Severin Saenz of MEDA’s Evaluation team needed to be creative and strategic when she decided it would be valuable to do a survey of clients’ housing arrangements. What would be the relevant questions that would provide needed insight? What would be culturally relevant to Latino respondents, her target audience. To determine the best questions, Saenz…
It was with trepidation that Rudy and Karen Sorto (photo, second right and third left) came to MEDA requesting translation of a letter found posted on their front door at 1411 Florida in the Mission. MEDA’s Small Sites Program team explained that the building was now for sale, but assured the couple that the current…
(Watch video of MEDA’s community-development work.) “Good evening. I want to welcome the community. Thank you for joining us this evening. My name is Karoleen Feng, and I am proud to be the director of Community Real Estate for the Mission Economic Development Agency. “Tonight is our chance to all take a pause to celebrate not…
by Director of Community Real Estate Karoleen Feng Contributed to by Project Manager Leslie Palaroan and Project Assistant Dylan Hamilton Back in 2014, MEDA responded to the call by the City of San Francisco to transition ownership and management of public housing, with the aim to have nonprofits engage with residents who had lived for…
Longtime Mission and San Francisco residents are sure to remember Rainbo Bakery, once a bustling neighborhood venture that, unfortunately, was compelled to shutter its doors a decade ago. The good news is that this abandoned bakery, at 1990 Folsom (cross street 16th), is now ready to bring grist for the mill to the community. The…
A fun yet impactful time was on the menu for the 80 attendees of a May 16 “Latino Small-Business Mixer” held at Don Ramon’s Mexican Restaurante in SoMa. This mixer was part of San Francisco Small Business Week, held each May, with the mixer’s co-hosts MEDA, Excelsior Action Group, La Cocina, Hispanic Chambers of Commerce…
May is “CalFresh Awareness Month” — now more important than ever. According to a May 17 San Francisco Chronicle article, in which MEDA’s Financial Capability Program Manager Jackie Marcelos was quoted, only 50 percent of San Franciscans eligible for CalFresh have signed up. Unfortunate. CalFresh, formerly known as Food Stamps, is California’s implementation of the…
by Director of Community Real Estate Karoleen Feng A few years ago, MEDA staff consistently started hearing a dire story: Our families were experiencing no-fault evictions or being priced out of the Mission as an influx of newcomers earning six figures moved in. Sadly, the paucity of affordable-housing options — with a decade of zero…
With MEDA staff and volunteers tirelessly preparing tax returns for free this past season, it was definitely time to celebrate after the completion of 11 weeks of hard work. So everyone came together on April 24 to pause and reflect on their having forever bettered the lives of low-income Mission residents. The impact The impact…
Chanting “Sí, se puede” and “No Wall,” several thousand Bay Area residents rallied this May Day at Justin Herman Plaza and then marched down San Francisco’s Market Street to City Hall, making their voices heard as a way to show solidarity and support for workers across the globe. That includes the immigrants who have long…
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