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| "Road to Success"
Ends in Sunnydale Celebration
Affirming the real achievements of families in a Family Community Partnership program while honoring the efforts of all who fight poverty, neighbors from both Potrero Hill and Visitacion Valley came together Oct. 17 at the Sunnydale Auditorium for On the Road to Success. Sunnydale Senior Tenants Association contributed their culinary talents in making the luncheon event a success. "People of all backgrounds need to come together publicly to affirm the courage and efforts of those who struggle against persistent poverty," said Robin Mohr, project manager for the Red Cross. "It is within our society's means to prevent hunger, ignorance, violence and homelessness." Honored were families living in public housing who have made a outstanding efforts towards family self-sufficiency and local agencies for their community leadership. Several honors were also bestowed upon neighborhood leaders for exceptional work in their communities, including: *Darnisha Wright of the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Office of Community and Resident Involvement and a member of the Family-Community Partnership Community Advisory Council, a strong force in organizing the Potrero Hill Jobs and Health Fair, new SFHA Preparedness Teams, as well as On the Road to Success. *Joyce Armstrong, Waymon Nichols, and Michelle Littlefield, recognized for their long term commitment to their communities as tenant leaders. *Gwen Washington, SFHA property manager for helpful assistance to tenants. *Zap Project of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, a substance abuse prevention and day treatment program to help young people between the ages of 11 and 25, for their efforts to promote self sufficiency. A final award went to Vernon Long, executive
director of the Village who has served the people of Visitacion Valley
for nearly three decades, followed by the reading in partt of a testimony
to him: "For over 25 years, Mr. Vernon Long has been dedicated to providing
a safe haven, a wholesome family structure, independence, instilling pride
and overcoming social and preconceived obstacles for at-risk residents
of Geneva Towers and the entire Visitacion Valley community...His vision
in creating the Village is a marvel to others. His integrity, strength,
sense of fair play and respect for all ethnic groups represented in the
community is to be commended."
Optional Enrollment Request Now Open S.F. Unified School District opened its Optional Enrollment Request, known as the OER Process, Nov. 3 to last through Jan. 9, 1998 for the 1998/99 school calendar. A separate application process for Lowell High School is open until Dec. 19, 1997. For the next two months through OER, families will be able to select schools that best meet their needs and interest. To fifth and eighth graders, this is an extremely important time because it will determine which middle and high schools they will attend. For more information on pre-registration
and OER procedures, call the Educational Placement Center at 241-6985.
An informational booklet is available upon request in English, Spanish
and Chinese.
Workshop Will Direct
Parents in Making
Parents can learn about positive discipline practices, how to help children succeed in school, and how to develop a drug and alcohol policy for the home in a helpful workshop at Visitacion Valley Middle School. Helping Our Children to Succeed will
be held on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 450 Raymond Ave. from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in
English, Spanish and Cantonese. Childcare and refreshments will be provided.
For more information, call the Visitacion Valley Community Beacon at 452-4907.
NERT Stages Citywide Emergency Drill Visitacion Valley's Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) collaborated with other San Francisco groups to stage a citywide drill on Saturday, Oct. 18. Joan Fanning, the Valley team leader, cooperated with others around the City to teat a communication system and practice reporting emergency situations and responses. Because Visitacion Valley is so isolated from the rest of the City, radio communication was troubled by static. Being lower than all the high hills made it difficult to hear and be heard on the strong Ham radios used in the exercise. In the event of a real disaster, the Valley could have trouble calling for or getting help becauseof weak radio signals. Anyone having a television without cable knows this already. Visitacion Valley NERT needs participation by as many neighborhood residents as possible, including those having Ham and/or citizen band radios. It is a vital line of defense for Valley residents, who could be cut off for up to four days without help in the event of an earthquake or other large disaster. NERT members are trained by the S.F. Fire Department in a series of six classes, and learn how to deal with smaller types of emergency problems that fire and other rescuers would not have ample time to do. Training includes making homes and neighborhoods safer before the big one strikes and communication with officials in order to get quick response. NERT needs you! A new training class
will start in January. Make it your New Year's resolution to get NERT-trained
in 1998. To sign up, call 558-3456.
NEIGHBORHOOD EMERGENCY
"Do the Most Good for the Most People" Sponsored by the S.F. Fire Department, the main goal of the NERT program is to help the citizens of San Francisco to be self-sufficient in a major disaster by developing multi-functional teams that are cross trained in basic skills. NERT training consists of six classes, 2.5 to 3 hours in length, and taught by professional firefighters. Class #1
Class #2
Class #3
Class #4
Class #5
Class #6
NERT training will be held in Visitacion Valley starting mid-January, 1998 at the Visitacion Valley Middle School, 450 Raymond Ave. Enroll by contacting S.F. Fire Department NERT Office, 260 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102-3706. Telephone number 558-3456.
