Good afternoon.

The meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the April 15, 2026 meeting of the Budget and Appropriation Committee.

I am Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee.

I'm joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, members, Supervisor Danny Souter, and Shaman Walton.

Our clerk, it's Brent Halipa.

I would like to thank Jeanette Lov from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting.

Mr.

Clerk, do you have any announcements?

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance.

To please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our proceedings.

Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, they should be submitted to myself, the clerk.

Public comment will be taken on the item on this agenda.

When public comment is called, please line up to speak on the west side of the chamber.

To your right, my left along those curtains, and while not required to provide public comment.

We do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the tray by the television to your left by the doors if you wish for your name to be accurately recorded for the minutes.

Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways.

I'll email them to myself.

The budget and appropriations committee clerk.j S F G-O-V dot or G.

If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file.

You may also send your written comments via U.S.

Postal Service to our office in City Hall at one.

Dr.

Carlton be good to place room 244.

San Francisco, California, 94102.

And um thanks so much for the opening announcement regarding standing in the chamber.

We will enforce that.

So to the folks in the back, please find somewhere to sit.

Otherwise, we do have an overflow room in 263.

And I did see a couple of cameras earlier on.

Completely welcome.

Feel free to take as much video and photo as you wish, but uh kindly turn off your flash.

That has to not uh distract us from our proceedings.

And with that, Madam Chair, that concludes my announcements.

Thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

And before we call on the agenda item today, uh I will make the motion to excuse President Rafael Mendelman.

Second.

Second by Vice Chair Dorsey, a roll call on the excuse.

And on that motion that we excuse Supervisor Mandelman from attending today's meeting.

Uh moved by Chair Chan, seconded by Vice Chair Dorsey.

Vice Chair Dorsey.

Dorsey, aye.

Member Sauter.

Sauter, aye.

Member Walton.

Walton.

Aye.

Chair Chan.

Aye.

Chan, aye.

We have four eyes with member bandwidth excused.

The motion passes.

And Mr.

Clerk, please call item number one.

Yes, item number one.

Is our hearing on the proposed budget's impact on programs that support the city's older adults?

Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

I do want to first, it's good to see people in the people's house, and I'm really glad to see everybody here.

I'm going to hand this over for introduction remark by my my my colleague, Supervisor Souter.

Thank you, Chair Chan.

Um colleagues, today I have called for this hearing so that we can have the time and space to consider the impact that potential budget cuts could have on older adults throughout San Francisco.

Seniors are the city's fastest growing population in San Francisco.

Our older adult population age 80 or older is expected to triple in the next 40 years, making San Francisco one of the oldest cities in California.

And my district, District 3, has the highest concentration of seniors of any district.

And that loneliness is a health epidemic, but one that does not get enough attention.

Before joining this board, I worked with our city's neighborhood centers who serve older adults across our city.

And I saw firsthand how something that we may think of as small, a hot lunch at a senior center, a Zumba class at a neighborhood center, can in fact be a big part of the health and well-being of our senior neighbors.

Before we begin, I want to recognize and thank the many nonprofits who are here today.

And I know you are all here prepared to face a difficult task of having to do more with less.

I so appreciate your work, your time today, and later on your public comment to let us know directly what budget cuts would mean for you and those who you serve.

For today's hearing, we will have a number of presentations, first from the mayor's budget office and then from the mayor's office of housing community development, next our Department of Aging and Disability.

And then after those presentations and accompanying questions from the committee members, we will have uh public comment towards the end.

Um and with that, um, Madam Chair, I would uh ask that we call up our first presenter, which is our uh mayor's budget office, and we have Sophia Kittler, the director here to present thank you, Chair Chan, Supervisor Sauter, members of the committee.

My name is Sophia Kittler.

I am the mayor's budget director.

Um and I'm giving a very brief table setting to kind of set up for you guys to hear from the departments on um a number a range of how we think about the budget overall um and specifically a little bit of information about the dignity fund.

Um in general, the city funds programming for older adults across a number of departments, um, at least eight by my count.

Um we have a number of programs ranging from housing like senior operating subsidies, um a piece of Prop C funding um for older adults in support of housing.

Um we have programs of the disability and aging services like the community living fund.

Um we have mobility free free um transit for seniors, uh we have our paratransit contracts.

Um we have so health and welfare uh a huge priority as we've discussed um for this mayor is making sure that health care access is kind of the the cornerstone of this budget and making sure that we are continuing to give people access to that health access, health access to health care um despite the loss in revenue from the federal government through um HR1, um, and then thinking about the welfare um of our older adults through our food programming, through our congregate meals, um, not just as as a nutritional need, but as a kind of a community um vitality, if you will, and then active daily living, thinking about programs at Rec Park, thinking about programs at the library, and and a number of um our CBO partners also funded through the Department of Um Disability and Aging Services.

Um specifically on the dignity fund, which is a um a set-aside amount of money passed in 2016 for the older adult population, um, which is a subset of the larger amount of money that we spend on older adults across the city.

Um I just wanted to kind of start with some baseline information, if you will, about um how that funding has grown over time.

So there are come number of different lines here.

Um the red line is uh the line of the mandated baseline transfer.

The one that's yeah, it's uh it's kind of like the third line down.

Um and that is the one where it kind of should, it would have in theory tracked um the proposed measure from the charter amendment.

Um, were it not for the suspensions to the baseline mandated transfer um that happened in COVID and then again in fiscal 24 and fiscal 26, where our year one deficit was above 200 million dollars.

You will remember that this time last year we were sitting here looking at the March update.

We had approximately a 290 million dollar deficit, and we were looking at suspending that baseline.

Um the shaded blue area, so it's not just a line, but that whole kind of blue area up to that light blue line is what that would have looked like if we had never suspended the baseline transfer.

Um and so you can see the suspension in fiscal 21, fiscal 24, fiscal 26, and then like what that line would have looked like had we gone up above that.

Um then the blue line on the bottom is what we call a supplemental transfer, which is an amount of money above um what we have historically what what is mandated by the charter that we have given for dignity fund related expenses.

I want to um I am going to get this lingo wrong, and so I would encourage you to um ask for clarification from the department who understands this far better than I.

Um, there is dignity fund eligible funding, um, which is I think even beyond the scope of these funds.

Um there is the actual the minimum baseline transfer, which is the red line, and then there is a uh supplemental revenue transfer, which is like the lower blue line.

And if you take the lower blue line and you add it to the red line, that is the amount of money we are spending or transferring on the dignity fund in any given year, that adds up to the shaded yellow area.

And what I want to call your attention to is um the shaded yellow area is above the charter mandated, that even the formula-based funding um for all years since the dignity fund has come in.

Um if we had gone through the charter mandated amount, we would be at 71 million dollars in this upcoming fiscal year.

Um, right now, obviously we are still in mayoral phase making decisions, but the contemplated amount that I think is is in front of this board with the information that has been put out into the universe.

So assuming the cuts that happened or that have been proposed rather through the department submission in the Department of Uh Disability and Aging Services I probably screwed up that name, DOS, um is it contemplated around 78 right now.

And then just as a simple reminder of where we are in the budget process, um, through the fall, we uh the mayor's budget office and the controllers do joint report tracking.

We kind of figure out what we think the costs for the status quo spending will be, how much all of that will cost to run the city over the next five years if no change is made.

Um, and then in December we issue our mayor's budget instructions, we give out individual targets and kind of instructions on how we want people to meet those targets during the winter, December, January, and February.

The departments come up with proposals, and they do they typically do so in collaboration with the mayor's office, but they are like the business owners, and we um really look to them for their expertise on how they might meet that target.

And that is a proposal.

Their submission is a proposal to the mayor's office.

And then from February 21st until June 1st, the mayor's office is evaluating those proposals, thinking about how those impacts stack up against obviously each individual department makes their does their proposals in a silo, and the job of the mayor's office is to A, get to a balanced budget across the entire city.

Um and B to make sure that we are not unduly impacting a particular community um unintentionally or in general, um, and thinking about not just at the community level, not just at the department level, but for example, you know, what does it look like to, if we take these cuts in these three departments, did they all, in an uncoordinated manner, kind of propose something to the same community?

We have to make sure that like we are rejecting those cuts and we have to think about how we make up the difference.

Um and then through the summer, starting June 1st, it comes to board phase for your uh for public hearings for deliberations and then reallocation where appropriate.

Um I don't have anything else.

Um it's just a table setting, but I'm happy to take any questions, and I will be here through the presentation, the other presentations of the members of the departments.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Um thank you, Director Kittler.

Just a few questions.

Of course.

Um and thank you for on one of your early slides showing all the different departments that do fund work and programs that serve older adults.

I think that's really helpful.

Um, today in particular, we're hearing from two departments from um MOHCD and from DOS.

Um so before we hear from them, just so we have the context, can you let us know what were your budget uh instructions or your expectations of their budgets?

Absolutely.

Um the mayor's general budget instructions were that we needed to identify 400 million dollars in ongoing cuts or spending reductions against the deficit number annually, annualized, right?

And so that might not be 400 million dollars entirely in the first year because that does not warrant that in the first year, but kind of making sure that we are taking at least 400 million dollars out of that ongoing deficit number.

Um of the things that we tried to do is work very closely with departments on really understanding um, particularly with the new administration, what all of the different things that every department is doing.

Um we had created kind of a very bureaucratic form that I'm sure um my departments did not appreciate um filling out for us that is kind of like what are all of the things that you do here, right?

And how do we and then worked with the mayor's budget office and with our chief structure to understand like which of these things are a core government function where the government really has a monopoly on delivery there and there's no one else doing this work?

Um, and if not us, then nobody, and if nobody, then like what happens, right?

If nobody does this work, do we have like a loss to the community, or is it like absolutely like there is a gap in services?

Um trying to think through each of those pieces.

As departments filled out that kind of workbook, if you will, um we worked with them on kind of trying to think through which of these things, particularly on the general funds, because there are a number of, I would argue, non-core programs that are not on the general fund.

Um which of these programs are nice to have.

And I think I want to be really clear, we do not believe that there is a lot of fat in the budget.

We may have kind of some inefficient processes, we might have things that we can speed up and do better, um, and perhaps with fewer resources, but we do not have a lot of junk in the in the city government budget, but we cannot afford all of the things that we do, right?

And so we were trying to work with departments on figure out like what is the core function of your department?

Um, what are the things that we really need you to deliver on and protect those?

And so then say, like, of these other things, how do we get to 400 million dollars, eliminating programs that are not the the core essential services of those departments?

And I think um the language can be a little bit.

I mean, it is obviously subjective, which is which.

Um, but I think we are really trying to do time to sort out like what we what we absolutely need versus what we like.

Um and so then in particular with MosEd and the Human Services Agency, um, we have really great partners there.

I think we don't, again, we relish none of these cuts, but we were kind of saying it looks to us, looking at your portfolio, that these programs would perhaps be some of the least impactful to take them away.

And that does not to say that they do not have an impact.

They like all of their programs in the city are doing good work, and all of them are affecting people's lives.

Um, but how do we think about which ones have an outsized impact if we cut them and protect those versus the ones that um kind of, for example, a pilot program that might be just getting off the ground that hasn't served that many people yet and hasn't necessarily um demonstrated that it is like the panacea for whatever problem it is trying to solve and kind of sorted through those things.

Um so we did give some instruction to departments on kind of like how the mayor's office was thinking about that.

Um they appropriately push back and say, no, no, no, you you misunderstand this, you misunderstand this, this is really important, and it is kind of a push and pull.

Um, and then we are in now in the mayor phase where we are kind of saying, like, A, we did not get 400 million dollars in cuts, so we will need to go find more, but like of the things that we are looking at, how do we compare like think about the impacts across all of the different pieces across all of the departments?

So nothing is like isn't you know, it's not over until we introduce the budget.

And even then, you know, we continue to work in collaboration with the board of supervisors.

And the the cuts that you're requesting of the two departments we're hearing from today, how do those compare to other departments?

What you've requested for them to cut.

Um, how do they compare?

Like on a dollar figure?

Um, I we generally the way we give targets is based on um kind of a proportion of general fund dollars, assuming certain things are like not counting certain things.

So for example, if we look at the department of uh if we look at DOS, um they have a budget of around 500 million HSA is a billi is a billion dollars effectively.

Um DOS has IHSS, that is a state pass-through, it is an important program, and it is not general fund funded, put that to the side.

Um we look at um the baselines required, for example, the dignity fund in HSA, put that to the side, and then say, like, of the total general fund that is remaining, how do we think about how much of that is revenue backed?

What happens if you like how much do you have to cut here to get um you know an equivalent dollar amount of general fund savings, and we assign targets like that.

Um and then we kind of try and hold departments targets, some departments meet targets, some departments do not.

Um and in the end, that it is the mayor's budget office job to kind of do all of that balancing in mayor phase.

Okay.

Thank you for answering those questions and for your brief presentation.

Um I think at this point, if there's no other questions, we're gonna move to uh here from the mayor's office housing community development.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I'm Sheila Nicolopoulos, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development.

I want to start with an overview of the all the services we provide that touch on seniors and then go into specific um discussion of the reductions.

So in our um we currently provide supports for seniors in many ways.

Our housing portfolio includes more than 6,400 units reserved specifically for seniors.

And in our total portfolio of 34,000 affordable units, 44% of those are occupied by households that include seniors.

We're adding 1,400 new units to our portfolio in the next few years.

We recently opened 383 Sixth AV, which has 98 units for seniors, and are moving forward with the senior development at the Laguna Honda Hospital site.

Our senior operating subsidy ensures that we are providing units for extremely low-income seniors.

And I want to highlight that we produce a number of reports and have data available on housing for seniors.

The full scope of services supported through MOHCD's community development division includes both housing stability and broader community stabilization.

For housing stability, these are important tools to prevent displacement, eviction defense, rental assistance, subsidies, and place-based services that keep people housed.

Importantly, this also includes targeted supports like HIV housing services, which address specific populations with higher vulnerability to senior to housing instability, particularly seniors.

On the community stabilization side, these investments address the underlying drivers of instability by funding legal services, gender-based violence protection, and culturally rooted community infrastructure like cultural districts.

These efforts prevent displacement, stabilize households, and support community resilience.

The community development division, which we'll be focusing on, brings together and deploys multiple funding streams, it's local, state, and federal, to address housing stability and community needs.

The division does not deliver most of these services directly.

Our role is to fund and support a network of community-based organizations that are closest to residents and best positioned to provide culturally responsive care.

In addition, the division coordinates across departments and initiatives, ensuring that housing stabilization and community development efforts are strategically aligned across the city.

