Supervisor Eric Mar: Spending stimulus bucks

Senior services: ensuring equity, cultural sensitivity and social justice to create livable communities
Ensuring equity, cultural sensitivity and social justice for our seniors is one of my top priorities. Roughly 20 percent of San Francisco's population is senior citizens, with one-third of people over the age of 75 living in poverty.

I am working closely with our city agencies, like the Department of Human Resources (HSA) and the Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS), to ensure that our seniors are well cared for even as we weather one of the worst budget years in history. During these hard economic times, problems such as elder abuse and neglect are unfortunately on the rise.

I want to form close relationships with service providers in the Richmond District who care for our senior population to make certain these issues are attended to. The Department of Aging and Adult Services operates a program that provides information, referral and assistance, 24 hours a day, for people with disabilities, older adults, caregivers and community-based organizations serving people with disabilities and seniors.

The Information Referrals and Assistance program number is (415) 626-1033. Also, if you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or neglect as a senior, there are resources, including HSA's confidential 24-hour hotline at 1-800-814-0009. The line is staffed by social workers that assist in referrals and emergency responses.

I encourage you to take advantage of these services to ensure that our seniors have a voice and are protected and well taken care of. Our aging population needs supportive housing to keep them as independent as possible.

There are a number of sites around San Francisco and in the Richmond District that provide these services and I am so pleased that the Richmond District will be the host of the new Geary Boulevard Senior Living and Health Center. This facility is a joint project with Bridge Housing and the Institute on Aging, which is slated to open in the fall of next year. It will provide 150 units of affordable housing along with supportive services and activities. My office has received many calls from people interested in this project. If you or someone you know would like to obtain qualification information or be placed on their waiting list, call Bridge at (415) 541-4003.

Upcoming hearings maximizing stimulus dollars for our city
Our office is organizing two very important hearings this month to help maximize our city's opportunities for federal stimulus money for our schools and City. The first hearing brings together the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and preschool and afterschool programming agencies to discuss what efforts have been made and what proposals are being considered. I want to ensure that each agency is seeking the maximum amount of dollars that are available and that the City is prioritizing funding for our public education institutions.

We strongly encourage community input. Let us know what your priorities are and what is important to you. The next hearing, later in the month, will focus on economic stimulus opportunities in green collar job creation.

As a member of the Land Use and Economic Development Committee, I want to encourage stronger community input into economic and workforce development issues. Job development is not only about creating and maintaining living-wage jobs in the current climate, but also providing the necessary job training for the people who need it the most.

Please join us, and many labor and community-based organizations as well as city staff, to discuss the creation of jobs, particularly green collar jobs, as the City is positioning itself for stimulus dollars.

Economic stimulus and schools meeting: Thursday, March 5, 3:30 p.m., Room 250, City Hall;

Economic stimulus and green collar jobs: Monday, March 23, 1 p.m., Room 263, City Hall.

To obtain additional information, please contact my office at 554-7410 or visit the Web site at www.sfgov.org.

Eric Mar is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 1.