Valley Roads Open and Closed by Gerry L. Galvan A number of hair raisers, spiritual and otherwise, happened in Visitacion Valley in the last month. The Oct. 9-11 Billy Graham Crusade at the Cow Palace attracted thousands of followers to the facility, most experiencing the 79-year-old evangelist in person for the first time. A handful, including this reporter, had the fortune of seeing him at close range more than once. Dr. Graham held one of his earliest crusades in the Philippines during the mid-1950s. Expounding on his old theme that Jesus Christ is mankind's Savior, Graham had a new approach this time. "The proper way of getting to a destination," he said, "is to have a map handy and be able to use such map properly." Graham said that in Christians' journey towards the Kingdom of God, the map is none other than the Holy Bible. (At the Oakland Coliseum on Oct. 26, he expounded on the topic of Offense of the Cross.) HIT AND RUN Not far from the Cow Palace on Oct. 21, a considerable number of uniformed and plainclothes police rushed to the 400 block of Leland Avenue to close the street and investigate an accident involving a motorist who struck a parked mobile home while fleeing an officer in pursuit. McLAREN PARK INPUT The notion that neighborhood residents must be more involved in the use of their parks received a shot in the arm when Friends of McLaren Park leadership invited a large spectrum of local citizens to an Oct. 29 community meeting at the Burton High School cafeteria. Club Chairperson Jo Coffey enjoined
people around Sunnydale, Visitacion Valley, Excelsior and Portola to "come
hear suggestions and give your ideas on how to make McLaren Park work for
you and your family."
Plea Bargain in Graffiti Case The S.F. District Attorney's Office obtained seven pleas Nov. 4 against a graffiti vandal for incidents that occurred between October, 1996 and July, 1997. Ronald Salmeron, 20, of San Francisco plead guilty to seven separate vandalism cases all involving graffiti and was sentenced to probation. He will serve 450 hours in the Graffiti Abatement Program, pay restitution for damages and undergo counseling. "I want to make it clear that my office
will take action on these types of cases," said District Attorney Terence
Hallinan. "It is fitting that Salmeron will spend 450 hours doing graffiti
clean-up. Those individuals who perpetrate these crimes should take note
that they face stiff penalties should they not choose to alter their behavior."
Abandoned Church Fire Kills Local Man Nearly 100 firefighters rushed to the scene of a three alarm blaze at 8:13 p.m. on Oct. 23 which destroyed the already charred remains of the Rose Olivet Baptist Church at 2428 Bayshore Boulevard and took the life of a man sleeping in its basement. Having succumbed to smoke inhalation
in an unburned corner of the building, the dead man was later identified
as Raymoin Shaw, 38, a local street personality who frequented Leland Avenue.
Boarded-up ever since an earlier afternoon
fire burned for 40 minutes severely damaging its roof and interior on Mar.
31, 1994, the condemned property had been utilized as a makeshift shelter
by several squatters.
ESNBC Looks to Expand Outreach Outreach has become a top concern of the El Dorado School Neighborhood Betterment Council (ESNBC) which held it regular monthly meeting Oct. 14 at El Dorado School. Council members also talked about a number of neighborhood concerns, including illegally parked cars with For Sale signs on Mansell Avenue, public drunkenness and urination along San Bruno Avenue, and the recent eviction of a problem resident. Topics discussed in generating more community interest include formation of a membership committee to streamline mailing lists to active participants and those wishing to stay abreast of local issues. ESNBC is also considering guest speakers to discuss a specific topic or concern, as well as regularly publicizing its proceedings. ESNBC is a group of concerned citizens meeting monthly on the second Tuesday to discuss various neighborhood issues. Topics of discussion include community safety, illegal parking, graffiti and traffic problems. A police officer from Bayview Station normally attends meetings to discuss various safety issues and resolutions. Since 1991, ESNBC has effectively worked with various City and state agencies to make Visitacion Valley a safer place to live and work. Neighbors are invited to attend the
next ESNBC meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the El Dorado
School, 70 Delta St.
