¡PODER! to Rep on the SF Committee on Community DevelopmentNeighborhoods from Chinatown, SOMA, Western Addition, the Mission, Excelsior/OMI, and Bayview are really feelin’ the pain during this economic crisis. After surviving years of disinvestment, community residents are aching for responsive government and community based planning. Our barrios are ready for long lasting solutions that strengthen our workforce, develop our local economy equitably, create affordable housing, upgrade our community infrastructure, and empower our communities. San Francisco’s Office of Community Development will invest up to $2 billion in working class communities over the next five years. This Thursday, the Board of Supervisors will consider appointments to the Citizens’ Committee on Community Development, including our very own PODER! This Committee’s work has to lead to a real community process … and push for the city to invest in the vision and solutions that are coming up from our barrios. Check out a recent SF Examiner article that reports on recent Board of Supervisors legislation to empower the Citizen's Committee on Community Development.
Join Us.. Unete Con Nosotros:Check out the great quote from Gloria Vasquez in the latest El Tecolote article from last weeks community meeting @ Marshall.. And grab a paper copy because our very own members Mercy Jimenez & Ivan Villalobos are on the cover!
Community Members Act For a New Park & Community CenterWe need your help in designing a brand new park and community space in the Northeast Mission on 17th & Folsom. Join friends, family, and neighbors for a fun and exciting community gathering...
La Ciudad quiere saber de ustedes qué tipo de actividades y programas son necesario para desarrollar un parque comunitario. Junto con la organizacion PODER, la cuidad está trabajando en convertir este espacio en un parque con viviendas accesibles para familias.
The Latest Issue of Wachale
Excelsior Land Use Mapping Project
The Excelsior is rich in people, from children to artists, street vendors and day laborers, workers and parents, small business entrepreneurs, elders, and solo cholos making the Excelsior their home away from home. Our commercial corridor is filled with restaurants serving typical foods from our home countries and places to fix a car, buy mangos con chile, wait for a bus, meet up with friends, ride a skateboard, and shop with our families. But, there are many things we do not find in our neighborhood. Members of our action team Comité AMOR have been transforming themselves into barrio planners. Using a tally sheet and pencil, and bringing the perspective of kids, youth, adults, and elders, they have been looking at familiar spaces in our neighborhood with new eyes. Walking up and down Mission Street, they have been identifying what our city and our private market fail to provide our community. Here’s some highlights:
What our neighborhood lacks in infrastructure, we possess in community talent. Inspired by our barrio planning along Mission Street, PODER held a Movie Night under the Stars at the Ocean Persia triangle in October where we showcased videos by neighborhood youth and provided family friendly movie entertainment. For 2010, we look forward to engaging with our leaders and organizing alongside our community for local, neighborhood scale projects that build our community assets and infrastructure and create a healthy community and local economy.
The Economy Through the Voices of Community Members Half of all the responses were unemployed while a fifth are part-time workers and a little less than one-third have a full time job. The survey revealed that of those that work most people work about 20 to 40 hours a week while about a quarter of those that are employed worked more than 40 hours a week. Additionally, a majority of participants (approximately 60 percent) reported that they do not make enough to make ends meet. Some of the reasons for lack of employment reveal that almost half of the people in the survey simply cannot find work while about a quarter are studying full time or take care of children. Also, an alarming number of people (three quarters) mentioned they have no savings funds that would help if they lost their job. Survey responses indicated that the most important characteristics for a job were: that a job provides decent wages, health care, and the ability to express a real voice over job and working conditions in addition to an environmentally safe and healthy workplace environment. Since most of the participants have not participated in a job training programs there is a need to address the scarcity in jobs for many bilingual residents. The survey expressed a need for relevant programs to exist that are oriented to help people find the jobs that they value with characteristics that they find important. Alternatives around some of these issues are important due to the current climate of the job market, which indicates that these issues are not isolated from other services working families are struggling to provide in light of the economic circumstances
a lil' extra sabor to keep you satisfied...
PODER, Party & PoliticsTonight! Townhall Meeting on Immigration Reform Join the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN) on International Migrants Day for an educational event. Together we can raise our voices, share our stories and demands, and mobilize for change to advocate for just comprehensive immigration reform. Invited Congressional Representatives include: Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez from Illinois
...then join us for RISE UP Holiday Market & Party Friday, December 18, 5:00pm-11:00pm ![]() Support local artists, craft makers, and musicians for a guilt free holiday shopping experience. Find that unique gift for that special activista in your life. Enjoy two rooms of live performances, body movin' DJs, and an array of wonderful local vendors.100% of proceeds at the door go towards getting neighborhood youth to the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit this Summer and current work with Native American youth in the Mission District.
For updated artist lineup Facebook PODER SF
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