Launched the Bayview Essential Services Hub to provide access to healthcare providers and vaccinations, food distribution, employment support, and more for D10.
I saw firsthand the disproportionate impact that COVID was leaving in our communities– the Bayview had the highest rates of COVID cases and deaths throughout the city, a trend we saw reflected in Black and Brown communities not just in our city, but across the state and country. We also took this opportunity to address needs that had been existing prior to the pandemic thanks to decades of disinvestment in our communities– the new Hub is now equipped to help residents access financial subsidies for rent, diapers and baby formula, internet access for low-income youth, and full-day, in-person educational programming.
Cosponsored the creation of the emergency Family Relief Fund to support immigrant families who were unable to get a federal stimulus check.
The Relief Fund provided $500 per family to about 5,000 families– a crucial support at the peak of the pandemic that allowed us to provide direct, immediate assistance to cover food, rent, and childcare. We partnered with organizations and community groups within immigrant communities themselves to make the program as inclusive as possible.
Created a temporary right to re-employment for workers who were laid off as a result of the pandemic and granted hazard pay to essential workers.
As workers were laid off in waves at the height of the pandemic, I worked with my colleagues to pass the Back to Work emergency legislation, to guarantee that workers who were laid off by employers with over 100 employees due to the COVID crisis would be offered their old position post-pandemic. I also led the effort to provide $5 per hour of hazard pay for retail grocery workers and pharmacy workers, which eventually passed unanimously in the Board of Supervisors. I am proud to have played a part in granting security and stability to thousands of workers and families across the City. We helped prevent laid-off workers — disproportionately low-income, Black and Brown workers — from facing greater hardship.
