HOPE SF Community Celebration Recap

Nyällah Muntaqim (San Francisco Foundation) welcoming guests.

On Thursday May 15^th, the San Francisco Foundation hosted the first ever HOPE SF Community Celebration. Recognizing the importance of sharing space and being in the community, Associate Director Breeanna Decker envisioned this event as our return to the community after a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Hope SF is a partnership, a commitment to creating thriving and economically vibrant communities. It has been over 10 years since we broke ground on the first site. We haven’t gathered as a community since the pandemic ended and it just felt like it was time to bring people together. Are things perfect? No. But there is unwavering commitment to meeting the charge that the community, the residents have given.”

Attendees consisted of folks from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development as well as other local government agencies, nonprofit and community partners, Small Grants recipients, and of course, our HOPE SF residents!

Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, and EJ Jones, Mayor Lurie’s Director of Community Affairs, both took time to address the crowd of over 100 guests. In addition to inspiring the audience with their thoughts on the future of HOPE SF, we also took some time to honor several community members. Chloe Underdue was honored for her commitment to HOPE SF and her work with the Small Grants Program. Following that, our Place to Prosper Resident Researchers and Resident Activities Council were also recognized for their important contributions in making the Place to Prosper Pilot the successful program it is today.

First time Small Grants recipient, LeChell Wilson of Generational Breaks had the following to say about the event:

“Being awarded a grant to support the neighborhood I came from was a full-circle experience that I’ll never forget and I attended the Community Celebration because I wanted to be present for a moment that felt deeply personal and powerful. It was so nice to see people from different communities come together to celebrate progress, resilience, and the power of community. It was inspiring, healing, and truly unforgettable and it reminded me why I do this work.”

The event would not have been the success it was without the support of all our event partners and vendors. In particular we’d like to show gratitude for the team at the Southeast Community Center, Balloon Sistas, WillBHealthy Catering, Auintard’s Images and DrewBangaaa. Last but not least, we’d like to thank the Warriors Foundation for all their amazing support and giveaway prizes. Our Warriors Raffle turned out to be a highlight of the evening!