In response to a significant two-year general fund deficit, the mayor's budget office directed department departments to permanently reduce general fund spending by 400 million citywide.

To meet the required reduction target, 8.5 million in ongoing permanent general fund reductions, MOHCD is prepared to stop work on the following program areas beginning in our next fiscal year.

Community-based service grant making, digital equity programs, and community facility capital improvement programs, and I'll go into detail on each of these.

I want to note that there are no general fund allocations to our housing division, so general fund reductions must be borne by the community development programs.

So to go into the first of these, the community-based services portfolio is a grant portfolio focused on prevention and stabilization services, delivering a variety of support services to high-need residents such as case management, skill development, and other supportive services.

This shows our mid-year utilization for the community-based services portfolio.

So far this year, these programs have served nearly 7,900 residents.

3,600 of those clients, almost half are older adults.

That means that 46% of all participants in this portfolio of community-based services are seniors.

San Francisco has made a meaningful investment in digital equity for older adults.

Through the Fiber to Housing Program, we deliver high-speed internet directly to 211 affordable housing sites across the city, sites where nearly 8,000 senior households live.

And through our digital skills training program, we are meeting residents where they are and teaching them to use the connectivity we we have built.

This slide highlights the reach of the Fiber to Housing Program, which provides free internet access in affordable housing sites across the city.

As of January of this year, 211 affordable housing sites have been connected, reaching nearly 20,000 units.

Of those households, nearly 8,000 are seniors, about 40% of all residents served.

For older adults, reliable internet access is not just a convenience, it's essential for telehealth, accessing benefits, staying connected to family, and avoiding isolation.

This program plays a role in helping seniors to age in place with access to services and social connections.

And this side focuses on our digital equity investments, specifically training, device distribution, and ongoing tech support.

Mid-year data shows that we've served 235 participants through these programs, and about half of those are older adult adults, which shows a strong demand from seniors for both devices and hand-on support.

For many older adults, access alone isn't enough, that training and technical assistance are critical to actually being able to use devices for telehealth, benefits access, and day-to-day needs.

These programs help seniors to build skills and confidence to stay connected and to maintain independence.

In closing, I want to acknowledge that all of the community development grant portfolios serve extremely low-income residents.

There's not a single grant program not targeted towards high-need populations.

The strategies highlight today do disproportionately impact older adults as reflected in the data.

And as a result, the reductions may be felt acutely by low-income residents, especially seniors.

We recognize that these reductions are difficult and will have real impacts on our provider network and the communities that they serve.

Thank you.

And I think I I just want to first start by making sure I understand the so the target reductions that you've arrived at are 8.5 million.

Is that correct?

Correct.

And then what you spoke to on the community-based services portfolio, is that entirely that's proposed to entirely go away.

Is that right?

It would be a program elimination, yes.

Okay.

And so within that, you're looking at the elimination of 69 grants.

You're looking at uh the elimination of the fiber the digital equity program, which includes fiber to housing.

Is that accurate?

Yeah.

Okay.

That's um that's very significant.

So six sixty-nine grants with CBOs.

Um, do they all have you been in touch with all of them?

Are they all aware of this proposed cut?

Yes.

We have.

And can you give me a sense of those 69?

Um what do they look like?

What sort of work are they doing, where are they located?

Um I'm just looking for more details.

Yeah.

I'm gonna invite my colleague up to speak a bit on uh more about this, but they're fairly evenly distributed around the city.

And the ranges um the value of the grants to these organizations also ranges quite a bit.

Do you want to add some?

Sure.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Janan Howell, Director of Community Services with MOHCD.

Um I do have a list um, supervisor, if you want to see the extent of the grants and the neighborhoods these um community-based partners are located in.

Um these providers provide the foundational um skills uh development as well as like case management and um referrals for clients from um different demographics and such.

Thank you.

And just again, um in terms of arriving at this decision, how do you identify these this portfolio of community-based services versus the other work that you're doing?

Why is this the target?

As Ms.

Kittler described, um, the decision was made by the mayor's or the budget office looking at overall portfolio, and then it was this was a direction to MOHCD to eliminate these programs.

And are are there any So the entire portfolio uh is wiped away, I understood.

Um the are there any staff reductions within this?

Yes, in total, um, MOHCD will have three uh staff reductions in relation to these budget um impacts.

Okay.

What else did you consider cutting to arrive at the cost savings, right?

I mean, what was this in competition with the and as you're coming up?

I guess I'm just I'm still I'm trying to look for the articulation of of why this focus compared to all your all your other work because everything is important, but but why this from our perspective?

Um and I just want to repeat, I don't I don't think in this year, like in the base budget this year, there was anything fluffy left, right?

There is nothing here that is that is the obvious place to cut.

Um and nonetheless, we have what was a billion uh 900 million dollar budget deficit, and we need to close that gap.

So we'll again what we went through is looking at the things that we need to preserve and how do we preserve those, and then what is kind of like left over at the end, and and how much do we need to cut.

So some other things in the Mo CD portfolio that, for example, we very intentionally did not cut um or or are intentionally trying to preserve our immigration legal services, for example.

Um tenant right to counsel, for example.

Um a number of kind of like our other the digital equity program, I think we will continue to have, and maybe Santi can correct me if I'm wrong.

There will continue to be fiber to housing in the Department of Technologies budget.

This is kind of like the support staff that kind of goes with that and thinks about how to spread that, which is an important service, but but was not like the core function of Mo C D.

And so I think we went through a list of all of the things that Mo CD does and said like this portion here feels the ancillary.

Important, but not the core function.

Supervisor Walton.

Thank you, Chair Chairman.

Just a quick question, Ms.

Kittler.

Why do we keep using that billion dollar number?

Because that's kind of misguiding.

For the two year number or for the year five number.

Sure.

For the two-year number, and explain why we keep using that billion dollar number.

Sure.

So if we Because that's not the true deficit right now.

The two-year deficit isn't is no longer projected to be a billion dollars, right?

And it will be zero dollars when we introduce the budget, as that is the exercise.

As we look currently look at the our current spending patterns and the cost escalations that go with rising labor costs, like the rising cost of health care, um inflation and all of our construction, those costs go up by around 1.8 billion dollars over the next four years, um, while revenues increase around $800 million over the next four years.

And so when we look at the 2030 deficit, that is still expected to be a billion dollars short of corrective action.

You are correct, Supervisor, that the two-year deficit um was in the 900s in December, um, and through a number of good uh some good news on fund balance, some underspending, some good revenue news, um that is no longer a billion dollars, and I you are correct to correct me that we should be using a closer to six hundred and ninety million dollar number there.

And and I only said it because I think it's just important because we are, even though I always feel we do budget from year to year, but we are in a two-year budget process.

Yep.

That billion dollar number is very scary.

And I just think it can be deceptive in terms of what we're working towards for the next two-year budget.

So I want to make sure I I got that on record.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

And I just have one more question for MOCD.

So if if these cuts are to go through and these programs do um or are eliminated, can you tell me how you're preparing to transition both the CB, the partners you've been working with, the nonprofits, the CBOs, and then also you know, the thousands and thousands of people that have been receiving these services.

Um, you know, and I'm thinking of the also the 20,000 uh receiving the fiber to housing.

I mean, how does how do we make sure that we're not just leaving them out in the blue?

We're working on a transition plan.

We've had initial conversations with all of our grantees.

These are proposed cuts.

Um, so we are still working on what that transition will look like.

Okay.

Um thank you.

We now are gonna hear from the Department of Disability and Agent Services, and we'll start with uh I believe Director Deerman.

There we go.

Great.

Thank you for making it big.

Yeah.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Kelly Deerman.

I'm the executive director of the Department of Disability and Aging Services.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here.

I am gonna start with Okay.

I will admit I am not technologically advanced and so I'm the slide guy.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Okay, I'm gonna stand over here.

All right.

So I'm gonna give you a quick overview of uh our department just so we can do some level setting, and then my deputy director, Cindy Kaufman will give you more details about um uh budget.

Okay, so next slide, please.

Okay, so first, you know, our department, we envision a city where um people with disabilities and older adults can live um a dignified, engaged and valued life.

And so our mission is to uh support the well-being, safety, and independence of older adults, people with disabilities, veterans and their families.

And as you can see, we do that um our values are around compassion, uh, inclusivity, uh, inclusion, accountability, um, all those things because we believe everyone should be able to live here and feel good, have dignity, et cetera.

Okay, next slide.

So in terms of where we are right now, we currently have a 548 million dollar budget, and that is for our direct services as well as all the grants we provide.

We have about 450 employees, and we work with over 65 community-based organizations with whom we partner who provide all the amazing services that you see going around on around the city.

Next slide, please.

So the way we work is it's on a continuum.

We recognize we offer this range of services depending on the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.

So our services range from engagement and wellness services, that would be our community services, our community centers, excuse me, our congregate meals.

And on the other end, it's to stabilize, we have stabilizing services like case management, crisis intervention, like APS, and our guardianship programs.

Next slide.

So on this slide, the only thing I really want to tell you is about our structure on the left side, all of our department programs, those are our direct services.

IHSS, APS, Conservatorship, Public Guardian, REP Pay.

And on the other side of the slide, those are all of our community services.

So that's all done through the a lot of it is done through the Office of Community Partnerships.

So and that's where I will leave it so that my deputy director can take over.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kelly.

Next slide, please.

I am Cindy Kaufman.

I am the deputy director of community services with the Department of Disability and Aging Services.

So as Kelly gave you the broader information about DOS, I want to now turn toward the community services division, specifically the Office of Community Partnerships.

Almost all of DOS's discretionary general fund is concentrated in our portfolio for community-based organizations.

As such, the reductions are by necessity proposed to be implemented in this area.

Next slide.

So DOS, designated as San Francisco's Area Agency on Aging as part of the Older Americans Act, connects older adults, caregivers, and adults with disabilities to services that support independence.

The Office of Community Partnerships, who serves as the Area Agency on Aging, partners with community-based organizations to provide culturally appropriate resources across the city.

Through our partnerships, DOS Office of Community Partnerships is able to serve approximately 55,000 unduplicated individuals and close to 136,000 service enrollments.

We have over 65 service providers offering over 60 different services through approximately 245 contracts.

Approximately 104 million is allocated annually for services.

Next slide.

Housing support, which include housing subsidies, nutrition and wellness, probably our most well-known in providing congregate and home-delivered meals.

And then last but certainly not least, self-care and safety, which includes ombudsmen as well as suicide prevention prevention and emotional support.

Next slide.

So this slide gives you, just to give you a little bit of context of San Francisco as a whole, as well as who DOS serves with within that.

There are also almost 37,000 adults with disabilities living in San Francisco.

Among both groups, more than half identify as black, indigenous, or people of color.

For older adults, the highest subgroup is API with adults with it while adults with disabilities are more likely to be Latinx or black African American.

Next slide.

So the DOS client profile, we serve approximately 55,000 individuals and older adults and almost 6,000 adults with disabilities.

DOS clients are more likely to be BIPOC than the general population.

Clients with disabilities are just disproportionately likely to be Latinx or black African American compared to the general population.

Next slide.

This slide gives you a view of DOS client with an equity factor.

We look at how well we are doing in serving the city's diverse population across these five equity factors.

They include BIPOC, LGBTQ, limited English proficiency, living alone, and low to moderate income.

As far as the DOS client population, we see higher prevalence of most equity factors, except LGBTQ plus status, and a staggering 80% of clients are low to moderate income.

Next slide.

Moving on to the proposed budget reductions.

Next slide.

This gives you a sense that the line down below is from the growth in our in-home supportive services program.

That program is our largest direct service program.

It's grown from approximately 25,000 to about 33,000 between fiscal year 21 and 25.

Whereas if you look at the Office of Community Partnerships across that same period of time, we've grown from a little under 40,000 to 55,000.

So the budget reduction.

So the HSA directive, so the entire agency of which DOS is one department, was it was 8.5 million in discretionary spending reductions.

DOS submitted 2.9 million in proposed reductions.

As we review the criteria we use to identify budget reductions, I think it's important to note that this is our second year of significant cuts to discretionary funding, which ultimately affects services.

Last year, DOS reduced over $2.5 million in CBO contracts and nearly $800,000 through contract attrition.

This was guided by criteria such as leveraging state and federal funds, pausing new programs, right sizing budgets based on spending, and reviewing performance.

This year we looked to do similar things, but unfortunately, those efforts did not get us to our target, so we had to make deeper and harder choices.

This slide shows the criteria we use to make those choices, first and foremost to protect and maintain core services.

This is primarily dictated not only by the city, but also through the Older Americans Act.

There are services like community centers, case management, and meal programs that are part of the Older Americans Act, and some of these services that were reduced or eliminated in our proposal achieve the same or similar outcomes as the core services, but not at the same scale.

Where to cut a core service impacts significantly more people.

Also, it was hoped that people impacted by some of our the reductions we proposed could be referred to the core services that are still in place.

The next we looked at was reviewing areas of budget growth over multiple years.

Again, the idea was to maintain services but trim services back to their core.

Next was assessing pilot programs.

Piloting new programs has allowed DOS to test innovative ideas and learn what resonates with the populations we serve.

During this budget process, we looked at pilots through the lens of funding resources needed and whether it was a core service or a valued service, but not core.

Unfortunately, the really nice to have valued service wasn't always an option as we looked at our budget target.

Next was expiration of one-time funding.

In good times, we have had the opportunity to continue programs through local funding.

For this budget year, extending funding would mean cutting other funding.

And then last but not least, looking at similar or overlapping services became a key criteria for us.

Again, it wasn't that the service being reduced didn't have value.

They have value, but it was more looking to see if other similar services were available.

Having said all of this, and before we get into the actual budget reductions, I would like to start by saying DOS services are very popular.

We have demonstrated outcomes and impacts in the community.

We have strong, dedicated partners in the community, which I think is evident here, which has made for very, very difficult decisions.

So the areas impacted.

Next slide.

First, in access and empowerment, West Side Legal Services was an expansion of legal services on the West side of the city.

End of a pilot program launched and funded in part by state funding.

The funds ran from July 2022 through September 2024.

The state did not renew the funding.

Home care advocacy.

This funds two client provider government work groups whose purpose is to improve communication in response to needs across stakeholders.

While it informs client-facing services, it is not a direct service.

Last in this area is aging and disability resource center coordinator, provides coordination and support to the network of 14 aging and disability resource centers.

While it supports direct service providers, this position does not provide direct services, and DOS will bring coordination in-house.

