CONVIVIO (Get Together)We recently kicked off our cooperative cooking series CONVIVIO (Get Together). Our friends joined us for a festive evening of cooking at the Fun House, located in San Francisco's Excelsior District and run by our creative hostess Grace Ubiera. On this evening our guests brought an ingredient without knowing who was bringing what. After a collective brainstorm, review of the food ingredients, and a quick assessment of peoples cooking skills the menu was decided. Our chefs organized themselves into teams...
Many of our guests first met each other a few weeks back when PODER recruited a over a dozen local community members to participate in the Spanish-language recruitment sessions conducted by Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives in preparation for their opening of a new worker-owned bakery in the Mission District. The sessions informed us about the benefits of cooperative workplaces: democratic decision-making, labor with dignity, defense of worker rights, knowledge in business practices, community building and progressive ideals. This experience was both enlightening and strategic- we are looking forward to strengthening our community activities, youth programing, member program, and campaign demands with explicit cooperative ideals & principles.
JOIN PODER For Earth Day Dinner & Music // Jueves Celebra Dia de la Tierra con PODEROn Thursday Celebrate Earth Day with us... PODER, the Lengua En Salsa Crew & Alba Guerra, local owner of Sunrise Restaurant, invite you to delight in ********
Yes We Count! Si Contamos!
The census is a civil rights and an immigrant rights issue! Join us this Saturday in the heart of the Excelsior at Mission and Ocean Avenue for a home style BBQ, kids activities, a mariachi, and reps from our community organizations on hand to assist residents with the census. Too often, our communities are undercounted, impacting funding our neighborhood recieves for health clinics, community centers, job training programs, and other important programs. Our goal is to take a complete count of everyone who lives in our neighborhood to ensure that our community gets our fair share of government funding. Brought to you by PODER, the Filipino Community Center, Coleman Advocates and the office of Supervisor John Avalos.
City Agencies Step up to Create Health Protective Truck Routes in Southeast SFOn Monday, March 15th, 2010, the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee will hold a hearing on the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and the Department of Public Health's (DPH) efforts to create health protective truck routes in southeast SF. In the Excelsior, almost half (44%) of households live nearby high volume roadways. They breathe in polluted air that causes coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, aggravates asthma and heart disease, and can lead to lung cancer and even premature death. PODER and the Chinese Progressive Association led a community campaign to urge the City to take action on this ticking time bomb, which led to the city passing a resolution in November 2008 and forming an inter-agency working group to address the concerns. All three southeast supervisors, including John Avalos (D11), Sophie Maxwell (D10), and David Campos (D9) have joined forces to oversee DPH and MTA's efforts. "These are life and death decisions made by our MTA every day. Because of the community's efforts, city agencies have stepped up to reduce the impact of concentrated traffic pollution on local neighborhoods," said Charlie Sciammas, community organizer with PODER.
Current News Article on Mission District Park PlanningImagine a Revolution – Park
February 9, 2010 Despite continued opposition from some business in the area, city officials and the community are developing three design proposals to turn half of a 220-car parking lot on 17th Street between Folsom and Shotwell into a park. Eventually, they envision affordable housing on the second half of the lot.
The last opportunity for the community to select their favorite elements of the three designs will be at drop-in sessions today at the Planning Department, Room 431 at 1650 Mission Street. So far, community input and city planners have come with with elements such as a rain water collecting system, plaza space for food vendors, community gardens, and a bicycle-powered carousel.
The 60,000 square-foot site, which has been a parking lot for decades, has been identified by the community and city as a priority project. However, Susan Exline, a member of the San Francisco Planning Department cautioned, “Nothing in this project is set in stone because there is no funding. We’re just in the idea-gathering phase.” Click here to read on...
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