Community efforts by two different organizations based in the Richmond District have shown that COVID-19 cannot and will not stop the human spirit from finding solidarity and a way to support those most vulnerable during this time of social isolation.
Roberta Mindich-Fink and Jesse Fink remember so many people who have come through the doors of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, at the corner of Clement Street and Fifth Avenue, that it is hard to recall all of them at once.
Within a matter of months, the new community organization SOAR set up a Facebook page and a website, signed up nearly 300 members and held a couple of D1 supervisor candidate forums on Zoom.
While businesses in the Richmond District are facing tremendous challenges due to the shutdown to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, there are also glimmers of hope.
In light of the latest CDC recommendation to wear masks, and the requirement for San Francisco residents to wear masks in public, teens Michelle Song and Dalya Deuss founded Masks For All CA (MFACA) to provide free handmade face masks for all who need them most.
If you’ve taken a walk in the neighborhood recently, you’ve likely noticed the incredible homemade signs on most blocks demanding systemic change in our country.
I encourage you to visit sf.gov/coronavirus and onerichmondsf.com for up-to-date info and ways to get involved, from doing phone check-ins or grocery shopping for isolated seniors, or volunteering for the food bank.
Addressing climate change and conserving biodiversity go hand-in-hand. Our ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change while retaining important ecosystem services, such as pollination, will depend on our ability to protect biodiversity.
Since our last column, our world has again changed. The murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has inspired an uprising across the nation and powerful protests calling for justice and solidarity.
Right now the city could greatly improve the quality of life for those who live in and around the western edge of the City by implementing the recommendations of SPUR, while maintaining some traffic flow for those who must pass through that way.
Pulling down statues doesn’t feed the hungry or house the homeless. In fact, cleaning up the mess made by the black-clad mob at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park will cost the City money that could have been spent helping people.
On Friday night, June 19, more than a hundred black-clad people, some of them wearing anarchy symbols, cheered as the statues of Fr. Junipero Serra, the founder of the California Mission system was brought down in protest of his treatment of the First Nation people who inhabited what is now California.
There is a new group in town called “Save Our Amazing Richmond” (SOAR-D1). We are regular people coming together to solve problems in the Richmond District.
“There were more than 1,000 cars, it was incredible,” Erin Feher said about the June 4 caravan protest she organized.
If you thought that our local City government was implementing only emergency measures during the pandemic, you would be wrong.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 