Next is case, the next area is case and care navigation.

The Veterans Justice Court case management has been impacted, providing case management management support services to veterans participating in the Veterans Justice Court.

It impacts approximately 20 participants who will be redirected to DOS case management program, which is considered a core service.

And then last in this area is the IHSS Tide Case Management, providing case management for I identified IHSS recipients.

Current clients served by this provider are IHS recipients and eligible for CalAIM Medical Fund and Enhanced Case Management or ECM.

The current grant recipient also provides ECM services and will transition these folks to that service.

Next and probably the largest is the community connection and engagement.

First community center extensions, these are funding reductions.

These are programs providing engagement to clients not otherwise participating in community centers.

We reduced funding by half, thus reducing the footprint to just the community center in the area.

Next door neighborhood-based programs providing community engagement in underserved districts.

Each provider maintains a community center in the area, which is not impacted.

The services in these underserved areas will remain higher than the pre-2020 levels.

The LGBTQ Community Services and Adult Day Health Center Pilot.

This is a licensed community-based adult day health program offering enhanced programming.

ADHCs are funded through Medi-Cal, primarily via community-based adult services, not typically funded by DOS, as adult day programs are our core service program in this space.

Similar programming available through DOS Digital Literacy and SF Connected programs, which are core programs.

Funding reduction removes the telehealth portion of the service only, which is consistent with client preferences.

And then last in this category is reserve.

This is a workforce program placing already skilled workers in temporary subsidized jobs and encouraging employers to hire them at the end of the subsidy period.

This reduced the grant by approximately 50% in the hopes of referring those impacted to workforce opportunities in other departments.

And then in self-care and safety, it is the video doorbells, which was launched in response to a wave of API-focused street violence.

It's not a core service, and interest in the program has waned.

And then last is the senior escort program, providing escort services to medical appointments and other errands in community.

This was launched in response to the same wave of API-focused street violence.

This is a 12.5 reduction in service.

We'll monitor to see if a sense of safe of safety has improved for DOS population as a result of other investments in street safety.

So there have been no proposed cuts to caregiver support, housing support, or nutrition and wellness.

Although the flat funding for nutrition, I know many of you have heard feels like a cut because of the high rate of inflation.

These reductions can potentially impact as many as 2400 program enrollments if people do not engage in other available services.

Again, I want to emphasize and acknowledge the impacts these reductions may have on the CBOs and the people receiving the services.

The hope is that people can be redirected as much as possible to other core services.

Thank you.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Supervisor, go on.

Thank you.

And thank you for the presentation.

And I appreciate the level of detail.

I think even if we are not to agree with the cuts, I think the transparency into your mindset and your thinking is what the general public deserves to hear.

So thank you for that.

A first question, just so I understand this correctly.

No.

To HSA in general, and you absorb 2.9 of that.

Correct.

Okay.

I want to understand that correctly.

Good.

Thank you.

And similar question to our last department.

Can you tell me about impact to staff within these cuts?

So the with these cuts, this was primarily being directed for discretionary funding.

We had another two million to achieve at HSA through staffing cuts.

Okay.

And within that, those other cuts will you be impacted within DOS?

So within DOS, we do we are impacted.

We have, I want to say at least two positions that have been impacted across DOS.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I guess my one general question I have today is, you know, we have a lot of your partners in the room here.

What do you need to hear or what could help you to hear from them today and in the the coming months?

Um what sort of feedback are you looking to hear from the people that are doing this work and the people who are served by this work?

I honestly I I am open to hearing anything and everything they have to say.

I know we all have a different lens with which we are we we look at this.

For them, they are being impacted.

For us, we know we are impacting them.

So I do want to hear from them.

Um open to it is trying to hit targets knowing it's going to create pain, but trying to create the least amount of pain to the folks we served, as well as the folks providing the services, recognizing that it it does impact them.

Can you tell and just two more questions?

Can you tell me a little bit more about in terms of the cuts?

Um community center extensions and then neighborhood-based programs.

Again, what those represent in the thinking there.

Yeah, those are so those came up in um looking at various um efforts in either where the um programs were operated, and if I can grab my notes real quick.

Go for it.

He knows it all.

Good morning, supervisor.

Or good afternoon supervisors.

My name is Mike Zog.

I am the program director with Office of Community Partnerships.

So starting with our community center extensions, these were two programs that were reaching out into supervisorial districts, um, one in District One, one reaching out towards Park Merced, um, to engage clients that we know are out in the community and that are not reaching, we are not that are not re engaging in those community centers themselves.

Um these have been successful programs.

Uh we kind of looked at data to understand who out of those programs are actually also known to the centers and who are not.

We were actually really pleased to see that they are reaching well over half of their clientele are actually reaching clients who not are not otherwise coming in.

Um this put us in the difficult position where we had to make the decision to protect the community center as the core kind of infrastructure in each district and attempt to find some budget reduction in shrinking those outreach um efforts while trying to encourage um uh you know le less services would be offered, but also trying to increase encouragement of people to engage in these sort of uh dedicated spaces.

Um the neighborhood-based programs were based on uh DOS data um related to engagement of um looking to reach underserved uh populations um in specific districts in the city.

Um those have been in place for a handful of years.

Um in the subsequent years since then, we have seen um increased investment again in those um infrastructure uh setting community center spaces within our community center grants.

So we chose to protect those and allow those neighborhood-based programs to to wind down.

I think we we looked at data again and found that um even with the window of those neighborhood-based programs, aren't DOS investment in those communities uh remains higher than at the time of of their initial their initial uh start.

Okay.

Um go ahead, please.

Yeah, go ahead.

Supervisor Walton.

Thank you, Chair Channel.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Um my first question, just on side twelve, when we're looking at the populations, what is other referring to the so other refers to um areas that were people declined to state, so we couldn't put them, they didn't state that they had a disability or they didn't state their age, or so we couldn't easily identify them in either in any of the um in any of the equity factor sections.

So they we tracked them, but they just we had no way of uh blocking them.

What's the total hit to IHSS?

From total what?

The total hit to IHSS on these proposed.

So IHSS because it is a mandatory program, IHSS does not have a hit to this.

That side, if if you look at when Kelly was presenting um the left side, those are all of our mandatory programs.

It's APS, it's IHSS, it's the conservatorship programs.

So there's no discret, there's not it it's not discretionary funding like IHSS has federal funds.

It has there's a match that the state has to make, and there's a match that the city county has to make.

So those receive no impacts.

On slide 16, it says IHSS tied case management.

Yeah, I was using that as a comparison of growth.

That is our largest direct service program, so you can see the growth of it compared to the Office of Community Partnerships, which is the community-facing program, that the growth in that has been the the both the the number of people served and the growth has been greater across the years.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um thank you.

And just one last maybe more of a a comment really.

You know, I when you talk about the reductions and you mention some of the you know, focusing on the core capacity, um, I understand that, and you give the example of of giving up the safety um or making the safety reductions around video doorbells and senior escort.

Uh in the abstract, I you know, understand that that may not be a core competency, and something like that lives better within SFPD or other agencies.

But you know, I d uh those are services, particularly senior escort that have been heavily utilized by older adults, of course.

And so I want to make sure in a case like that, um, or in any of the other instances where you know you're suggesting that it really is someone else's core competency.

That may be the truth, but I want to make sure that there's actually the the follow-through and the transition and like a warm handoff so that the other department actually understands that it is their core competency, right?

I I want to make sure, you know, we heard the same thing with digital equity, um, that work being more maybe under um Department of Technology, which again I understand in the abstract, um, but I just want to make sure that things are not um that things don't fall through the cracks.

Thank you, Supervisor.

We agree with you a hundred percent.

This is it is a reduction.

We have every intention, it's in reaction of some of the things that have happened.

We will continue to work with our CBO who provides it to get feedback as to the impact on the population.

Are they going out more?

If if there has been no change, then we will absolutely re-evaluate the need of it.

We are used to with the populations we serve, we are used to sometimes standing in that that lead role.

Okay.

Thank you for this presentation.

Thank you.

Um I think at this time we will call on for public comment.

Um, and that usually when I see large crowd, I would limit this to one minute.

But I think today we will go with the standing two minutes, uh, seeing that there are organizing effort today.

Yes, we're now opening public comment for this item number one.

If we have any members of the public who wish to address this committee, uh let's see, we did receive a request for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act for remote public comment.

So before we get to our first live speaker, uh Mr.

Lamb kindly meet our caller, and I'll start their time as soon as as they begin.

Okay.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Supervisors, and thank you, committee members, for hearing us today.

My name is Fiona Hindley with the dignity fund coalition and coalition of agencies serving the elderly leadership team to both of them.

Um hear from um providers and um their consumers and clients.

Um just um I wanted I wanted to outline a couple things.

One, we know that um that the budget choices ahead of you and for the department are difficult ones.

Um so I appreciate the thoughtful we appreciate the thoughtfulness um with regard to considering what you're considering before you today.

Um, but two, um, as direct Deputy Director Kaufman outlined for you with the seven service areas.

Um it was brought about by the dignity fund needs assessment that there are that there is growing need in all seven of those areas, and yet those are where uh look most of the cuts are being proposed, and so you'll hear specifically from those folks that are affected as I said, but it um it does um there is some irony there, the very growing need in those areas, and yet those are the areas that are being cut.

And then lastly, I will remind folks that um these services are preventative and are um a lot lower cost than if um folks had to be in other uh settings, and we all would prefer to be in community.

And so I appreciate you hearing me today, and I look forward to hearing also from the providers and clients.

But thank you much, Feyon the Hindsey for addressing this committee.

And uh to those in line uh as demonstrated, you you should hear two chimes.

The first chime will be your third second warning to wrap up, and the second uh chime would mean your time is expired.

And with that, first speaker, please.

Thank you so much.

Good afternoon.

My name is Eric Greenfrost, genderqueer and old pronouns.

I'm a district 10 resident of the executive director of senior and disability action and a member of the People's Budget Coalition.

SCA's home care advocacy contract, about 145,000 dollars a year is being cut two years into a four-year contract.

Like many here, I am angry, concerned, frustrated, and confused about the cuts.

The mayor and his office have spun a narrative that these cuts are unavoidable unavoidable, that there is no choice, but there is always a choice.

One billion dollars in cuts is a choice, not a necessity.

Please remember that as you listen to all of us today.

Well, difficult decisions certainly have to be made.

The city has options and current proposals are moving in the wrong direction, drastically and dramatically reshaping our city.

San Francisco has the resources to avoid any cuts to essential services.

Rather than using reserve funds, including the shadowy legal settlement reserve to weather federal and state cuts, the mayor is demanding all departments must shoulder that burden.

Well, all departments that is, except ones like the police and district attorney.

Rather than rallying for increased funding, the mayor is actively fighting against taxing overpaid CEOs and is trying to weaken the incredibly successful tax on luxury real estate transactions.

Meanwhile, revenue outlooks are improving.

Just today we heard that 400 million of that one billion could be restored.

The million the million uh three million dollar dignity fund increase is now finally being funded this year, and yet, while this funding could totally cover all the proposed DOS contract cuts, DOS is refusing to commit these funds towards that reversal, leaving essential services at risk.

To be clear, budget decisions are not neutral.

They are not just about closing a deficit.

They are about what the city chooses to prioritize.

The question is whether the city, and by default, you all will choose to protect our most vulnerable community members and those organizations who serve them, or continue making cuts that widen gaps and make it harder for people to remain stable and age at home with dignity.

Thank you.

And thank you, Eric Green Frost.

And before we call the next speaker, just to the members of the audience, uh, we do have a rule against uh any audible uh applause.

So if you like what you hear, thumbs up uh or maybe spared figures.

If you don't like what you hear, thumbs down.

But uh in order to be able to hear from everybody here and in the interest of time, uh please refrain from any applause.

Next speaker, please.

Yeah, my name is Kenoth Johnson.

I'm a native San Franciscan.

And I wanted to uh suggest that the uh the city look at the all these billionaires.

Oh, you've got all these billionaires here that live in the city.

And it seems like they should bear some of the weight of some of these.

If the city needs some money, I mean, they got the money.

I mean, people don't need that much money.

I mean, if you're a billionaire, then if if you if you live in a city, you should care enough to try to help the help the city uh, you know, progress and and and and help the people that live there who who built the city.

So I just want to I wanted the supervisors to think about, you know, talking to some of the billionaires, you know, like you got our Salesforce, you've got I don't know how many billionaires you got, but you know, uh check with them and get some money from NAMN to just straighten the bus to straighten the budget out.

Yeah, so think about that, please.

Thank you much.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Kate Cookrow.

I'm co-executive director of community living campaign and a district eleven resident.

Uh, thank you, Eric, and others, for reminding us that the budget is a moral document shaped by uh our choices.

And I want to speak specifically about the impact of multiple cuts and who they affect.

These cuts are not happening in isolation, as you've just heard today.

Um we're seeing programs reduced or eliminated across DOS, public health, OEWD, and other departments, all on top of last year's reductions, and the impact is compounding over time.

We hear that there's space to go move somebody into an existing program.

The reality is most of our programs are oversubscribed.

We have waiting lists.

We don't have the ability to absorb large amounts of folks from other programs, even though we would love to.

We're past cutting extras, as you've heard.

These reductions are weakening an interconnected system that older adults and people with disabilities rely on to stay housed, healthy, and connected.

And the reality is our neighbors have needs that are not met by all ages programs.

When focus programs are reduced, there is nowhere else for folks to go.

For instance, at Community Living Campaign, we are facing a 500,000 per year cut, a 50% reduction in our SF reserve workforce program.

It exists because traditional workforce programs do not work for many older adults and people with disabilities.

When programs are cut, participants can't just move somewhere else.

They lose the services, stability, and connection.

Older adults and people with disabilities make up more than a quarter of our city.

Many live on fixed incomes and are already struggling with the cost of housing, food, and care.

These folks are among the least able to afford these cuts.

We just delivered messages from our neighbors to the mayor's office before this hearing.

Um, and you'll hear from many more folks today who will be directly impacted by your budget choices.

We should not be balancing the budget on the backs of people who are already struggling.

Speaker's time has expired, but thank you, Kate Kuchra.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Christina Irving.

I am co-chair of the Dignity Fund Coalition.

The services that you're hearing today that are being cut are services that keep people active, healthy, stable, and living safely in their homes and in their communities.

These supports do something incredibly important.

They prevent crises before they happen.

When people have help navigating systems and a support system who can identify problems when they arise, they are far less likely to end up in emergency rooms, shelters, or institutions.

