My Dearly Beloved San Francisco: A Love Letter

My Dearly Beloved San Francisco, 

As a little girl when I finally began to understand the true meaning of your beauty, you took my breath away.  The diversity and colors. The joy and the happiness but yet a beautiful struggle. As the years went by I finally began to wonder at what you truly have to offer.

So I began my adventure, high and low. I saw all but great wonders. You are truly beautiful but yet inside you are a disaster. The anger that you hold within yourself it scares me. What secrets do you hold that darken you? I want to know. I want to help you, why have you become so cold?


My love don't let me go.

I want to help you, for I am the change for the future. Trust me my dear, don't lose faith.  You are my strength. You and me will become the great change for unity. I want to help you in any way possible. I don't want to see you struggle.  The people, the youth, you cause them pain. Why is it so expensive to stay?

I told myself no more. My family had to move. Then that's when I knew it was time to help you and there i was, the one sign that gave me a clue, going to YEFAB was on great way to help you.

Love,
Stacy

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Stacy Martinez is a member of the Youth Empowerment Fund Advisory Board (YEFAB). She wrote this as part of a love letter exercise. Each YEFAB member was prompted to write a letter to the city of San Francisco sharing what they love, what they want to change and why they have been called to action. Stacy is a Junior and Student Body Vice President at John O'Connel High School. Read more about Stacy and other YEFAB members here.

Open to youth and many more

As school is coming to an end and summer is rolling in, great opportunities are available for youth. Instead of waiting until summer to arrive in order to have fun, free events are going on everywhere.

In San Francisco, New Growth 2012: Art Taking Shape is an exhibition of artwork made by both students and their instructors on the Youth Education Program. This is held on Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 5-8pm. The address is 3175 17th Street SF, CA.

This week San Francisco has been blessed with beautiful weather. for those who like icecream to keep them cool, Bi-Rite's Make Your Own Ice Cream Day is on Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 3-4pm on 3885 Cesar Chavez Street in SF, CA.

There's a free concert in the park? Yes, there is. Live performances in Golden Gate park are every Sunday starting at 1pm. The address is Music concourse Drive and Tea Garden Drive. There are so many events happening that you'll have to take a look for yourself!

We Want Fares for Youth Free !

On April 9, 2012 a forum was posted on SFGate about free Muni fares for youth. This has been a trending topic for most youth led organizations. There have been several meetings and surveys going around promoting free fares for all youth in different income levels. In the article, it describes that the public see Muni is trying to make fares for youth possible. Although Muni doesn't have the 8 million dollars to just give, Muni has raised ticket prices and added new meters in hopes of extra money. In general, Muni wants to have a sufficient transportation system. With a large amount of money needed to make fares free, it will only hurt Muni itself in the future. For youth, Muni wants to improve. They would do this by making sure Muni operates on time and doesn't break down - be reliable. Check the article out here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgif=/c/a/2012/04/08/EDHQ1O00KJ.DTL
_ Deandra

Let's Educate Ourself on Civic Engagement with Youth Advocay Day

If your interested in meeting with city officials, meet other youth, express your ideas and concerns to real people who can help and let your voice be heard?
Come to Youth Advocacy Day. Thursday, March 15,2012 ALL DAY!
"Youth Advocacy Day is a historic day of civic engagement where high school students from all over San Francisco meet with elected and city officials to discuss issues they care about as young people. The Youth Warriors lead the high school participants, many who have never been to City Hall, throughout the day by organizing workshops on city government and helping them prepare for their meetings with the officials."