love her. so now i have the privilege of honoring merriam -- merriam m..

i met merriam at her house that larkin street was holding focused on ending youth homelessness. the rising up campaign has beenen about raising millions of dollars to get to a point to end youth homelessness. we're talking about kids who are in their early 20s as well and a passion of hers has been to focus on the challenges of homelessness for children, for families, for young people and she's been consistent in her advocacy and i was really not only impressed by her work, but also her excitement for the work and it wasn't just about raising the money or giving the money. it was also about being apart of the various committees and rolling up her sleeves and being actively engaged on the ground with these various organizations to understand

what they're doing and how we can make a significant impact. and the nitty-gritty, and the nuts and the bolts. and i thought to myself, goodness, this woman is amazing. and she's the chair of the opera gill. she's still involved in the arts in san francisco. she still is actively engaged in the san francisco bay school and other various causes, but i know that her desires to help address homelessness in san francisco for young people is something that she is never going to walk away from because it's important to her and until we're at a point where we end homelessness in san francisco, we know that we have an advocate in merriam. and so i am so grateful that she is actively engaged in the

city, in this capacity that i found you at this event. she wasn't i don't think trying to get involved in the world of politics. she was just trying to do her part and you know what's very interesting is when you're out there doing the work you never know who's watching and part of why you do the work is not because of who's watching, but because of what you care about, what's near and dear to your heart. so for all the time and the resources you spent as a native san franciscan caring about this city, investing in youth homelessness, investing in the arts, supporting our city in various capacities, we are so grateful for you for your time, your commitment, and, yes, you've been hiding out a little bit too long, but we're bringing you to the surface, merriam. and so on behalf of the city and county of san francisco,

thank you. and congratulations. we honor you for women's history month. >> wow. it is truly an honor to be recognized amongst these legendary women with woman i've looked up to for quite some time and mayor breed thank you for your leadership in this city and for your continued support and trust. for all the efforts that we all do for our beautiful city that we love. you set an example for everyone and we are truly grateful for that. you know, my father talking

about family anecdotes, when i was younger, he said you have to be stronger than everybody else around you because if you have a husband who leaves you with five kids, you need to be able to take care of yourself. luckily, that did not happen and i ended up with a very supportive husband who is always supportive of all of my efforts on a daily basis and as you mentioned, mayor breed, i love our city. i love every inch of our city and i believe that every single one of us is here because we truly believe in our efforts to enhance and preserve our -- what we want to do for the youth and for investing in

early education and celebrating the strong legacy in arts and culture. so we're all here i think with a common theme of our love for san francisco and i really appreciate this recognition. and someone said if actually we had an all-women group chat late at night inspired by ruth bader ginsburg who always stood strong and recommended to act virtuously, then our world would be a better place. so thank you again. >> thank you. and last but not least and she couldn't join us here today, i wanted to honor susie tompkins

buhl. she's really been an extraordinary person in san francisco. a person who supports and uplifts and pushes women in office. she's supported programs like emerge. she is really when it comes to getting women elected. she does what's near and dear to her heart is the environment and making sure this is a better place we leave for our children. i'm proud of san francisco and its focus on equity and our plans around our new

environmental climate action plan. they are the professionals and they should decide what happens around san francisco. it centered around making sure that communities that have been disenfranchised like the bayview hunter's point and i know we have some women here today that they are at the forefront of the change we need to make in san francisco. and susie believes very strongly in not only focusing on the environment, but making sure that equity is at the center of the decisions that we make as a city and as a country. she believes again firmly and supporting and uplifting women and she is consistently doing everything she can to support those causes. now i've got to tell you, i became a big fan of susie once

she found out i was the founder of the sfree. i don't know if you remember the spree outlet we'd go to this free outlet that was off of 3rd street near mission rock. you guys all know it. yes. but she took her resources and used them to support causes that mean a lot to uplifting and supporting women and we are so grateful for her work and wish she could have been with us here today but she's here with us in spirit. to congratulations to susie tomkins buhl for her work in san francisco. and so with that, we are going to bring an end to our program

but we see the man of the board of supervisors joined us late. but he's here nevertheless. supervisor asha safai, thank you so much for joining us. and i just want to say as i know kimberly ellis mentioned earlier, it's been a tough time in the world. it's been a tough time with what happened during covid. it's been a very challenging time we know with what's happening sadly every single second in ukraine. we know that there are people in this city and this world who are suffering, but i have hope. i have hope because when i look around even the group of people that i see here today, i know so many of you from various points in my life and the

consistency and the involvement that you all continue to do in the city is going to help transform it for the better. yes. it won't be easy, but we're not going to give up. we're going to keep fighting. we're going to keep working hard. and because we have these extraordinary honorees with us here today, i know that we're going to get to a better place one day at a time. i want to thank all of you for joining us and celebrating women's history month in san francisco. and i feel really good right now. so because of i feel so good right now, i want to invite all of you into the mayor's office where we will have champaign, and a few appetizers and enjoy