Outcomes data shows that 98% of community service clients report positive health impacts, and clients are able to maintain and increase their independence and their ability to live at home.

Ninety-nine percent of senior escort clients feel safer, and 100% of workforce clients report services help remove barriers to employment.

Cutting or suspending this funding doesn't save money.

It shifts costs to far more expensive systems like hospitals, nursing facilities, and homeless services.

We already know that nearly half of single adults experiencing homelessness are age 50 or over, and many lose housing for the first time as an older adult.

Almost half of residents, 65 and over in San Francisco lack enough income to meet their basic needs.

Voters created the dignity fund to stabilize services, advance equity, and keep pace with the growing population.

The city has chosen to suspend that allocation when the deficit is above that limit.

They have chosen to put the burden of balancing the budget on this community.

Times may be tough, but that should not mean that we are abandoning those who really shaped and formed the city and who continue to provide value and services.

Thank you.

And thank you, Christina Irving.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Jenny Belway.

I'm the executive director of San Francisco Village, a nonprofit that supports over 700 older adults and disabled residents aging in place across the city, backed by hundreds of trained volunteers.

Thank you for this committee for your ongoing advocacy on behalf of San Francisco's most vulnerable residents.

Your attention to these cuts matters enormously to the people we serve.

I need you to understand what these cuts will actually cost.

San Francisco has 191,000 residents over 60.

Nearly 100,000 live with a disability.

30 to 35% of them live alone.

Right now, a network of community-based nonprofits is the only thing standing between these residents and your most expensive systems.

Emergency rooms, skilled nursing facilities, the shelter system.

The Surgeon General has declared isolation as a national health emergency, and isolated seniors cost Medicare $6.7 billion more per year.

They are 29% more likely to end up in institutional care, which in San Francisco at the low end costs $8,500 more a month.

Every dollar spent on prevention returns up to $14 in avoided costs.

When you cut these contracts, you are not reducing the cost.

You are moving it to Zuckerberg General to Lagoon Honda to Department of Public Health.

You are paying more later for the same people, people who make up a significant percentage of the population.

By 2030, up to 30% of San Francisco's will be 30, will be 65 and older, with 75 and older, a huge piece of that and the fastest growing.

The demand is not going away.

This question before the question before the committee is not whether we will pay, it's when and how much.

Protect these investments, please.

The fiscal case is unambiguous.

Thank you.

And thank you, Jenny Belloway.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for hearing me today.

I'm happy to be here to speak on behalf of Golden Gate Senior Services.

My name's Kalida Walling, and I'm the executive director.

We run two small senior centers.

Um, one is in the Castro, the other is in the Richmond.

Uh we serve we've been serving for over 50 years, um, helping seniors access the resources the city has to offer through our aging and disability resource center hosting a hot lunch.

Many of the folks who come to our centers, that's the only hot meal that they're gonna get that day.

Um but in addition to our community services, we have one of the programs that was mentioned by DOS earlier that's called an extension program that evidently is being cut in order to protect our community services program.

So I'm here today on behalf of Golden Gate Village, which is a program that for the past 10 years has been serving people living in the Richmond district and helping them remain living independently and staying connected with their community.

We serve over 261 people, and we're being cut by 47 percent.

So we're being asked to decide which of the 261 people need to lose services that we have to stop providing the extension services to.

And I want to make a point that 70% of the people in our village are not already affiliated with our senior centers.

So these are not people who are an extension of our senior center.

These are people that we've gone beyond our centers out into the community and begun to help, and they really do rely on us.

And I'm not gonna give you a lot of statistics, but I'll give you some real, real facts.

What our village does during emergencies, which we've had a lot of lately, during periods of crisis like poor air quality, the pandemic, extreme weather, and most recently power outages, our village provides immediate direct outreach to our members, checking on their well-being and providing them with updates and information and resources that can be hard to find in these times.

Last December, for example, we had a three-day power outage, and we were able to call more than 350 seniors who live alone out in the community, all of them over 70, many of them over 80.

Speaker's time has expired.

But thank you much for don't cut on the backs of the seniors.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you.

My name is Gabriela Schultz, and I belong.

I want you to feel the power of the word belong.

I am part of the Castro Senior Center.

There are 12 of us today, and many who are not because of mobile mobility and social interest.

We are across section of San Francisco of financial difficulties and not physical difficulties and not social difficulties and not.

I don't, not all of them apply to me.

Tomorrow they might.

Tomorrow they might apply to you or your family.

We are potent, supportive.

There are people that have no contact with anybody other than our center.

So part of our center is creating family.

Family isn't a want.

Family is a need.

Being seed, being seen, and belonging someplace is not a want, it is a need.

We are potent, we are important, and I am passionately advocating that the Board of Supervisors rescind, refuse any cuts to disability and senior services.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gabriella Schultz.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Dan Gallagher.

I'm the CEO of Stepping Stone Health.

I'm here to speak on the proposed cuts and funding to programs providing community engagement for older adults.

At a time where the only population growing in San Francisco, as you've heard, is older adults over the age of 65.

There appears to be sediment to turn our backs on that population.

A population where data shows that 40%, 46% of older adults in San Francisco do not have enough income to meet their basic needs.

And where isolation is a social determinant of one's health.

This is even a greater need for the LGD LGBTQ plus community.

The need for specific socialization efforts to effectively serve the LGBTQ plus San Franciscans is noted in the recently released Dignity Fund Community Needs Assessment, which reported the LGBTQ plus population is the only subgroup with an equity factor whose participation rate is less than that of the overall eligibility population, which is about half the overall rate.

LGBTQ plus individuals may feel uncomfortable accessing these services due to feeling unwelcome in some service settings.

And lastly, the need for was particularly great for LGBTQ plus adults with disabilities, 53% of whom need uh report sufficient social contact as an unmet need.

Stepping Stone Health has been meeting these identified needs by providing an inclusive health care and socialization services to the LGBTQ plus population for decades and since 2017 in a contract with the Department of Disability and Aging Services.

That's the pilot that's been for the last nine years.

In that pilot, we have met all conformance standards and all program objectives.

But thank you much for addressing this committee.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Edward Whitmore.

I live in Bernal Heights.

Thank you, supervisors, for allowing us to come here to speak.

And thank you, Director Cutler.

I'm not sure I understand everything she said.

In fact, I know I didn't, but I got the idea that she's saying that there's across the board cuts to everything.

And so we just have to take our hit.

I'm fine with that, if that's true.

If it's not, then maybe we need to look at something.

I really agreed with the disability and aging services group over here.

They're amazing.

I love the their mission and their vision.

And it's exactly what I wanted to kind of talk about, which is I know we're talking about money here, and it's a budget, and that's important and stuff, but I hope we're not losing sight of the intangibles, you know, respect, dignity.

And so put that out there.

And the two problems I see with this, the budget is being cut, but the need is going up.

I mean, that's what those charts show.

The population is increasing and projected to keep going up.

So why would we be cutting this area?

It seems like we should be putting more money into it.

And in addition to a little tiny point about um inflation and how there's a fixed cost for lunch and meals and stuff.

Well, all of a sudden you can provide fewer meals with the same money.

So saying that it's cap, mmm, not really true.

You know, the benefits are going down.

Uh so I guess finally, uh, money is not the best way to measure value, you know.

Um so what is the value of the dignity provided to disabled people?

And what's the value of respect felt by older folks who receive the services?

Um I use the cashier seniors, I'm not representing the cash or senior center, but I use their services and they're great.

Now you Tai Chi and I do exercises, and it's amazing.

It's like a little Victanian there, if those remember Victani exercise.

It's really cool.

Um, what your budget sends.

You know, when you allocate money, you indicate what you value, and I hope you value seniors and disabled people, and thank you very much.

Thank you much, Edward Whitmore.

Next speaker.

Thank you, supervisors and department representatives.

My name is Janet Crane.

I'm co-founder and board member of Next Village, San Francisco.

We're here to advocate for reinstatement of all the funds for the dignity fund and specifically for the restatement of $142,000 for D2U, a program that's managed by Next Village.

Next Village and D2U are part of a national village movement, a model movement of 276 organizations supporting seniors aging in place.

The cancel program was created because DUS did a needs assessment study that showed a high level of in of isolation among seniors in District 2, despite the fact there's a senior center there.

It's a dignity fund contract managed by Next Village, providing high quality cultural, social, and educational programs out in the community in District 2.

These events are popular and attract older adults from all over town.

It's a major pathway for people becoming members of the village movement.

D2U supports the mayor's budget in three ways.

It maintains safe communities.

It ensures long-term health outcomes by reducing isolation and loneliness.

It makes San Francisco more affordable for families by keeping older adults in their homes.

The cohort of older adults is rapidly growing.

This is the moment the city should support innovative programs that are models for the future.

Next Village and D2U are known nationally in the village movement as a model program for our high level of services to our members with 260 volunteers and over 50 events a month, many of which are created by D2U.

Very few villages are supported by their local governments, and that support makes a significant difference in how much we can do.

Losing the D2U funding sets back the momentum of the village movement in general and next 16 years.

Thank you.

But thank you much, Janet Crane.

Next speaker.

Hi, my name is Donna Boer.

I'm a resident of San Francisco for many, many years.

And for the last six years, I have had the pleasure of being the director of Next Village's District 2 University.

You have heard about the long-term costs of social isolation and loneliness, so I will not reiterate those stats for you.

Michael Zog mentioned that there is a senior center in District 2.

We actually have gotten many people in the doorway of the senior center because many people don't think they're old enough to walk into a senior center.

So we work hard to get them into the senior center as well as to make them aware of the other resources that are available to them.

I uh in addition, um we well, actually I'm going to be really quick so that our members can talk because they can speak to this more uh directly than I.

But I just want to say that uh we hope you will restore funding.

We think it's important for people to connect so they can continue to thrive and be active participants in the city that they have called home for decades.

And we thank you for your time and taking seriously the long-term effects of cutting dignity funding will have on all of the incredible people served by the organizations facing cuts to vital programming.

Thank you, Mr.

Donnerborough.

Next speaker.

I'm Jean Marsh, and I am from the Northeast District of San Francisco, which is District 3.

And I'm very grateful to say that I have been a D2U attendee.

Um I've attended so many of the events and found them so worthwhile.

There have been tours and walks and musical events and parties and lectures and health-related events and even out of uh out of the uh in the Bay Area but out of town visits.

Um I actually been feeling very nervous and uh hesitant to speak today because I have a hearing loss.

And um actually, when I thought about it, I thought that's the very reason I should speak up, because I do have a difficulty.

Um I'm a single woman who's lived in San Francisco for decades, and I've enjoyed the many activities and the events and the opportunities available here in the Bay Area.

Also, I've been a very active volunteer over those many years.

Um as I said, I am a senior with a severe hearing loss.

I'm deaf in one ear, and I have very limited hearing in the other ear.

I wear a cochlea implant in this ear and a hearing aid in this ear.

I don't hear everything.

The thing is, I don't know what I don't hear.

And this makes me very uncomfortable in many situations.

Even the very common everyday situations, but especially in crowded or noisy environments.

And I know for my health and my well-being, I need to stay active and stimulated to be with people in person and be out and about.

Isolation and sitting alone at home day after day is very detrimental.

And I'm certainly not alone in this situation.

Speaker side.

But thank you much, Jean Marsh, for addressing this committee.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker, please.

I do apologize for cutting anybody off, but I do have to enforce two minutes in the uh for the sake of equity.

Good afternoon, and thank thank you, supervisors.

My name is Mary Rose Hayes.

I've lived in the Bay Area and mostly in District 2 since I was very young.

And I've been married for 65 years.

I'm 87 years old.

Last year, my husband Patrick died on St.

Patrick's Day, so I don't celebrate that anymore.

But I can readily understand from that kind of horrible, a horrible situation, which is inevitable.

The you know that the real possibility of being isolated, staying home, and um not taking part in the world.

And I thank God that I found Next Village, which not only has provided me with uh great uh social occasions and um musical events and companionship, and also I'm technically challenged.

They sent a uh very nice man over to help me with my computer.

Uh I don't know what I'd do without them.

And I'm going to cut it really short, but I uh here, but I do thank them so much from the bottom of my heart, and I thank you very much, supervisors, for listening to me.

Thank you.

And thank you, Mary Rose Hayes.

Next speaker, please.

Hello.

My name is Michelle Anderson.

I'm 80 years old and I am disabled as well, and I'm from NOE.

I'm here because I want to tell you about D2 University and Next Village and what it has meant to me and so many of my neighbors that are here.

I come from the arts.

I've always wanted to attend the San Francisco opera, but I really never had the funds.

D2U had secured free tickets for the last dress rehearsal.

I saw the Monkey King last year.

It was a thrill.

That's what this program does.

It brings you together.

Not only was I at the opera, but I was there with all my D2U next village friends.

And that matters more than I can say.

Because many of us live alone, we do not have family nearby, and without this, we would simply stay at home.

As you know, the Surgeon General and others talked about isolation, how dangerous it is, as much as smoking.

These programs allow seniors to be connected.

And this I want to say saves this city money.

It saves uh you while we are independent, that is one less person in crisis in need of services.

I want to say that cutting these funds closes the door to many people just like me.

D2U is not a luxury.

It is connection, it is joy, and it is peace of mind.

And I just want to remind you if you're all lucky, you're gonna be like us, independent older adults.

So save this program.

It's an incredible gift to us, and it's already working, so don't take it away.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you much, Michelle Anderson.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

Uh my name is Joqualen Zimmer Jones.

I'm the director at Next Village San Francisco, and D2U is one of our premier programs.

First of all, I want to say thank you so much to all of you for hosting this event today, outside of the norms of a typical budget hearing.

It really makes everyone feel heard, including my friends that I brought with me today from District 2 University.

It's unusual, and it's really important to us that you understand what we are all going through and what we're going through on behalf of our members.

I think she said it well.

It's your turn tomorrow, so help a senior today.

I think when you get to that point, you're going to wish these programs were here for you.

And we're doing a tremendous job of operating these programs on very little money.

I want to say that in response to some of the comments from the Department of Aging, which I know had a difficult task.

I want to say that they said that there are other resources in areas where they're making cut, there's other resources that can pick up the slack.

Well, quite frankly, District 2 University was created as a dignity fund program in response to the fact that, in spite of the fact that there's a wonderful senior center in District 2, seniors were not all seniors were not taking advantage of it and were showing signs of isolation.

Another thing that's kind of missing when you look at the return on investment is that we are only allowed to report to the department each year the number of people who participated in District 2 university who live in the district.

