District 8: Family Summit
DCYF hosted the We are the City: District 8 Family Summit on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at the Sanchez Elementary School. Youth and families from the Noe Valley, The Castro, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, Duboce Triangle, Buena Vista Heights and neighboring communities spent their Thursday evening with us and shared their personal stories, perspectives and experiences to help make San Francisco a great place to grow up.
Expand afterschool programs to reduce waiting lists and provide high-quality programming. Families are particularly interested in additional programming in math, tech, and youth development.
Increase access to mental health services for young people and their parents. Families feel there is a lack of mental health services that area available in Spanish, Chinese, and other languages. There is also a lack of mental health services that can be provided to trans or gender non-conforming youth.
More housing and support for marginalized transitional age youth (ages 18 – 24). This should include more employment options, free MUNI tokens, and safe housing.
Need more youth-friendly spaces in neighborhoods—indoors and outdoors. Many public parks and recreational activities are centered around adults, or have alcohol or drugs.
Parents with children going to school in different neighborhoods face many logistical challenges.
Families often do not feel safe in neighborhoods. Families experience repeated car break-ins and are concerned about what their children will see or experience if the walk or take public transportation between school, afterschool, and home.
The We Are The City Family Summits are places for City residents to make their voices heard. What they shared will play a critical role in our five year planning process, ultimately guiding how the City will invest in programs and services for our children, youth and young people (ages 0-24).
Shout out to the youth and families along with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Kyle Smealie of the D8 office for joining us. Shout out to Mestiza Catering for the delicious food spread. Shout out to Mission Graduates for providing childcare. Shout out to the Intergraphics team for providing in language facilitation. And a special shout out to the staff of DCYF and Bright Research Group.