1 another because after two years of a global pandemic, i'm just happy to see your faces. so thank you all so much and please talk with us afterward. thank you. there's so much involved with becoming a firefighter. and as a component of being a woman in the field, it takes a lot of perception. it takes belief in yourself. it takes asking the right questions of people who already have the job so that you have the confidence to build it and it takes someone telling you that this job is a possibility for you. my job has given me 25 years of satisfaction. the primary thing is that i grew up here in san francisco and i'm serving in the city where i grew up. i transitioned to community training and i was able to

build disaster resilient padre of volunteers and bringing us all the latest information so that we can be ready for a disaster. pride and loyalty are the heart of a firefighter. it's in the way we do our job from the very smallest thing from our everyday checks we do of our equipment. from the way that we treat each other and the community we come in contact with every day. and loyalty is to our own families is to the pride we have in this department. it's to the other members when we're out in a dangerous situation keeping each other safe. it goes throughout every aspect of being a firefighter. i'm really proud of the way our department approaches diversity, equity, and inclusion. i was hired in a class that had 45 people and 17 women. it was an accomplishment at the time, but there were many women that came before me that laid the ground work and i had to see it to be it. someone had to recruit me into this job. i didn't know it was a possibility for myself. and so the importance of young women seeing what it takes to

be a firefighter, seeing themselves when they look at me. it really brings myself a lot of pride and joy in this work. >> i try to start every day not looking at my phone by doing something that is grounding. that is usually meditation. i have a gym set up in my garage, and that is usually breathing and movement and putting my mind towards something else. surfing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it is the most cleansing thing that i'm able to do. i live near the beach, so whenever i can get out, i do. unfortunately, surfing isn't a

daily practice for me, but i've been able to get out weekly, and it's something that i've been incredibly grateful for. [♪♪♪] >> i started working for the city in 2005. at the time, my kids were pretty young but i think had started school. i was offered a temporarily position as an analyst to work on some of the programs that were funded through homeland security. i ultimately spent almost five years at the health department coordinating emergency programs. it was something that i really enjoyed and turned out i was pretty good at. thinking about glass ceiling, some of that is really related to being a mother and

self-supposed in some ways that i did not feel that i could allow myself to pursue responsibility; that i accepted treading water in my career when my kids were young. and as they got older, i felt more comfortable, i suppose, moving forward. in my career, i have been asked to step forward. i wish that i had earlier stepped forward myself, and i feel really strongly, like i am 100% the right person for this job. i cannot imagine a harder time to be in this role. i'm humbled and privileged but also very confident. so here at moscone center, this is the covid command center, or the c.c.c. here is what we calledun -- call unified command.

this is where we have physically been since march, and then, in july, we developed this unified structure. so it's the department of emergency management, the department of public health, and our human services hughesing partners, so primarily the department of homelessness and supportive housing and human services agency. so it's sort of a three-headed command in which we are coordinating and operating everything related to covid response. and now, of course, in this final phase, it's mass vaccination. the first year was before the pandemic was extremely busy. the fires, obviously, that both we were able to provide mutual support but also the impact of air quality. we had, in 2018, the worst air quality ten or 11 days here in

the city. i'm sure you all remember it, and then, finally, the day the sun didn't come out in san francisco, which was in october. the orange skies, it felt apocalyptic, super scary for people. you know, all of those things, people depend on government to say what's happening. are we safe? what do i do? and that's a lot of what department of emergency management's role is. public service is truly that. it is such an incredible and effective way that we can make change for the most vulnerable. i spend a lot of my day in problem solving mode, so there's a lot of conversations with people making connections, identifying gaps in resources or whatever it might be, and trying to adjust that. the pace of the pandemic has

been nonstop for 11 months. it is unrelenting, long days, more than what we're used to, most of us. honestly, i'm not sure how we're getting through it. this is beyond what any of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime. what we discover is how strong we are, and really, the depth of our resilience, and i say that for every single city employee that has been working around the clock for the last 11 months, and i also speak about myself. every day, i have to sort of have that moment of, like, okay, i'm really tired, i'm weary, but we've got to keep going. it is, i would say, the biggest challenge that i have had personally and professionally to be the best mom that i can be but also the best public

certify chant in whatever role i'm in. i just wish that i, as my younger self, could have had someone tell me you can give it and to give a little more nudge. so indirectly, people have helped me because they have seen something in me that i did not see in myself. there's clear data that women have lost their jobs and their income because they had to take care of their safety nets. all of those things that we depend on, schools and daycare and sharing, you know, being together with other kids isn't available. i've often thought oh, if my kids were younger, i couldn't do this job, but that's unacceptable. a person that's younger than me that has three children, we want them in leadership positions, so it shouldn't be limiting.

women need to assume that they're more capable than they think they are. men will go for a job whether they're qualified or not. we tend to want to be 110% qualified before we tend to step forward. i think we need to be a little more brave, a little more exploratory in stepping up for positions. the other thing is, when given an opportunity, really think twice before you put in front of you the reasons why you should not take that leadership position. we all need to step up so that we can show the person behind us that it's doable and so that we have the power to make the changes for other women that is going to make the possibility for their paths easier than ours. other women see me in it, and i hope that they see me, and they

understand, like, if i can do it, they can do it because the higher you get, the more leadership you have, and power. the more power and leadership we have that we can putit.

>> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their shop & dine in the 49 within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services in the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so we're will you shop & dine in the 49 chinatown has to be one the best unique shopping areas in san francisco that is color fulfill and safe each vegetation and

seafood and find everything in chinatown the walk shop in chinatown welcome to jason dessert i'm the fifth generation of candy in san francisco still that serves 2000 district in the chinatown in the past it was the tradition and my family was the royal chef in the pot pals that's why we learned this stuff and moved from here to have dragon candy i want people to know that is art we will explain a walk and they can't walk in and out it is different techniques from stir frying to smoking to steaming and they do show of. >> beer a royalty for the age

berry up to now not people know that especially the toughest they think this is - i really appreciate they love this art. >> from the cantonese to the hypomania and we have hot pots we have all of the cuisines of china in our chinatown you don't have to go far. >> small business is important to our neighborhood because if we really make a lot of people lives better more people get a job here not just a big firm. >> you don't have to go anywhere else we have pocketed of great neighborhoods haul have all have their own uniqueness. >> san francisco has to all

>> there is a lot of unique characteristics about visitation valley. it is a unique part of the city. >> we are off in a corner of the city against the san francisco county line 101 on one side. vis station valley is still one of the last blue color neighborhoods in san francisco. a lot of working class families out here. it is unusual. not a lot of apartment buildings. a lot of single family homes. >> great business corridor. so much traffic coming through

here and stopping off to grab coffee or sandwich or pick up food before going home. >> a lot of customers are from the neighborhood. they are painters or mechanics. they are like blue color workers, a lot of them. >> the community is lovely. multi-racial and hopefully we can look out for each other. >> there is a variety of businesses on the block. you think of buffalo kitchen, chinese food, pork buns, sandwich. library, bank of america with a parking lot. the market where you can grab anything. amazing food choices, nail salons. basically everything you need is here. >> a lot of these businesses up and down leland are family owned. people running them are family. when you come here and you have an uncle and nephew and go

across the street and have the guy and his dad. lisa and her daughter in the dog parlor and pam. it is very cool. >> is small businesses make the neighborhood unique. >> new businesses coming. in mission blue, gourmet chocolate manufacturing. the corridor has changed and is continuing to change. we hope to see more businesses coming in the near future. >> this is what is needed. first, stay home. unless it is absoluteliness scary. social distancing is the most important step right now to limit spread of virus. cancel all nonessential gather

everythings. >> when the pandemic litly land avenue suffered like other corridors. a few nail salons couldn't operate. they shut down. restaurants that had to adapt to more of a take out model. they haven't totally brought back indoor seating. >> it is heartbreaking to see the businesses that have closed down and shut because of the pandemic. >> when the pandemic first hit it got really slow. we had to change our hours. we never had to close, which is a blessing. thank god. we stayed open the whole time. >> we were kind of nervous and anxious to see what was going to come next hoping we will not have to close down. >> during covid we would go outside and look on both sides of the street. it looked like old western town. nobody on the street. no cars. >> it was a hard eight or nine

months. when they opened up half the people couldn't afford a haircut. >> during that time we kept saying the coffee shop was the living room of the valley. people would come to make sure they were okay. >> we checked on each other and patronized each other. i would get a cup of coffee, shirt, they would get a haircut. >> this is a generous and kind community. people would be like i am getting the toffee for the guy behind me and some days it went on and on. it was amazing to watch. we saw a perfect picture of community. we are all in this together. >> since we began to reopen one year later, we will emerge stronger. we will emerge better as a city because we are still here and we

stand in solidarity with one another. >> when we opened up august 1st. i will not say it was all good. we are still struggling due to covid. it affected a lot of people. >> we are still in the pandemic right now. things are opening up a little bit. it is great to have space to come together. i did a three painting series of visitation valley and the businesses on leland. it felt good to drop off the paintings and hung them. >> my business is picking up. the city is opening up. we have mask requirements. i check temperatures. i ask for vaccination card and/or recent test. the older folks they want to feel safe here. >> i feel like there is a sense of unity happening. >> what got us through the pandemic was our customers.

their dogs needed groomed, we have to cut their nails so they don't over grow. >> this is only going to push us forward. i sense a spirit of community and just belief in one another. >> we are trying to see if we can help all small businesses around here. there is a cannabis club lounge next to the dog parlor to bring foot traffic. my business is not going to work if the business across the street is not getting help. >> in hit us hard. i see a bright future to get the storefronts full. >> once people come here i think they really like it. >> if you are from san francisco visit visitation valley to see how this side of the city is the same but different.