The department is missing critical information about the hundreds and hundreds of seniors who come to attend these events from throughout the city.

This part this program is in high demand.

It's a high quality program, and it should be in every neighborhood.

So you're not seeing all the numbers about how many people are actually being served.

I also want to note that District 2 University is a pipeline to direct volunteer services that Next Village provides.

When the director sees a member who's not doing well, she can refer them to Next Village where they can get services specifically.

Thank you so much.

And thank you, Jacqueline Zimmer Jones.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kathy Mahalik.

I'm the executive director of Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, which we call LBFE, because the other one's the mouthful.

I'm here representing all the nonprofits here today as part of the Dignity Fund Coalition and case, which is coalition of agencies serving the elderly.

I think community engagements programs that have plans to be cut in the budget is not a great choice.

And I think that as older adults age, they isolate themselves.

They become lonely.

And it has been proven that the risk of isolation is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

And we have to be very careful about that, because serving someone in the community is a lot cheaper than serving them in an institution or a hospital.

So I'm begging you to look at these cuts and not to make these cuts and find resources anywhere else.

And this is my first pack of cigarettes I've ever purchased for today.

So thank you.

Thank you, Kat Mahallock.

Next speaker, my name is Leslie Schoenberg.

I came with a backpack 45 years ago to San Francisco with a one-way ticket.

I started a life.

I raised two children.

I married for 45 years, worked my really hard to get them in the right schools, wreck and park programs, getting up six in the morning to get them in the right programs, do the right thing, do it.

Boom, woo, woo, boo.

Well, they all went through, they're all grown up, one left, one's here, and still married.

So now we're retired.

It's COVID, right?

I retire, I was a school teacher, special ed.

Nobody wants the job.

I love 25 years for San Francisco Unified School District.

And here I stand.

And I'm like, what's going on?

They asked me, what group are you with?

Recreation and Park, community living campaign, roots table, city college.

I'm with every group because I'm running around the city like a crazy person.

I'm doing all these great things because I can't be in my house all day long with the love of my life that we we're both retired.

So with that said, keeping engaged, as all doctors say, especially at Kaiser, professionals consistently emphasize the importance of staying active, mentally engaged and socially connected at our age, at your age and at my age.

The city supports programs right exactly that.

They are no extras.

They're essential.

They allow me to remain independent and connected at my age.

I took one bus from my house, I got on board, hoped the escalator worked, got off board, walked through a civic center to get here, walked all around the building to this room.

It's a challenge.

Everything's a challenge.

But you do it because if you don't do it, you sit in your house depressed.

So please remember that the services are vital.

They're an investment in the future.

And also remember, all these young adults that are working in the city that grew up in the city, they went to tiny tats.

I brought my kids to Titan Tats.

Now they're supporting the city.

So remember, one day they will be me, and I won't be here.

So I really hope.

Figure it out.

I don't know how you figure it out, but please don't cut my excitement in life of doing what I love to do, because I believe I've met the most incredible people in all these programs.

Speaker's time has expired.

But thank you much, Leslie Schoenberg.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Jane R.

Mershin, but I want you to look at me as Jane R.

Citizen.

I am with the community living campaign, and it has helped the seniors around my neighborhood immensely.

I was just lucky enough as a medical professional to take a contract assignment up in Northern California.

And I learned about the Redwoods and how underground they all support one another.

That one tree alone will fall down.

And underneath the ground, they are all supporting one another.

And that's exactly what community living campaign does.

And I've seen them, you know, neighbors would help each other anyway.

A couple will help when somebody falls down the stairs, you know, we'll bring them food.

But the community living campaign has connected like those redwoods, so that you get five, eight phone calls, and we do exercise together.

We do drama with friends together.

We do the myriad of programs that I can't mention because I only have two minutes.

And all those programs would take longer.

And they're they are essential.

I've heard that word.

So just know that the budget cuts for a cost to benefit ratio that you work out will end up costing more money due to the health, as a number of people have always already said.

Our mental health and our physical health.

I know that I can speak personally about it.

So please, you know, think of the intangibles that you can't show in your cost to benefit ratio, and how it's helping all of us prevent Alzheimer's, prevent falling down the stairs and keeping us engaged and actually joyful.

Thank you.

And thank you much for your comments, Jane Ration.

Next speaker.

Hi.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Danielle Fuentes.

I'm the district director of senior programs for the YMCA Greater San Francisco.

Appreciate being here today.

Today I'm speaking on behalf of the 275 seniors that we serve through our Stonestown family YMCA Park Merced program in District 7.

Our program is facing a $30,000 reduction.

And while that number might seem small, it's 25% of the program, which to me, more importantly, is 235 hours of being programming being cut, which is opportunities for our seniors to connect.

The impact is especially significant in District 7, where many residents are not accessing programs in other parts of the city where services are more concentrated.

Our programs serve as an important local point of connection for older adults and often helps introduce them to resources, services, and opportunities they may not otherwise know are available throughout San Francisco.

I just lost it.

For the seniors we serve, this is not simply about convenience.

When local services are reduced, many older adults are at greater risk of becoming isolated and disconnected from the support systems, that they help remain act that help remain active and engage in their community.

I also want to acknowledge that obviously there's a lot more programs that are that we are seeing over these proposed cuts.

Our seniors reserve care, connection, and continued support in the community they call home.

Thank you for your time.

And thank you, Danielle Fuentes.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Manuel Rodriguez.

I am the Vice President of Government Affairs and Grants for YMC of San Francisco.

Uh 30 years San Francisco resident, two kids at high school, public school, and I'm a member of the juvenile probation commission.

So why of San Francisco, we reach all ages and life stages.

We currently receive DOS funding, and we serve close to 8,000 active older adults at about seven sites throughout the San Francisco community.

As SF has a continuing aging population that we're hearing about today, as well as a lot of families leaving the city post-pandemic.

Cutting DOS and cutting any of these funds today is detrimental to our seniors and those with disabilities that rely on our services for meals, wellness, and so many other activities that you heard our CBO network referring to today.

So for our seniors, just to drill the point home, it's this is not about convenience, it's about access to dignity and equitable services.

So I urge the board to protect DOS funding, MOHCD funding, dignity fund funding as well.

So our seniors and the city can age with dignity and community support.

Thank you.

Thank you much, Manuel Rodriguez.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors and good afternoon, community members.

My name is Jameson Ward, and I'm an aging specialist that works at Felton Institute with low-income older adults who are experiencing loneliness and social isolation.

I'm here because funding was cut for our older adult social club.

Now, like everyone else, I understand the difficult decisions you're making as the city focuses on what they deem more essential programs, maybe like housing.

So I'm going to focus on housing and community connection.

If we want our housing investments in San Francisco to succeed, we must also support the programs that help people stay housed.

Mayor Lurie often says you can't solve what you can't see.

Today I want to help you see the older adults who are often invisible, seniors experiencing loneliness and social isolation, seniors that are homebound.

Housing alone does not solve isolation because being housed is not the same as having a home.

The social club that I work with helps older adults rebuild community and connection through tech support, through community outings, through healthy aging workshops.

And I'd like to share one story.

Margaret, her name changed.

A six-year-old cancer survivor moved from an SRO into supportive housing, but felt deeply alone.

And through our social club, she began attending workshops.

She was meeting her neighbors, she was rebuilding confidence.

And today now she's preparing to join a local senior center.

This is what prevention looks like.

This is what housing stability looks like.

And if we want our housing investments to work, we must also invest in community support that keeps our seniors healthy, keeps them connected, and keeps them engaged in our community.

I'm asking not only to restore funding for the older adult social club, but I also want you to send a message to the young adults like myself that want to age here in San Francisco.

Protect these programs, protect these people.

Thank you.

And thank you, James Ward.

Next speaker.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Josefina Pandak from the Brno Heights Neighborhood Center.

My time at the organization has included the emotional weight of witnessing our seniors' mobility deteriorate, making it more difficult for them to receive services and engaged with the community at our centers.

But that weight is eased by our mobile senior programs.

This program brings all our services to our seniors while aging at home.

We serve directly at five affordable housing sites where two sites are seniors only housing, and one site is strictly for adults with disabilities.

Bringing services directly to those seniors in their home serves our over 80 clients annually and is being cut July 1st.

These are people who are isolated, often homebound, don't have resources, and require extra support and exertion to get services at our center, let alone errants to sustain their day-to-day lives.

This was a program that was designed to reach a priority population to deal directly with the critical issues afflicting seniors and people with disabilities.

And we hope to have the means to continue to provide this service to them and more in the future.

The amount of people here in support of these programs is not due to popularity, but proof of the need for these programs in the community.

Thank you.

Thank you much, Josephina Pana.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Brett Martinez.

I am both a district five resident and the senior wellness program manager at the Booker T Washington Community Service Center.

Booker T has been an anchor institution for the Black community in the Fillmore for 107 years.

Our senior victory club is our longest running program and serves over 300 seniors each year, providing an essential intergenerational space for them to age with dignity.

Over 60% of our participants are black seniors and people with disabilities, populations that face significant disparities in homelessness, food insecurity, and health outcomes.

Given the recent challenges in our district, including the closure of Safeway and the dismantling of social safety nets, Booker T is a vital lifeline.

However, DOS plans to eliminate our neighborhood centers grant.

This would result in a loss of 147,000 annually over the next two to three years, forcing us to cut programs and lay off staff by July 1st.

We urge DOS and the city not to balance their budget on the backs of poor people and off the necks of black people.

Please restore full funding to Booker T for their critical and essential neighborhood services grant.

These cuts disproportionately impact the black community and jeopardize essential services that are not discretionary.

These are not just cuts, this is erasure.

Thank you for your time.

And thank you much for her comments.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Elaine Samuels.

I am I live in District 5.

I am a senior at Booker T Washington, and I'm in their wellness program.

I participated in all of the programs, which has educated me and helped me prevent the death of a family member.

I.e.

one of my family members had cancer from 2018.

He didn't understand the prognosis, and he and they the system never found out about the cancer until seven weeks ago.

He also was diagnosed with pro enlarged prostate 2018.

He didn't even know he had that problem until seven weeks ago.

Booker T Washington has provided me the information in the education, how to advocate for my family member.

I am also a senior.

Based on the information that Booker T Washington and the Dan and the DAS Foundation has given me the education to do the research and fight for him, advocate for him.

So he no longer has uh lung cancer.

Now we're working on the enlarged prostate.

I would not have known any of this if Booker T Washington had not provided the services to show me how, support me, and also educate me what I needed to do.

And I thank you all, please.

We need these programs because a lot of us is in our 70s and we don't know what direction to go.

And it's important.

A lot of us will be dying because we don't have the information.

And thank you, Elaine Sanders.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Katie Ullman.

I am a resident in District 5.

I'm also a member of the Booker T Washington Community Service Center Senior Victory Club.

And I know when you hear the word senior club, I think uh, oh, isn't that sweet?

A bunch of old folks sitting around playing games and chatting.

So I want to give you a different thing to think about.

I want to emphasize our senior wellness programs, which Ms.

Elaine just mentioned.

We have uh it's a lifeline.

It's a lifeline for our senior community.

We have programs yoga, shigong, sound healing, support groups, presentations on aging and brain health.

They give us access to services that support our physical, mental, and emotional health.

These are critical services that help us to overcome isolation, loneliness, and depression.

So please restore our grant.

Keep the funding intact so that these vital services don't have to be cut.

And one last thought, very personal.

The older I get, the more um invisible I feel.

Almost irrelevant.

Well, I'm not invisible, I'm not irrelevant, neither are the people in our club or any of the seniors here or any of the people with disabilities.

So keep that in mind.

Keep in mind that we vote.

And when elections come around, we will remember who advocated for us and who didn't.

Thank you.

And thank you much.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Joela Brown, and I am a member of the Senior Victory Club at Booker T, Washington.

I was born and raised in San Francisco and lived in District 5, 57 out of the 67 years I am today.

I retired two years ago, and my doctor advised me to go up to Booker T to get exercise and you know, and socialize with people and just to be around people so I would have something to do, wouldn't be lonely, wouldn't be isolated in the house doing anything.

So now five days out of the week, I'm at Booker T most of the time doing yoga yoga, doing line dancing, doing sound healing, all of the above.

They have a market that I go to on Fridays.

Some people can't get to the market, and like one of our members said they close safe way.

There was Brett who said that, and then in um September they're gonna call close luckies.

So what are we supposed to do?

How am I supposed to live comfortably?

I'm supposed to stay at home and just shovel up and not do anything by cutting the services there.

I'll be left, I'll be stranded.

I don't know what I would be doing every day.

Right now, I'm busy, I'm happy, I'm socializing with people, I'm not alone.

And um that's all I have to say, basically.

Thank you.

And thank you for addressing this committee.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for allowing me to be here.

My name is Kath Swire.

I'm the senior wellness coordinator at Booker T located in the Fillmore Western edition.

I'm here because I'm very concerned.

We serve over 300 seniors annually in addition to our food program.

I want to express my concern regarding the proposed cuts.

These reductions will directly affect my daily programming, including mental health services, health and wellness services, and activities, including qigong and yoga.

Most importantly, these seniors are vital to our excuse me, vital to I'm nervous.

These seniors are vital to our overall well-being, providing an official space to combat isolation, depression, and loneliness.

Please reconsider the cuts to our funding so we can continue to serve these essentials to serve our community.

And also, I would like to say just off of my paper, I go to work and I enjoy my job every day.

All these people behind me and the people that smoke in front of me, they're like my grandmas.

They're like my aunts.

I go to work every day and I learn so much just by sitting there and listening to them.

And cutting the programs, well, essentially, I can lose my job, but I think about what they're gonna do.

So please reconsider your decision.

Thank you.

And thank you, Casfire.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

I want to acknowledge that you have a difficult decision in front of you.

And not so difficult.

I remember what it was like when I was younger, having to decide between paying the rent and paying the babysitter.

I chose paying the babysitter because I had that option available to me.

I am called Cynthia Marie.

I am a native San Franciscan.

I've lived in the Western edition for over 55 years.

The Booker T Washington Center has been around 106 years or better.

And the and services to people that look like me and that are of my heritage.

Persons of African descent, not been treated very kindly in San Francisco over the years.

The Booker T Washington already was serving underserved people.

People that look like me, people of my heritage, and to suggest cutting those services even further.

It's beyond an insult.

And I know the difficult choices have to be made.

Hopefully, not on our backs.

Focus on restoring us back to a money-making machine that we used to be by having conferences, a tourist mecca, if you will.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for addressing this committee.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Maxine Jones, and I sit on the homeless oversight committee here at City Hall.

