On June 15, San Francisco gave the green light for businesses to fully reopen. For the last 15 months, small businesses have been struggling to survive during the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, they were facing rent increases, big box competitors and other challenges.
Small businesses are the heart AND the backbone of the Richmond District. As we move to return to normalcy, we have to ask ourselves: How can we keep the Richmond a neighborhood that celebrates our small businesses?
Supporting Neighborhood Businesses
In May, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed my legislation to create a Neighborhood Anchor Business Registry to promote long-standing small businesses in neighborhood commercial corridors. As part of the City’s effort to promote small business recovery, the legislation expands on the Legacy Business program by making it city policy to prioritize Legacy Businesses and Neighborhood Anchor Businesses for financial assistance related to COVID recovery, in addition to free legal aid to prevent commercial evictions.
As we approach the deadline of the commercial eviction moratorium, it is essential that we put measures in place to protect and promote the long-standing small businesses that anchor our neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. To achieve a strong and equitable recovery for everyone, we must defend our neighborhood institutions which have been faithfully serving our communities for decades, and ensure they emerge from the pandemic on their feet.
One Richmond
Another important community resource is One Richmond, which was developed with input from residents to unify the Richmond District community. The initiative was designed to cultivate neighborhood pride and is centered on taking care of one another, taking care of our neighborhood, being inclusive and supporting our local businesses.
During the pandemic, our neighbors stepped up to support one another in meaningful and creative ways, and I hope that the spirit and synergy of #OneRichmond’s mutual aid is carried into the future. I am grateful for the network of formal and informal (in-language) wellness calls to seniors in the district that helped to ensure elders were getting connected to vital informal and essential needs, and for those who helped to deliver meals and groceries to seniors and people with disabilities. The dedication of volunteers allowed our community agencies to rapidly scale wellness and food-security operations to meet urgent needs in our neighborhood.
During this time, we also saw our neighbors unite in solidarity to work towards a more inclusive community through racial equity forums, training on anti-racism and caring for older adults, bystander intervention training against racial harassment, and conversations on envisioning racial equity and community safety. Learn more at: https://www.onerichmondsf.com/racial-equity
I am so grateful to be able to continue the legacy left by my predecessor, Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, working with our Richmond neighbors on this shared vision of what true community looks like.
This article was published in the Richmond Review in July 2021.
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