A Journey into the Future of Mankind by Gerry L. Galvan
Such were the words of assessments of global situation expressed by Julie Kavanagh, Visitacion Valley Community Center executive director who delivered a guest sermon during an Oct. 19 Sunday worship at St. James Presbyterian Church. Filling in for the vacationing pastor, Kavanagh joined the service at the invitation of the Men of St. James and exhorted a truly attentive congregation to learn while teaching children to make their own decisions. Talking is only a third of the process in communication, she reminded the group, while listening and understanding are the other two-thirds. Following is her sermon: Visitacion Valley is more my home than any other place. Since beginning my work at Visitacion Valley Community Center, I've spent more time here than anywhere, including where I was born and raised. I have learned a lot here, I want to share some of it with you today. In the Old Testament, Moses led all his countrymen through treacherous country toward the Promised Land. In the early days of our own country, people journeyed across the vast ocean to seek haven for freedoms of the most basic kind--religion, free speech, the right to raise their families in the best way they knew how. Today, we are involved in another kind of travel: the journey into the future of mankind. It is still a very treacherous journey, and the terrain is vast and difficult. Our children face so many more challenges than we did at their age. They must learn much, much more in school to be able to compete in our highly technological society. They must face pressures from classmates and neighbors and media and other adults even, to act in ways that we are not always going to approve or agree with. We must learn how to teach them to make their own decisions about these pressures every day, for we cannot be with them every second, nor can we anticipate all the types of questions for which they must find an answer every day. We must learn for ourselves too, for our adult world has changed as well. The solutions to things that we saw our own parents use are not always the solutions that seem correct to us today. Our multi-cultural society requires solutions to problems that work well for all cultures. Why? The reason is because we all live so close together. Our kids talk to each other in school. We talk to each other at work, in church, in the supermarkets and laundromats. We look at each other and can't help comparing ourselves to each other. This is not always good, for it is not right or fair to compare with jealous hearts and jaundiced eyes. On the other hand...we can use comparisons to learn from and with one another. We need to talk to one another and share concerns and solutions with each other. We need to receive information from others with open hearts and eagerness to share and learn. Every family knows that living together is very hard. Each person in the family must go more than halfway in order to live together peacefully in an atmosphere of growth and a good quality of life. These days, it is often accepted that it's OK to have this attitude. "This is who I am, and if you don't like it, I don't want to get along with you." The trouble is that we live too close together for that idea to work anymore. We MUST get along. The only barrier to getting along is the lack of desire. We all can care for each other, if we let ourselves! The first step to getting along is to share ourselves more freely. We can tell each other about our traditions and customs, and maybe share stories, food, music and other expressions of who we are. We can listen to each other and learn. Try to find common feelings in our expressions, stories, music, etc. If we don't understand something, we should ask about it over again, until we can understand. We should ask in a peaceful, friendly way--not as if we have lost patience, or as if the other person should have the entire burden of clear communication. Remember, in communication, talking is only 1/3 of the process. Listening and understanding are the other 2/3. In order for the first step to work,
there is a second, essential step. That is making time for each other.
This world is too, too busy. All of us have much to do. We need to help
each other handle the press of day to day activity and we need to make
time for ourselves to help others.
Mayor Declares a Clean
Water
by Gerry L. Galvan
In observing the 25th anniversary of the federal Water Pollution Control Act that day, later known as the Clean Water Act of 1972, Brown acknowledged efforts of government officials who made it possible for people all over the U.S. to enjoy truly clean and wholesome water. He took time during his brief appearance to introduce members of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) participating in a ceremony planned weeks earlier. One member, Dennis Normandy, played an extra visible role during the event as master of ceremonies. Little did the U.S. Congress envision what the federal water act would cost taxpayers. In the last 25 years, the federal government has spent $60 billion through grants and low interest loans for construction of sewage treatment plants and sewer lines, while states and municipalities added billions extra as matching funds for their projects. Politicians throughout the nation have
heralded the results as strikingly satisfactory. "Nationwide rivers and
estuaries are on the road back to health," says a newly printed PUC brochure.
A politically interesting item at the Oct. 14 event was U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi's discourse on how some rivers in the country had been so polluted by industrial chemical discharge that one river in Ohio burned a few years ago. "We went a long way to achieve what we enjoy now in terms of clean and safe water for all use," said Pelosi, who spoke eloquently and without notes on the role of government in cleaning our water supply. She was later joined by Carol Browner and Felicia Marcus of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as federal and regional administrators. Meanwhile, the S.F. PUC is scheduled to conduct a local survey to determine neighborhood opinion of installing additional pipe in the area to relieve the existing potable water system. Over the years, there has been a vocal and silent debate on whether or not government--federal, state or city--has any moral right to enter the picture of cleaning waterways. Free enterprise exponents have insisted on a position that the free market and Mother Nature can do a better job than the government. "It's a waste of taxpayers money to spend billions of dollars on projects which bureaucrats have little or no expertise on," rings the conservative argument. Liberals express a different view of
the matter. They are the reason why the U.S. has the Clean Water Act of
1972.
New Sports Proposal for McLaren Park San Francisco Disc Golf Association, along with several stars of the national disc golf professional tour, demonstrated their sport on Oct. 8 to a good sized group of park officials, public schoolteachers, the Friends of McLaren Park and interested neighbors. The association is proposing a disc golf course for McLaren Park. Disc golf is a sport played on a course much like a regular golf course, except that Frisbee-type discs are used, and the hole is a large metal basket on a 74-inch pole. The golf course has no greens and little maintenance is required, although folks who play the game have a code of honor similar to regular golfers, and are known for picking up not only their own trash, but the trash of others they find while out on the course. Many City officials have testified, from Washington State to the East Coast, that the presence of a disc golf course is a powerful crime deterrent. Disc golf is a very popular sport, with courses in use all day long and into the evenings all year 'round. Heavy course use keeps more remote areas of parks well-used, thus making it harder for those with less wholesome concerns to use them unobserved. Another popular sport played with a Frisbee is Ultimate Frisbee. More physical than disc golf, it is like football with a frisbee, with cleats on shoes for traction but no padding. Teams of seven play on a football-sized field, with many businesses and colleges competing worldwide. Disc golf is popular with all ages, but Ultimate is especially popular with teens, twenties, and the hardier of the thirties set. |