I also attend uh Booker T Washington on a regular.

I like to go there and eat because they do serve food there.

I went to Safeway one day to buy some steaks, however, that day I was able to afford steaks.

But they had no stakes.

You know why?

Because the people were going to the store stealing the stakes, right?

So what do you think is gonna happen when you cut this food from the people that need it?

What do you think is gonna happen to the the uh the the foster children that that lives in homes that that needs the extra food?

What do you think is gonna happen to um people that cannot make it to the store to get the food?

What do you think is gonna happen?

I I I I don't understand how do you give something to someone and just take it back so easily, and we have to stand here and fight for it.

I don't understand.

I don't understand.

And all my life I've been fighting.

I have one hand, I had a spinal injury.

I stood in this long line just to stand here and talk to you guys.

Because me sitting on the board of committees in the homeless committee, and I hear people come in and they talk about RVs and their homelessness.

I feel for every one of them.

You know, I want my name to mean something when I leave this world.

That's why I'm here, and that's why I want to help everyone, everyone that I can.

I have a mentor here, Blinda Rackland, she's been helping me and teaching me about homelessness, about dealing with homelessness, and it's sad that we gotta stand here and worry about how we're gonna eat tomorrow.

That's not what I want to worry about.

That's not what we should have to worry about, is how are we gonna eat?

That's crazy.

You guys need to do something.

And you didn't make some wise decisions about people here that are concerned.

Just like it's us, it could be you.

You can use your your job tomorrow.

What's gonna happen?

Think about it.

Thank you much, Maxine Jones.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, commissioners.

Hello, uh supervisors.

My name is Marvellus Lucas.

Um I live in District 6, uh, work at Booker T Washington Community Service Center.

I'm a staffer at Booker T Washington in District 5.

Uh as you guys all know, Booker T Washington is 107 years old, the oldest black-led um organization in San Francisco.

Uh funny thing, I'm thinking about, I read a study at Harvard that says that when they do have budget cuts to these type of programs, it's seven and a half times uh impactful to the African American community.

So I understand, and I'm with everybody here for sure.

I'm in solidarity with everyone here.

Um I'm here to speak up about the $2.9 million cut to DOS.

It sounds minuscule to a city that has billions and talks about 400 million.

You know, it's kind of like wow.

Uh someone made mention of someone billionaires donating 2.9 billion.

Come on.

I know you guys know those guys personally.

If you guys cut it for Booker T, you guys seen uh the seniors have made their way up here to advocate for themselves, uh, and we thought that they could do a better job than we could.

147,000 over the next two to three years.

That's even more minuscule.

There has to be an innovative way to make something that minuscule.

And I'm like I said, I'm here with everybody, but even here, when you look at the African American population, we're reducing, we're reducing, we're reducing.

And that's a safe place for all African Americans in particular, specifically.

Um I ask you to, you know, do whatever it takes, and I know you guys have some bit of authority and influence uh to work with the mayor.

Like you said, he wanted you guys to uplift in the and the different departments to uplift where the cuts and reductions could be, and I'm saying please don't do it to these programs that really need it.

You guys, we are the safety net, you're cutting us, you're cutting city departments.

So where is the next tier of safety?

Thank you.

And thank you, Marvellus Lucas.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, I'm Sally Sexton, and I am the city's Tai Chi instructor.

I used to uh teach here, downstairs in uh South Hall.

Uh fortunately, that program uh was for there's four employees, and that was cut years ago.

Uh I'm I've worked with most of these organizations.

I work for Onlock, I work for community living campaign, and worked for the YMCA for 13 years teaching Tai Chi Qigong to seniors.

And I see the difference.

I've been in programs that started with five people right after COVID, 25 at uh Mira Loma and uh Sunnyside.

I've seen people lose their uh partners, and they come back to the center that supports them, the neighborhood center.

I teach Tai Chi, but Tai Chi is community.

They say we are better together.

Our Tai Chi salute is strength, and that is moral strength, and it's mental strength and physical strength.

This hand is friends, community, neighbors, and this thumb is humility.

So you put the two together, and it's a mutual salute.

So I came for a shout out for onlock, community living campaign, mission neighborhood center, my friends at the Y, but especially as a mission why, because they are low and no income, and their food program has been cut.

And they said, Go, Sally, go, Sally, speak for us.

No food, none.

Um, thank you for listening to me.

And have a good day.

Thank you much, Sally Sexton.

Next speaker.

Thank you, supervisor, for having us.

I'm Dave Conego, the director of uh Curry Senior Center.

I've worked in San Francisco for over 30 years with older adults.

And I'm here just to talk about uh digital navigators.

So the first thing to to let you know is a digit digit digitization.

Almost everything now that you want to do on your daily lives, you've got to do it through a computer or phone.

So in the older adult world, we call it activities of daily living.

Almost everything that you need to get to, transportation, banking, uh getting your friends.

You you need to have a device and you need to know how to use it.

Um I bet you or your mother or grandma, I bet you spend time trying to get a hold of them, trying to help them uh work on how to use that phone, how to use that computer.

So the the digital navigators were a pilot, and and my challenge uh to Department of Disability and Aging and challenge to you is to not make digital navigators a pilot but make it a new service here in San Francisco because older adults can't do their activities of daily living without that.

And I told Kelly I wouldn't pick on her, but Kelly needed a navigator.

Wow.

She needed a navigator, and I do too.

When I have a board meeting, I have I have to have somebody sitting next to me who's 20 years younger than me to help me do it.

So my my point is digital navigators, work all day, every day, spending the time, 20 minutes, 15 minutes.

How do you get your password?

How do you go to the bank?

How is that not a scam?

So my challenge is to take the pilot and make it a permanent service.

Thank you.

And thank you much for our dressing committee.

Next speaker.

Hello, supervisors.

Uh Chester Williams.

Uh I'm with the community living campaign.

Uh I'm here representing technology.

My basic job is handling food distribution in D10 under the auspices of the of Mr.

Mr.

Weldon, who's doing a fantastic job.

Um I'm speaking on the issue of technology because I teach a class at the library.

So I understand that the city has put a lot of money in programs to put those programs throughout the city for technology.

But this is the problem.

The problem is seniors have a special need.

And I don't see the city really working on that need.

So any type of lack of funding is going to affect their ability to be able to utilize the training that they need.

And believe me, the seniors need the training in technology.

Everything from phones to uh to uh computers, whatever they have, and you I've heard it two or three times in this day.

They they need that kind of training.

So however the city wants to really work with that, I don't think they should have severe funding uh cut from any of those kinds of services because they are a basic need for those seniors within the community.

Thank you very much.

And thank you, Chester Williams.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Cody Friesenberg, and I'm the director of um programs at Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center.

I'm also a D10 resident.

Our organization is facing three cuts that impact our seniors and adults with disabilities.

Our mobile senior service program that you heard about earlier, a cut from MOHCD that impacts adult employment, and also our digital navigation program.

Our digital navigation program provides essential services to older adults in San Francisco.

As our city continues to move essential services online from health care and housing to public benefits and transportation, digital access is no longer an option.

It's a basic necessity.

Yet for many of our seniors, especially those who are low-income, monolingual, and living with disabilities, access to these systems are out of reach.

We regularly work with older adults who are unable to schedule medical appointments, access benefits, or even communicate with their family because they lack the tools, skills, and support to navigate technology.

This isn't an inconvenience.

It's a barrier to health, stability, and connection.

And it's a problem that creates more administrative costs down the line for our city.

With funding for digital navigation, we're able to meet with clients one-on-one in their native language and support skills like how to use a smartphone, access telehealth, apply for services, and stay connected to their loved ones.

These programs are not just about teaching technology, they're about restoring independence, dignity, and quality of life.

Our two senior centers are on Cortland Avenue in Burnall and on Mission Street in the Excelsior.

Both are right next to a library, across the street or half a block down.

The library continually sends us seniors to help them access their technology at the library.

There is no other C there's no other program in the city that's providing this service.

No one else is picking up this slack for our seniors.

San Francisco needs to continue to fund nonprofits who are doing the actual work to support our communities if we want to continue to have vibrant communities.

Nonprofits are holding this together.

Our seniors deserve to age with dignity, connection, and full access to the resources they need, and I urge you to budget accordingly.

Thank you.

And thank you, Cody Friesenberg.

Next speaker.

Sorry.

My name is Chaya, and I work at Senior and Disability Action on our home care contract, which DOS and the mayor have proposed cutting entirely.

I'm also a disabled resident of San Francisco.

So home care gives seniors and disabled people a care worker who can meet their needs in their home and let them avoid institutionalization.

And we empower seniors and disabled people to protect it.

Who hasn't felt disempowered by the governmental systems in our lives?

It is overwhelming to get news that a service that makes your life possible is on the shopping block.

And that's where we at Senior and Disability Action and our home care contract come in.

We create the structure to empower people to take the power back.

We hold trainings, we build community, we share information.

We empower seniors and disabled people to talk to their legislators and the press.

We empower them to let everyone and I mean everyone know how important these services are.

And we reduce the isolation people feel.

And ultimately, we get the state to reallocate that funding for home care.

Our people's lives will be devastated without home care.

If we are not funded to fight for home care, we will lose home care at the state level, and that is devastating.

And there is a path forward where none of the people here will have their programs cut.

Revenue numbers are pretty good.

Use the revenue, use the reserves, support the CEO tax, take money from the DA and the police.

Please make the moral choice.

Thank you, Major.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Liza, and I manage Senior and Disability Actions Empowerment Program.

I'm also a person with disabilities.

Surviving as a low-income senior in the Bay Area is very difficult to navigate and especially terrifying for monolingual immigrants like my grandparents.

Cutting empowerment contracts will worsen the health care and housing displacement crisis.

Preventative care is direct care.

Our DOS-funded home care advocacy program and health care action team are crucial lifelines for seniors to first even learn about and then act upon issues that directly impact them, like independent living, Medi-Cal, and SSI.

Seniors and disabled people must be in the room for decisions about us in order for those decisions to work for the long term.

And these groups need to be engaged where they are.

Our multilingual programs serve districts all through the city.

Our nonprofits keep people out of the ER and housed at home.

I want to re-emphasize preemptive care is direct care.

Cuts will cost the city more than the relatively small money needed to maintain our grant funding.

We consistently overdeliver on consumers served.

The needs served by these contracts will not go away and only grows greater as the population of seniors in San Francisco increases.

Also, DOS is not our enemy.

Why should DOS take a hit at all?

Supervisors, let's pursue increasing city revenue through other means.

Do not increase the sheriff's overtime pay, support taxing, and demand more from our wealthy tech companies and VC firms.

Do not preemptively cut locally to prepare for downstream impacts of state cuts.

Instead, empower your constituents to fight against state cuts.

The city isn't in this position in the first place.

Supervisors do not balance the budget on fixed income people's shoulders.

Thank you.

And thank you, Liza.

Next speaker.

Hello.

My name is Maya Moria Selkie Scott, and I've been a Bay Area resident for 36 years.

I'm a member of SDA and greatly benefit from SDA's home care contract that is being cut.

I'm the mother of a 21-year-old daughter, and I live alone with my fabulous cat Kiki.

I'm a very low-income 60-year-old disabled Celtic, queer, non-binary senior parent and domestic violence survivor who navigated three years of houselessness and displacement after fleeing domestic violence in a wheelchair five years ago.

I receive over 150 hours of in-home support of supportive services every month, and it makes a world of difference for me.

I was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer and had surgery a month ago.

I don't know how I would have done it without my IHSS caregivers preparing my body, getting me to doctor's appointments, having someone help me take notes, and cleaning and organizing my apartment.

Without SDA's home care program work to preserve my IHSS care, I believe I would be at high risk of institutionalization.

SDA's home care contract and the advice advocacy I get to do with it allows me to be an active, creative, engaged member of my community, to do wheelchair dancing, to swim in the bay, to do the advocacy work I love.

This is not a luxury.

This is what keeps me healthy and alive.

I folks said that IHSS is not being cut without our advocacy.

We can't say that for sure.

So please do not take away from these programs.

Please strengthen them and find ways to get budget from people who have much, much more money than people like me.

Thank you in advance for helping to preserve and strengthen our home care contract.

And thank you much for addressing this committee.

Next speaker.

Hello.

My name is Damara, and I manage the Peer Advocate Community Resource Program at Senior and Disability Action.

Our home care contract is critical.

SDA empowers seniors and disabled people to fight for home care at the state level.

The advocacy by our members sees the defense of Medical as an integral part of that fight because as community members and organizers, we know there is no home care for the people without it.

This is one of the worst years possible to cut our program.

Medical is one of the most important programs in the lives of disabled people and seniors.

It covers doctors' appointments, surgeries, cancer treatment, and home care.

1.5 million people in California receive home care services.

And a small, dedicated group of empowered seniors and disabled people have saved this service year after year.

And this year, we saw that the federal government made the biggest cut that there has ever been to Medicaal.

They cut 25% of the funding that would normally go to California to pay for home care and the millions of people in California who are on it.

We have heard that the reason why our funding is being taken away is because the city is facing a deficit because of the loss of Medical funding.

Our question to you is why would you take away funding from the people who are trying to do something about it and who are most impacted by this?

Thank you.

And thank you much for addressing this committee.

Next speaker.

Hello, my name is Grace.

I'm also on staff at Senior and Disability Action, and I want to talk about another impact of these budget cuts, which is job loss.

Right now, our home care organizing contract is on the chopping block, which accounts for around 145,000 a year, over 10% of our organization's budget.

Because the vast majority of our budget goes to salaries for our small staff of 10, this budget could mean two layoffs, 20% of our staff.

As we all know, San Francisco is a very expensive city to live in, and it's only getting more expensive.

Budget cuts to programs like SDAs have huge impacts on our members, but also on the livelihoods of so many nonprofit workers in this city.

Our members are very close to our staff.

A staff member was laid off last year, and it was incredibly sad.

The city says they value small businesses and organizations, but what about us?

What about our staff?

Hundreds of people across the city will lose their jobs because of these cuts.

And it deeply scares me to think of what San Francisco will become if the people who are fighting to make it better keep getting forced out.

And thank you much, Grace.

Next speaker.

Hi, my name is Rebecca Muller, and I am a peer advocate with senior disability action.

I had a unexpected brain hemorrhage in middle school as well as a stroke afterwards.

And I have several invisible disabilities due to this.

And although there are a lot of struggles for me happen since I was an adolescent.

