December 2008
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| eNewsletter | fall 2008 | ||||||||||||
The 6th Annual Excelsior Festival: Celebrating Community
Last October, 80 community volunteers came together in San Francisco's Excelsior district to plan a festival that included live snakes, sumo wrestling, live local bands, and plenty of games for neighborhood children. The festival attracted 5,000 San Franciscans, who enjoyed the Excelsior district's local flavor and the festival's family-friendly activities. While the adults learned about local volunteering opportunities, spoke to candidates for supervisor, and browsed for jewelry, their children were busy petting exotic animals and painting their faces.
The annual festival has played an important role in increasing the Excelsior district's revitalization and local community spirit since its inaugural year in 2003. The event is spearheaded by the Excelsior Action Group, which mobilized community residents and students to plan each component of the festival. With so many local residents invested in the project, the festival increased the sense of local ownership and pride. Camila Ascencio, a festival volunteer, noted, "people really respect each other better. If the area is nicer, people are more engaged and don't feel like the area is forgotten." By drawing residents out to the main commercial thoroughfare, the festival also attracted attention to the local business district. “The festival is incredibly important not just for community pride but also for our businesses,” remarked Jackie Cash, a member of the Excelsior District Improvement Association. She added that it helped “raise the perception of the neighborhood really being a great place to live.”
The festival activities, sponsored in part by State Farm, are a part of Bay Area LISC's neighborhood revitalization program and the City of San Francisco's Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative which supports EAG and other neighborhood action groups throughout the city. LISC began its work in the Excelsior’s commercial corridor in 2003 and is now providing resources, training, and support to help community leaders, merchants, and neighborhood organizations implement a comprehensive commercial district revitalization plan. For additional coverage of the festival and the San Francisco’s Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative, please see a recent article published in the San Francisco Chronicle by Marisa Lagos entitled "Fairs help boost S.F. neighborhoods' profile." Celebrating the Next Generation of Leaders
Since the federal program’s inception in 1993, LISC has sponsored 176 AmeriCorps volunteers in the Bay Area and 1,400 nationally. These volunteers, who are matched with local organizations, build new generations of Bay Area community leaders and enable their host organizations to pilot new, high-impact community revitalization programs and incubate innovative ideas. Their impact is felt across the region. Since 1994, they have galvanized the residents of the communities where they work to perform nearly 30,000 non-AmeriCorps volunteer hours of service. Volunteers have also advanced the construction of 885 affordable housing units. They have boosted local economic development by helping to organize over 125 different neighborhood street festivals and other special events in communities around the Bay Area, which have attracted over 65,000 people and helped communities promote their identity. The program has been so successful that over 60% of AmeriCorps volunteers take jobs working at local community organizations following their year of service.
Lisa Juachon, an alumna from LISC's 2003 AmeriCorps group is a perfect example of an AmeriCorps volunteer. She volunteered with the Bayanihan Community Center, an organization serving the Filipino community in San Francisco's South of Market district, the neighborhood where she grew up. She says "AmeriCorps provided me the perfect stepping stone- I was able to connect to my heritage, learn about the work of different Bay Area community development organizations, and gain valuable experience to prepare me for a career in the field." Following her AmeriCorps experience, Lisa was hired by her host organization, where she now works as a coordinator. To learn more about our AmeriCorps program and Lisa’s experience please watch our AmeriCorps video available on YouTube. Bay Area LISC thanks Bank of America for its generous sponsorship of this event. Interested in supporting our AmeriCorps program? For more information about donating to or volunteering with our AmeriCorps program please consult our website at www.bayarealisc.org. Funder Spotlight: Bank of America
Bank of America sponsors Bay Area LISC's Green Connection Initiative, an innovative program which bridges the gap between affordable housing and environmental sustainability. This support allows LISC to offer services and resources that promote green affordable housing available nowhere else. Bank of America's underwriting supports assistance to developers with green financing and construction; the development of tools for green building rehabilitation and maintenance; and the promotion of state and federal policies to "green" affordable housing. One can trace Bank of America's commitment to philanthropy back to San Francisco's post-earthquake reconstruction in 1906. Two days after the earthquake, A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America's predecessor, Bank of Italy, set up shop on the city's devastated waterfront and made loans to anyone who would rebuild. The experience left him with a deep impression of the power of capital to improve people's lives and led him to dedicate his bank to that mission. Bank of America has been a leader in community development lending and investment ever since. Today, Bank of America is ranked the country's second largest corporate philanthropist by giving. In 2007, it made grants of $8,493,440 to Bay Area non-profit organizations. Many of these funds are disbursed through Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, which recognizes, nurtures, and rewards non-profit organizations, local heroes and student leaders working to improve their communities. "LISC has been a terrific partner for Bank of America through the years, both here in California and nationally," Janice Sears, Bank of America's San Francisco Market President, said. "Their passion for providing lower-income Americans with decent, affordable housing and their ability to bring together individuals, organizations and other resources to make it happen has improved so many people''s lives. We're proud of the work we've done with LISC in the past, and we look forward to participating in their new Green Connection Initiative, which effectively links two of Bank of America's main concerns in California, increasing the availability of affordable housing and building the green economy." Can Wishes Come True? Put Us on Your List!It is not too late to think about your end of the year giving and to put Bay Area LISC on your list! All donations are tax deductible and go towards programs that build healthy vibrant communities. If you would like more information about giving opportunities, please contact Anna Jennett at 415-397-7322 ext. 20 or e-mail at ajennett@lisc.org. Board Leadership RoundtableThere are still slots available for Bay Area LISC's board leadership workshops slated for early 2009. Topics include "Managing Risk" on January 21 and "Strategic Planning and Strategic Thinking" on February 18. All workshops will be specifically adapted to meet the needs of individuals serving on the board of directors for community organizations. To sign up please contact Cathy Craig at 415-397-7322, x 21. New Support from Citi to Green Nystrom Elementary School's Community SpaceBay Area LISC recently received a grant from Citi that will support green pre-development expenses for the Nystrom Elementary multipurpose facility, which serves 13,925 residents in the city of Richmond. The pre-development funds will be used for energy modeling, daylighting analysis, joint-use planning, and site planning all of which are critical to ensuring that the project is high performing, sustainable, and responsive to community needs.
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