Over the past 11 months, MEDA has experienced a year full of momentum: we advanced new affordable housing, strengthened our homelessness prevention efforts, celebrated the 10th anniversary of our CDFI Fondo Adelante, and expanded opportunities for young people across the community.

2025 also reminded us of something essential: our connection to the Mission community is stronger than ever, and unity and collaboration have been the driving force behind advancing economic mobility in the Mission District.

Bismark Loaisiga’s story brings that work to life. Honored as our Client of the Year at the 52nd ¡VIVA MEDA! celebration, Bismark’s journey from worker to owner of Bismark Auto Body Shop reflects years of perseverance supported by MEDA’s wraparound services. Through business development guidance, access to capital, and personalized coaching, he transformed his skills into ownership—building not just a thriving business, but a legacy that strengthens his community and supports his family.

Bismark’s journey is one of 18,000 stories we wrote alongside working families. While MEDA provided the tools and support, our clients brought determination, innovation, and perseverance to redefine their futures. Together, we strived towards a vision where the Mission families and entrepreneurs become decision-makers in the institutions impacting their lives. Here’s how we turned uncertainty into opportunity in 2025.

Building Stronger Communities from the Ground Up

The year began with promising findings from the Mission Promise Neighborhood’s (MPN) annual School Climate Survey (SCS), revealing that building supportive relationships between students and trusted adults is key to addressing bullying. SCS data showed a 16% increase in students feeling comfortable reporting bullying to teachers and staff from 2022 to 2024—evidence that post-pandemic relationship-building efforts were working. These insights will guide schools, parents, and MPN partners as we continue fostering a school environment where every student feels valued, protected, and empowered to succeed.

In March, MEDA was selected as one of four community-based organizations to join Tipping Point’s Family Homelessness Prevention Pilot, an 18-month, public-private initiative supporting San Francisco families at-risk of homelessness. Through an $11 million investment, this holistic approach addresses root causes of housing instability by coupling financial assistance with employment connections, legal services, and safety net resources. Having long witnessed how economic uncertainty leads to displacement, MEDA is committed to meeting families where they’re at, connecting them with the resources they need to live dignified and joyous lives.

Later in the month, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie visited Plaza Adelante’s El Mercadito during his Mission Corridor merchant walk, witnessing firsthand MEDA’s comprehensive approach to small business development. During his visit, he spoke with Zuly Ortega, a mother of two daughters who recently opened Quetzal IT, a technology repair store. Zuly earned her CompTIA+ certification through our Mission Techies IT program, completed our small business planning courses, and secured affordable commercial space at El Mercadito, now offering culturally accessible tech repair services to her community. This is the Mission’s entrepreneurial spirit in action—where ideas and passion become businesses that anchor our community.

Creating Pathways to Stability and Opportunity

As spring unfolded, MEDA and co-developers Chinatown Community Development Center celebrated the groundbreaking of Casa Adelante – 1515 South Van Ness. This 100% affordable housing project will bring 168 units to support vulnerable families, including those previously unhoused and those living with HIV. The groundbreaking recalls stories like Irma‘s, who after calling San Francisco home for 30 years, lost her job and could no longer afford rent. With MEDA’s support, Irma was able to secure a permanent home at Casa Adelante – 1296 Shotwell. Now, with 1515 South Van Ness right across the street, even more vulnerable families will have the opportunity to deepen their roots in the community they call home.

During this past tax season, MEDA once again operated the Bay Area’s largest Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site, providing under-resourced families with no-cost, linguistically accessible tax services. Powered by 43 volunteers and a dedicated FinTax team, MEDA helped 4,562 families and individuals file their taxes, returning critical tax refunds to the community and strengthening family financial stability.

To close out April, MEDA welcomed two leaders to our executive team. Born and raised in the Mission, Malea Chávez returned as our new Chief Program Officer, bringing decades of community-based leadership to oversee programs that connect families to resources, build generational wealth, and support local entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. José García, previously Associate Director of Preservation of the Community Real Estate affordable housing department for 7+ years, became our new Chief Real Estate Officer. Building on Karoleen Feng’s incredible legacy, José will work to ensure housing developments meet community needs, and remain accessible and affordable for longtime families.

Celebrating Entrepreneurship and Youth Leadership

May brought special celebrations as MEDA reached a momentous milestone: 10 years of Fondo Adelante. Since its 2015 inception, Fondo Adelante—MEDA’s CDFI providing low-interest business loans to entrepreneurs often overlooked by traditional lenders—has had significant impact, deploying $18.2 million so that 600+ Bay Area entrepreneurs could start and expand their small businesses. Between 2023-2024 alone, Fondo helped Mission Corridor businesses generate over $9 million in revenue, strengthening the Mission’s community-rooted economy.