For myself as somebody who is visually impaired, blind on my right side.

There's transit justice program that I'm active in, and there are many other good opportunities at STA.

It's very important great opportunities to be involved in and important part of the community.

So I really have for the several years that I've been a peer advocate, I've gained so much, and I really think that it's wonderful to have not only peer advocates, but so many other people in the community who are able to participate and learn more, despite my many learning difficulties, invisible to others.

So Rebecca Muller.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors.

My name's Betty Trainer.

I'm the um on the SDA board of directors as well as a connector with the community living campaign.

And I want to say first that I don't really believe that DOS, the Department of Disability and Aging Services, wants to make any of these cuts.

That 2.9 million came from above.

You've got to make these cuts.

Well, let's find that money, as some others have said, elsewhere, whether it's in other parts of the budget or in the pockets of billionaires, not on the backs of seniors and people with disabilities.

You have heard from all the people that have spoken before me and will speak after me.

All the programs that they are representing are direct services.

They are needed for our seniors and people with disabilities.

We do help people with Medicare, Medi-Cal, as well as empowering seniors to advocate for themselves, which is so important.

We started a program, initiated it.

I was there at the meeting when it came up from one of our members on wheelchair wheelchair repair.

You think, well, why in the world wouldn't that be taken care of already?

It was not.

And we started that program.

One of our staff people had uh places where we met almost every other week to have wheelchair repair, and now it's a permanent program.

Support the seniors and people with disabilities now.

Thank you.

Thank you, Betty Trainer.

Next speaker.

My name is the Bun.

And I'm boying good.

I am I am in the board of the umbrella.

Hi, um I'm Aide Rodriguez.

I am a resident of District Three, and I will be reading Sasha's um statement.

I'm also the development director for the California Domestic Worker Coalition.

Yes, yes, I'm just supporting Sasha to share her statement.

Um my name is Sasha Bittner and I live in District Seven and I employ home care workers and a supporter of the California Domestic Worker Coalition and a member of hand in hand.

I am here today to urge you to stop the cuts that would eliminate the domestic worker and employer outreach program under MOHCD's community based services strategy.

This matters to me personally because I believe that a city that cares about disabled and aging residents has to care about the people doing that work.

Domestic workers, many of them immigrants are the backbone of our long-term care system.

In this time of attacks on the immigrant communities, it is vitally important that we keep in place the program where both immigrants learn about their rights and employers learn about their obligations.

Please save the vital program.

Oh these good funds.

I am calling on you to restore these critical funds and keep all of our community organizations funded.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Sasha.

It's good to see you.

Is actively defending our communities.

Providing opportunity opportunities for SSI recipients to engage in Sacramento to obtain call fridge.

Befriend our communities to give seniors and people with disabilities the opportunity to empower themselves and have access to resources and programs that enrich their life.

So please don't do this cats.

I'm here to defend uh the programs that help seniors and people with disabilities and also you know other community um programs like the ones uh for the uh domestic workers and um anything that you know helps our communities in San Francisco.

Cada día mi trabajo ayuda las personas in San Francisco atención una vida digna donde esas personas ya sea discapacitados como cuidadoras de logar, también mi trabajo como niñera siempre las personas necesitan una mano para poder ayudarlos asikomo las personas experience in this every day my work helped uh people uh to live a dignified life and also um helps um my community to have more opportunities.

And um so um I'm playing this role um you know in in the life of seniors and people with disabilities and um but also um I provide the services you know and um with uh older adults and people with disabilities so help them to live independent uh independently and as part of our communities.

I I know that uh my work and uh my life is tied to those people that depend on my work.

My trabajo como cuidadora de logar is una is un trabajo donde somos bien valoradas pero siempre es muy importante que nosotros nos sintamos valoradas por el trabajo que hacemos porque no desempenamos de un solo trabajo, sino le hacemos de muchos typos de trabajo, el cual somos esenciales para todas las personas.

So um my work as a domestic worker is not uh well valued, but uh we deserve to be valued because we help many different communities in different um ways you know as as nannies and you know um uh and uh sorry and caregivers sorry so in esos momentos San Francisco propone recortar los servicios que permitan a las personas mayores y a las personas con discapacidad vivir de forma independiente como parte de nuestras comunidades as como recortar los programas de apoyo los trabajadores domesticos como los empleadores para mejorar.

Finish or not please.

Oh, okay, okay.

Um the city is proposing this cuts and that um you know to programs that support um workers and also employers that um improve the conditions of people and um not just um for the workers but also for the people in the city for everybody in the city.

Thank you much, Maria.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Marta Herrera, I live in the mission.

of people and not just um for the workers but also for the people in the city for everybody in the city much maria next speaker please marta herrera i vivo in la mission is soy member of hi my name is marta herera i live in the mission i am a member of the collective um and a member of the california domestic worker coalition los programas communitarios para personas mayores con discapacidades i am here to defend the funding for um for the senior communities and disabled communities and for the um caregiving communities that sustain um the their ability to live in the city and to thrive in the city sorry soy una trabajadora delogar cada diabajo ayuda las personas in San Francisco para que salgan a trabajar I am a domestic worker and every day when I work I make it possible for others to go to do their work while I take care of the people they love my saluting profundamente ligadas al benestar de quienes dependent de mi trabajo as a domestic worker I understand that my health and my dignity is intrinsically tied to the health of the people that I support and work for San Francisco propone recortarloservisius que permittan a las personas mayores y las personas con discapacidad vivir de forma independiente at this time San Francisco is proposing cuts that allow people with disabilities and our seniors to live independently lose domesticos como a los empleadores para mejorar las conditions laborales in el sector de la tensional and at the same time they're proposing cuts to this um to the work of domestic workers being educated and to employers being educated um and supporting the domestic work industry porque yo soy una persona que ya está envejeciendo y quiero vivir dignamente in my vehes this um this affects me greatly because as a as an aging domestic worker I know that I want to um age with dignity and be a be healthy in my aging process essentialisque permit prosper gracias please do not cut these programs that allow our communities to prosper thank you thank you much Martelina next speaker buonastard my name is Zoeli vivo en la mission isalifornia my name is Soemi I am a member of the Collectiva and the Domestic Worker Coalition and I live in the Missionas in San Francisco Recortes in agencias que appoyan la communidad de San Francisco as a domestic worker I support people with disabilities and seniors and San Francisco is proposing cuts that will greatly affect these communities debilitan una red de protection mayores yalas con discapacidad domesticos y a los trabajadores de bajo ingresos by doing so they are putting at risk the lives and and um and health of people with disabilities of people with seniors but also the people that do this work and appoint a los membros de nuestra communidad y dependent su vivienda su salud y su connection con la società and by putting these funds at risk you are affecting these communities their ability their health their ability to socialize and form community and their ability to live in the city ya que yo formo parte de uno de miembro de estos programas les pido que nos ayude as a member of one of the organizations offended by the um affected by these cuts I am asking you to please support them much thank you I'm asking you to please support our organizations and not the cuts thank you thank you by soile next speaker okay all right hi my name is Mary Roquet I'm with the Bionihanacurisa

As a member of one of the organizations offended by the um affected by these cuts, I um I am asking you to please support them.

Thank you.

I'm asking you to please support our organizations and not the cuts.

Thank you.

Thank you, much way.

Next speaker.

Okay.

All right.

Hi.

My name is Mary Roquet.

I'm with the Bayonihan Equity Center.

We're in the South of Market.

Um, you can call us BEC.

Our center serves San Francisco older adults and adults with disabilities.

Um we do social activities and also case management services around affordable housing, food access, immigration, all that jazz.

Um happy 415 day.

Um with that, uh, you know, when we talk about the culture, the heritage, and the future of San Francisco, we're talking about older adults.

Um the latest dignity fund community needs assessment is clear.

Affordability isn't just a concern, it's a crisis.

Too many older adults are being forced to choose between housing, care, and food while living on fixed incomes that can't keep up with rising costs.

Um cutting the very programs that keep them afloat is not only cruel, it's dangerously short-sighted.

At BEC and across our network of service providers, this reality shows up in human terms.

One of our clients is a 99-year-old Filipino World War II veteran who wanted nothing more than to age with his family.

Um BEC assisted this client in petitioning his two daughters, and in 2020, they were able to be reunified.

But as their household grew, their one bedroom apartment became unlivable.

So after years of navigating complex systems together, we were able to help secure a two-bedroom unit with HUD Vash in a new housing development just near here.

So this is what service providers do.

We don't just manage cases, we safeguard dignity, stability, and humanity for our seniors.

Now is not the time to do less.

It's time to stand firm.

Protect these programs because protecting them means protecting the seniors who depend on them.

Thank you so much.

And thank you, Mary Roger.

Next speaker.

Hi, good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Dolly, and I work for the Bayonihan Equity Center.

Uh, my colleague Mary already mentioned what we do.

Um, but what she did not say is that we're only seven workers, and we're providing for 700 seniors and adult with disabilities in San Francisco.

Um I do not like public speaking, so it takes so much for me to stand here with you to tell you to listen to our pleas um and the members of the community here.

Um I I am here on behalf of the communities we serve who are still severely impacted by the pandemic and by all the challenges in the federal um programs, eligibility rules that change.

Um we are here because they rely heavily on supports from um CBOs like us and those who are on the chopping block right now.

Organizations are already struggling to overcome challenges resulting from the pandemic and the accumulation of previous years' budget cuts.

Organizations are already struggling to keep up with the increasing demand for services brought by the current technological advances that you've already heard by immigration and political issues that we're facing right now.

Thus funded organizations are already stretched thin, overburdened and strained, but we deliver services efficiently because we need to adapt to the community's needs.

I know most of the organizations that are on the chopping block will do their best to still provide the services, but we please do not add to the struggles.

Don't cut the already limited budget further.

The populations of seniors and adults with disabilities are increasing, which means the needs for essential services for them are also growing.

Tough times shouldn't mean cutting off and leaving behind the most vulnerable and in need.

Please do not let our CT elders and people with disability be the least prioritized and for that.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Jesse Seiko, a community service worker at the Bayonihan Community Center.

I am deeply concerned about the proposed cuts to the community-based organizations and nonprofit programs.

These cuts are short-sighted and impacts the most vulnerable residents, including seniors, the disabled, working families, and older adults who make up the fastest growing population in the city.

The older adults whom I work with have continually expressed to me how much our organization services and programming have benefited not only their physical mental health and more.

Services and programs are not luxuries.

They're lifelines for public health and safe and safety.

I urge the board of supervisors to prov to protect funding for community-led services.

Thank you.

Thank you much, Jesse Seco.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Joy, and I'm a born and raised in San Francisco kid.

I also live in D6, and I'm also a housing case worker at Bainihan Equity Center.

I assist older adults and adults with disabilities with affordable housing, including counseling, education, application assistance, translation, reasonable accommodations, eviction prevention, and other tools to help navigate affordable housing.

I would like to use my time to share a story about a housing win through community-based services and case management for a household of two seniors who will remain unnamed.

The senior household who only receives SSI and do not speak English first came to BEC for food assistance.

Through an assessment of needs, we soon figured out that the household needed food assistance because they were paying over half their SSI income to rent, accumulate accumulating back rent as well.

Through the last six years of working closely with this immigrant senior family, understanding their fears, needs, and goals.

We helped them through navigating resources for rental subsidies, back rent relief, maintaining a good relationship with their landlord, essentially keeping them from becoming homeless, an upkeep with senior housing wait lists and accompanying them to housing interviews.

This family was finally permanently housed in a brand new low-income senior housing this January 2026.

By the time in the months leading up to this senior housing offer, their total monthly income of $1,500 was eaten up by a monthly rent of a thousand, not including utilities or other costs of living.

While still waitlisted for rental assistance, while this family finally got through the lottery system, there are so many other households in similar circumstances.

The obstacles of navigating dwindling resources for basic needs are now ever evolving with great severity, but it is through the support of community-based services and case management that small wins like this are possible.

Secondly, these crucial and essential essential services to fill the gaps on language access, food insecurity, and housing, ensure stability for elder and disabled households.

We implore you please don't cut these essential services.

Next speaker, please.

I'm the executive director and managing attorney at legal assistance to the elderly in San Francisco.

We are here, or I am here to urge you to restore these cuts to community-based programs and legal services.

These services are critical to keep seniors connected, safe, and at home.

While we appreciate that DOS did not cut legal services for older adults at on our MOHCD grant for housing preservation services for older adults and adults with disabilities, we're facing a 70% cut, shocking nobody.

60% of all the calls we get at legal assistance to the elderly are about threats to housing, and 60% of those calls do not qualify for tenant right to counsel services.

That's who these MOHCD grant serves.

Just one example, we had a senior, she had lived in her home over 30 years, over 70 years old, received a notice, increasing her rent from $1,300 a month to $8,000 a month.

Well, that's shocking to anybody, but if you're on a fixed income, that means homelessness.

That is irreplaceable housing.

We got five similar requests within a seven-day period at legal assistance to the elderly.

It is these services are critical to keeping people housed.

If just in this dignity fund community assessments need, we found or it found that legal services is a key need, a top need for seniors and adults with disabilities in San Francisco.

At this time, even with these budget constraints, it is the time to expand these services to protect more seniors, to keep them at home.

It saves the city money on the other hand, and it's the right thing to do.

Thank you.

And thank you, Laura Kira.

Next speaker.

Hi, good afternoon, Supervisors, Halty Supervisor Chan Shipvisor Dulcey and Chibovisa Walton.

My name is Kiefer, who from South Health for the Elderly.

We serve 55,000 annually for older adults.

San Francisco's older adult population, age 60 plus, is expected to reach 30% by 2030, or more than 200,000 residents.

This will have a significant impact on city resource.

We should consider for affordable food and housing care at home and in the community, and training more caregivers.

It is more critical than ever to prioritize uh care, not cuts as the farthest growing age group is 80 plus with more than 130% growth expected.

Thank you.

Thank you much for the comments.

Next speaker.

You want to do a little test?

What do you need?

Go up.

Oh, down.

Do you want to get rid of this thing?

Up one more.

Read aloud.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

My name is Jennifer Walsh, Inclusion, and Accessibility Lead at Community Living Campaign.

I rely on services like IHSS and GGRC, funded by the state and county.

Nonprofits and the dignity fund support people like me, but are often at risk.

Without these, we are left with only the basics.

Personal care keeps me out of an institution, but without the chance to participate, I am just surviving, not living.

Everything is connected.

If too many supports are removed, the system collapses.

How can we not feel devalued when these supports are threatened?

We know budget cuts are coming.

