(Tiếng Việt) We have reproduced this newsletter from Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s Office in its entirety. The original is here: https://bit.ly/39vfXGe

I said this crisis was a rapidly evolving and moving target, and that remains true. Governor Newsom has made it clear that we can expect the shelter-in-place directive to likely continue until summer. We are hoping for the best possible outcomes, and preparing for the worst scenarios. Here is a run-down of evolving programs & resources.

Sincerely,
Aaron

Thank you to SFUSD and our Board of Education champions for working with us to quickly roll out meal programs citywide. In response to Chinatown and Lower Nob Hill/Tenderloin families who wanted to access something in their immediate neighborhood, we have a couple of quick updates:

A huge thank you to the team of staff and volunteers at Self-Help for the Elderly, led by the fearless Anni Chung, who have ramped up their meal delivery program to almost 1,800 meals for home-bound seniors citywide. Thank you to the volunteers who have stepped up to serve with PPE, food prep, vehicles and drivers.

To get on the Self-Help for the Elderly wait list for food delivery, please call the main line at 415.677.7600. If you are having trouble getting through, please call our District 3 main office line at 415.554.7450, and we will connect you.

Tel-High Neighborhood Center also has a senior meal program, but you must meet the criteria of Project Open Hand (ie, age 60+, must have valid ID, and must be a San Francisco resident). It’s an easy sign-up process and Tel-Hi staff are eager to help! For more information, contact Koletti at 415.421.6443, ext. 34, or KLeha@telhi.org.

By the way, here is a video clip of how you can take extra steps to protect yourselves by sanitizing your groceries and washing your produce when you get home.

The difficulty of “sheltering in place” is something that SRO residents know all too well. The San Francisco Examiner did a story highlighting the challenges and concerns of Chinatown residents in particular. 50% of the population in Chinatown affordable housing falls into the category of those most at risk of not recovering from COVID-19.

Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) has created a Chinatown Resiliency Fund to help address the specific needs of this population, including food security, housing stabilization, eviction protection and critical Personal Protective Equipment distribution.

Supervisor Peskin’s SRO Relief package includes critical funding for SRO cleaning and increased enforcement. Out of the City’s approximately 315 privately-run SRO’s have been inspected to date, and over 118 Notices of Violations have been issued to ensure tenants are protected during the Shelter-in-Place Order. Janitorial contracts will be in place starting tomorrow to clean those buildings where owners have not cured their violations – and they will be subject to penalties.

Tenants living in congregate living situations have a right to soap where there is a shared sink or shower, and hand sanitizer in other congregate areas like the SRO lobby. Please report potential violations to DBI and DPH by calling 3-1-1.

Today we are at 5 San Francisco deaths, and over 340 confirmed cases of COVID-19. These numbers will continue to escalate as testing opens up, but we know that increasing access to testing is critical to managing this crisis.

Starting tomorrow, North East Medical Services (NEMS) will begin drive-through testing by appointment at the North Beach Garage on Vallejo Street and their Noriega location in the Outer Sunset district. A third Brown & Toland mobile drive-through testing site will roll out by the end of the week at the Oracle Park parking lot in South Beach. These three sites will be added to the four currently available in the city through Kaiser Permanente, UCSF, One Medical and Sutter CPMC.

There is also prioritized testing for first responders, health care workers, and at-risk residents — contact your primary care doctor to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms before being tested.

Thanks to a partnership with UCSF, the Department of Public Health has tripled the number of tests it can process in a day. (Shout out to our favorite UCSF ER nurse, District 3 resident Rachel Rodriguez, working hard for all of us!)

Please continue to check DCYF’s website for evolving modifications to their eligibility criteria. Teen programming has been discontinued, and K-8 slots have been adjusted according to demand. DCYF/RPD now have contacts to help you determine if you are eligible or not. Read more here.

Governor Newsom and our Department of Public Health have made it clear that we are in this for a longer haul than originally anticipated. It is critical that our children maintain a continuity of learning. SFUSD and city partners have been working around the clock to set up an online curriculum in anticipation of classes resuming digitally after Spring Break. Here is a list of resources to keep your child learning during this time.

SFUSD has staggered times for Chromebook pick-up in order to be ready for teacher-led classes by April. Here is the pick-up schedule:

It’s Social Worker Appreciation Month and we would like to acknowledge all the SFUSD social workers serving our school communities across the City, but especially these social workers in the District organizing for our families:

The best way we can think to say thank you for their service is to help promote some of their community organizing efforts. Here are a couple of GoFundMe efforts to highlight:

It’s been a herculean effort, but our next traunche of North Beach Big Bellies will be rolling out starting this week! DPW officially requested removal of the following city cans to be replaced with additional capacity Big Bellies:

Thank you to our incredible team of staff at OEWD for coordinating and North Beach Citizens for maintaining!