As part of San Francisco’s 2025 Small Business Week in May, Fondo Adelante hosted the featured event: Innovate, Collaborate, Prosper: The Power of Latino Businesses. Held at City College of San Francisco’s Mission Center, and sponsored by BMO (lead sponsor) and Chase, the gathering highlighted Latino entrepreneurial strength, creativity, and resilience. Fondo also organized a marketplace showcasing the diverse services, products, and foods that Latino businesses offer the community. The event concluded by recognizing outstanding businesses in Legacy, Innovation, and Sustainability categories.

As summer began, MEDA celebrated the graduation of our inaugural Mission Youth in Action (MYIA) cohort. With funding from San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the MYIA program transforms high school students into powerful community advocates through a journey of self-discovery and leadership development. The inaugural cohort brought together 29 Mission-rooted youth leaders and 49 youth volunteers to deepen their knowledge about the Mission’s history of resilience, organize civic actions like the D9 candidate forum, and spark community dialogues about mental health through youth-led participatory action research. We’re excited for what the 2025-2026 cohort will accomplish.

We also took the opportunity to share María’s inspiring workforce journey. After walking Mission Street looking for job opportunities, Maria was connected with MEDA’s ECE REACH program (Early Care and Education, Realizing Employment and Creating Hope), a workforce development initiative in partnership with the Felton Institute. María worked tirelessly to complete the program and ultimately secured a position as an Associate Teacher at an ECE center, exemplifying that success happens when hard work meets opportunity. But Maria did not stop there. She is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree at EdVance College.

National Recognition and Historic Milestones

In September, MEDA received the Nancy Zimpher Courage in Leadership Award from StriveTogether at their national convening in Atlanta, Georgia. This recognition honored our bold Mission Promise Neighborhood model for place-based transformation, and our comprehensive cradle-to-career approach that couples student academic success with family financial stability. As we look to scale this Promise Neighborhood model citywide in San Francisco, we share this honor with our dedicated staff, invaluable partners, and the courageous families at the heart of our work.

As fall arrived, MEDA convened community partners, supporters, and City officials to celebrate 52 years of impact at our annual ¡VIVA MEDA! celebration. Held at the San Francisco War Memorial’s Green Room, we came together under the theme of La Union Hace la Fuerza, which served as a powerful reminder that our collective strength sustains and uplifts us all. In his remarks, keynote speaker Mayor Lurie commended MEDA’s commitment to meeting the moment for more than five decades, translating community needs into responsive programs that foster economic opportunity for the Mission and all San Franciscans.

October ended on a high note when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $60+ million financing package for La Maravilla, a landmark affordable housing development co-developed by MEDA and Mission Housing. Located at the corner of Mission and 16th Street, this project is set to become the Mission’s largest affordable housing site with 382 units for family supportive housing. Recognizing the connection between housing and transportation equity, the project will also bring much-needed capital improvements for the 16th Street BART station, which many working families rely on. Construction will begin in January 2026—a major victory resulting from over a decade of community organizing.

In November, MEDA’s National Partnership team shared proven Community Ownership strategies at the Small Business Anti-Displacement Network (SBAN) conference. Drawing knowledge from the Mission Action Plan (MAP) 2020—a community-government partnership in the mid 2010s where residents gained control over housing, commercial spaces, and economic assets—we shared what’s possible: 1,550+ affordable housing units acquired and preserved, 51 businesses protected through San Francisco’s Legacy Business program, and the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District institutionalized. These results represent families who stayed, businesses that survived, and culture that endures. Our SBAN case study offers other communities a roadmap for preventing displacement.

The year will close with Mission Promise Neighborhood joining San Francisco Unified School District partners for the Literacy, Math, and Science Fair on Dec. 6 at Cesar Chavez Elementary School. Families can enjoy games and hands-on activities, take home free books for holiday reading, join parent workshops on supporting literacy at home, and explore community resources and family programs.

Moving Forward Together

We’re proud of what we accomplished in 2025—and even more excited for what lies ahead.

When La Maravilla breaks ground in 2026, it will mark the start of construction on the Mission’s largest affordable housing development: 382 homes for vulnerable families, made possible through years of community organizing and strategic collaborations. As the successor of MAP2020, the MAP2030 post-pandemic framework will leverage a decade of proven advocacy strategies to protect small businesses, expand affordable housing, enhance green spaces and clean streets, and strengthen community civic power. And lastly, MEDA and partners will continue advancing the Promise City initiative, a citywide effort to scale MPN’s place-based model to foster family economic success in Chinatown, District 11, and Hope SF communities in Bayview, Hunters Point, Sunnydale, and Potrero Hill. San Francisco will become the nation’s first Promise City, carrying forward our legacy of leading movements that reshape how cities create opportunity for all.

The model is proven. The infrastructure is in place. Your partnership makes it possible. Together, we’re not just transforming the Mission—MEDA is creating a blueprint for community-driven economic mobility that works at scale. Just as the Mission’s murals tell stories that inspire movements, the framework we’re building will guide communities nationwide toward economic justice. This is how local impact becomes national change.