Many of us on fixed incomes face tough decisions.

Funding for seniors and people with disabilities must be seen as essential to diversity, equity, and inclusion, not just a temporary focus.

Employment is at risk.

Limiting opportunities for people with disabilities and older adults to work and stay connected.

Ending it would be a step backward.

Funding for seniors and people with disabilities is essential for independence and dignity.

When funding is cut, our community is weakened.

Please don't ask us to give up our dignity and independence to balance the budget.

We urge the mayor and board to restore funding for SF Reserve, protect workforce opportunities, and invest in programs that build stability and connection.

Your decision will determine if San Francisco stays a city where everyone can live with dignity and purpose.

Thank you for your commitment to our community.

Good afternoon.

Every day I depend on services like IHSS and GGRC funded by the state and county.

When budgets are cut, seniors and people with disabilities lose not just speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

Um I am 77 years young.

I work at a reserve.

Over three years workforce.

I help seniors with people with disability and emergency preparedness worker and friendly companion.

I feel proud to support others.

Through the reserve, I have made strong connections with co-workers, my community, and the help with my stay uh active and feel supported.

Many older adults and people with disabilities face barriers to work.

They include age bias, disability needs, gaps in work history, the need for flexibility and part-time job program for life reserve workfor.

Help bridge that gap.

The S reserved work program is slated to lose half of the funding, $500,000.

That would mean fewer jobs, less income, and less support for people trying to work again.

That goes against the city's goals for affordable and safety.

I asked a mayor and boiler supervisor to stop the budget cut, to stop the cuts now.

At the Punia Companion, I have a senior who wants to uh she had 105 years old, she has a disability, she's flying a road to you.

She would love to join the reserve as a reserve workforce.

She wants to give back.

Thank you for listening to us, and you have a great day.

Thank you.

Thank you much, Paul Aikman.

Next speaker, good afternoon, Board of Supervisors.

I wanted to thank you for extending the time for us to speak.

And I would say all the moving speeches that came before me were really empowering.

And I'd like to state my name is Mark Dunn, and I am a reservist with the SF Reserve Program in the SF community, living campaign.

I spent the majority of my career in banking, working for Wells Fargo for many years before retiring in 2023.

Living in San Francisco, where the cost of living is exceptionally high, I made the decision to re-enter the workforce.

For the first time in my career, however, I found that my age seemed to overshadow my extensive experience, and I often felt invisible to prospective employers.

Fortunately, I discovered the Reserve Employment Program, where both my experience and my age were recognized as strengths.

The hands-on support and encouragement I received were not only refreshing, but instrumental in rebuilding my confidence and preparing me for the next chapter chapter, excuse me, of my professional journey.

Reserve truly became my lifeline.

Through the program, I secured a rewarding position in a law office where I am able to contribute my past experience while also developing new skills.

This opportunity has allowed me to once again enjoy living in San Francisco with the peace of mind that comes from financial stability and the ability to travel occasionally, attend a show and not worry about every expense.

Beyond employment, reserve has provided ongoing support and a meaningful sense of community.

More importantly, it has helped me regain my self-esteem.

Without their assistance, I may have been forced to leave this beloved city home.

Thank you.

And thank you, Mark Dunn.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors and everyone here.

My name is Jamie Goddard.

I'm with the Community Living Campaign where I direct the SF Reserve program, a workforce initiative set to have our DOS funding slashed by 50%.

You've been hearing about the strong collaboration between organizations serving adults and adults with disabilities in San Francisco, and you've also heard the direct impact of all of our work.

SF Reserve is a key part of that ecosystem.

The age discrimination and employment act protects workers aged 40 and older.

A threshold that reflects when age bias commonly begins.

As individuals grow older, access to stable employment becomes increasingly limited.

Eighty-seven percent of our participants report that their income through the program is critical to their financial stability, allowing them to meet basic needs and remain in San Francisco.

Our reservists contribute their skills to nonprofits and small businesses across the city, from high schools to the League of Women Voters, Institute on Aging, and to entrepreneurs who are scaling their businesses.

It is wishful thinking to suggest that there are other workforce programs that will absorb the reservists.

The reality is that the system is already overwhelmed.

The pipeline is saturated, and success for historically marginalized workers depends on job creation, requiring a highly specialized skill set.

I believe I speak for most here today that we have not seen evidence that the long-term financial and systemic impacts of this decision have been fully accounted for.

If that analysis exists, we would be we would ask that it be shared publicly.

Absent a clear mitigation strategy, these cuts will increase pressure on already strained systems while removing one of the few programs that actually creates pathways to economic stability.

So I will ask directly what policies are being put in place to mitigate these impacts.

And is San Francisco prepared to lead and set an example for other cities in confronting ageism and apolism, or are we accepting outcomes that push already marginalized residents further to the margins?

Thank you.

And thank you for addressing this committee.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, good afternoon.

I'm Kathy Spenceley with Felton Institute.

I know all of you understand the importance of these programs for older adults, and I know you understand the demographics of the city and also the fearful times we are in with federal cuts to programs that we all need.

I know you care about these programs you've heard about today, but please let's try to figure out some solutions.

My biggest concern is throwing older adults into dire poverty and increasing the number of older adults who have to live on our streets.

And that is a real concern.

Workforce training is essential for this training is essential.

Well, first of all, it was cut last year, and it's now being cut by several departments.

So I hope there is communication between the different departments.

And older adults need these jobs, that these this training to get jobs.

It's essential also for older adults to have jobs to live in our expensive city.

So these these additional cuts will increase uh the number of people that I believe are going to end up not being able to afford to live here.

They are older people that can't move out of the city to another place, which people don't realize.

And nobody wants to increase the number of unhoused people in this city, and and no one wants them to be older adults, and many of them are.

So I please help us figure out solutions.

Thank you.

Thank you much, Kathy Spencely.

Next speaker, hello, my name is Ziggy Brown.

I am 16 years old and I've lived in San Francisco my entire life.

I'm speaking on behalf of the YouthWorks program, which is being cut by 80% over two million.

But I want to say something right now.

This is not about the money.

You guys, I'm so sorry.

But experiences, experiences are being cut.

Life lessons are being cut.

Through through the YouthWorks program, I've worked with my EP over for over three years.

And through that time, I've learned self-growth, understanding who I want to become, and I was given the opportunity to be something greater than what I what society thought I could be.

And I hope that you look beyond what I'm wearing or my attire and hear the words that are coming out of my mouth.

My brother is in the stands right here.

He he applied to the My program, not even he's been here for two years.

Two years.

And through that program, he has been able to find a community on his side.

A community of loving, supporting people.

So it's it's far from just about the money.

What's being limited is the experience.

The idea that kids, youth, can grow.

Give me strength.

Give me strength.

I just I just want to know that.

You know what?

I'm holding.

Thank you much.

And before this next speaker, I am calling last call if there's anybody in still in the overflow room or in this room that have yet to address this committee.

Uh and wish to do so regarding this hearing of the proposed budget impact on programs that support the city's older adults.

Now is the time to line up.

And with that, next speaker, please.

Board members, thank you so much for listening to all of us today.

My name is Art Persicum with the California Alliance for Retired Americans.

We're now seeing cuts at all three levels of government to health, food, and social services.

In this case, here for seniors and disabled persons.

You know, San Francisco and California, we all know are very wealthy.

So is it really the case that we can't afford to provide health, food, and social services for prevention of problems like isolation to become more serious and intractable, intractable physical and mental health issues.

Members of the Board of Supervisors on this budget and appropriations committee.

Now it's up to you.

This is happening on your watch.

As stewards of our city's government in 2026, please do the right thing.

Please do not cut the small and cost-effective programs that keep San Francisco's seniors and disabled persons healthy and happy.

Thank you.

And thank you much for addressing this committee.

Next speaker.

Hello, my name is Alexis Moore.

I am an employment coordinator at SF YouthWorks, which our intern Ziggy has just talked about.

SF Youthworks has been around since 1997, and we provide high school students with paid internships at different city departments.

Some departments to name are the District Attorney's Office, City Attorney's Office, Reck and Park, Public Works, SFMTA, Board of Supervisors Youth Commission, Department of Public Health, and so many more.

Every year, YouthWorks provides this opportunity in addition to work readiness workshops to 450 youth.

The current proposed budgets that are going on right now puts us in danger of losing two million of our 2.4 million budget.

That's 83% of what we have.

This would reduce our 450 placements per year down to 80 for the entire year.

Just for our summer program coming up, we have around 1200 applicants, and we would only be able to offer them 30 placements.

We ask that these budgets, these budget cuts be reconsidered so that we can keep serving our city's youth, like our intern Ziggy and his brother who were just here.

Of the placements that we have currently, we currently have one youth place at the youth commission's office, two at the District 11 Board of Supervisors Office, and one at the District 3 office.

Without San Francisco Youth Works, these interns wouldn't have the chance for employment like this.

They wouldn't have the opportunity to be paid through our program.

They wouldn't be able to access any connections to get their foot in the door, and they wouldn't have someone to advocate for them and give them a shot.

Thank you so much.

And thank you for addressing this committee.

And again, friendly reminder, this is a hearing on the budget's impact on programs that support cities' older adults.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, folks, I'm Anya Warley Zygman with the People's Budget Coalition, and I am just so honored and so proud of all of the elders who came out here today and all the folks with disabilities who came out here.

And to share as well that I'm I'm proud of them for coming out here and for letting you hear their mind, and it is disgusting and disturbing that we have to bring out our people to beg for scraps in the city that they built.

They built these programs.

They built the city that we work in and that we now thrive in.

And now the mayor's office is forcing them without word and without notice, without any excuses that make any amount of sense to have their programs completely cut.

The time is very quickly ending for platitudes.

This is no longer a time when we can talk about whether or not we verbally support these programs, support seniors, support all of the these folks.

We are very quickly moving to a point where your budget will show where your priorities are, where the budget will show where Mayor Daniel Lurry's priorities are.

And we there is still time to fix this.

Do you stand with our seniors?

Do we have to beg every single year to not get cut?

This is so disturbing to see in a city like this, where your choices when you are encounter a deficit.

We've heard a lot that we have to make hard choices.

It's not that hard if you're a low-income San Franciscan between taxing the wealthy and raising revenue or cutting services.

These are the choices that you face when you are faced with the deficit.

We need to find a way out of this deficit that does not mean gutting these programs.

Community will lead on that.

In the absence of leadership from within City Hall from the mayor's office to fix this deficit with revenue, we will lead on it as community members, and we expect all of you to spend the money wisely to preserve these programs while we raise the revenue that is needed to protect our seniors and give them the dignity that they deserve.

Thank you much, Anya Worley Sigmund.

Next speaker.

Hello, my name is Rebecca Johnson.

I work as the director of HR and operations for community living campaign, which runs the SF Reserve program, which is slated for a 50% cut of $500,000 in these proposed cuts in this budget.

Earlier it was commented by the mayor's budget staff that uh when examining uh what to suggest a cut and and what could be cut.

Um, it was looked at what was core and what I quote feels ancillary.

Um this morning I had the opportunity to talk with a reservist in the kitchen at our office.

Um he commits to five days a week helping seniors uh directly, uh, himself a senior.

Um over a year ago, uh this person's life had become very small.

Um it lost meaning.

There was a sense of lack of value, as another reservist mentioned, uh a really real deficit in self-esteem.

Um what the reserve program did for them was actually save their life.

Um if you think about your own life, everyone here, um meaning, building meaning is core.

Um giving value to your community is core.

It's not just about housing and food, though cutting this program will uh take away the opportunity for building meaning and for bringing value.

It will put many more people into the position of having to think about food, housing, health care, how to pay for this.

So when I look at the reserve program being slashed in half, and I look at the risk, um, the program in place as it stands saved one life.

I don't know if you can put a value on that.

Um at this point, I have to ask myself, does that feel ancillary?

Thank you.

And thank you much, Rebecca Johnson.

And with that, Madam Chair, that completes our queue.

Thank you.

Um seeing no more public comments, public comment is now closed.

And Supervisor Sauter.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, I I want to first um thank all of those who came out and joined for public comment today, um, and all those who stayed throughout the entire afternoon.

I want to thank my colleagues as well for their attention and time this afternoon.

Uh and I called for this hearing today, not expecting good news or easy answers, but with the um with the acknowledgement that the very least we deserve, and the very least that the community deserves, the partners deserve the those residents who are served is more transparency on this.

And I think we got a little bit of that, but I think there's a lot more to go.

And that is what these next few months are all about.

Um I want to acknowledge the department leadership who stayed here throughout.

Um, and that um doesn't always happen, so thank you.

I know that um you are faced with difficult choices, and I would just ask and expect your continued partnership with all those today that you heard from all those who are impacted.

Um I think you heard from from folks that there is interest and desire to find creative outcomes here.

Um, and I hope that we can uh and I will commit to doing my part.

Um again, I want to uh thank um my committee members here.

I know this took uh quite an afternoon, but it was very, very important and that we made the space for it.

So thank you.

And and um, Chair Chan, I wouldn't make a motion to have this hearing heard and filed, please.

Second by uh great.

Um thank you.

Uh thank you so much for Vice Tower for for having this hearing today.

Colleagues, I think that we do have some difficult choices in front of us.

I do want to concur a sentiment that we actually hear from majority of the public comments today.

Um that first and foremost that I we should acknowledge, and I think similarly to Supervisor Walton uh brought up this uh uh comment was that we're not facing a uh billion dollar deficits.

We're facing us in the next two years, roughly about 642.8 million dollars of deficits.

That's not to say is not serious.

Absolutely we must manage that.

Um while that may be true that we ought to manage that um and also to face potential additional cuts from X HR 1 and even worse, um that clearly our city will not be ready to be able to really face those cuts.

Uh but I think that should that scenarios be it will be really the entire nation.

It's not just the San Francisco, but it will be the states of California as well as the nation.

And with that context, I think that I concur with the sentiments that there are ways for us to mitigate those harms and cuts within our city's budget by really thinking about uh increasing tax revenues uh and um and considering halting any more fees or tax revenue giveaway.

I think those are things that we ought to have those conversations and um in the coming months, uh a couple months in the budget process and during during uh those times.

So with that, uh Mr.

Clerk, a roll call on the motion proposed by Supervisor Souter, second by Supervisor Walton.

Moved by Member Sutter, seconded by Member Walton.

Dorsey, aye, member Sutter.

Walton, aye.

Chair Chan.

Aye.

Chan, aye.

We have four eyes with Member Mandleman excused.

The motion passes.

The meetings adjourned.