Victories

Mission Economic Development Agency purchases the building on 4830 Mission Street, which protects tenants, transforms the building to a permanent affordable housing complex, and marks the Excelsior District’s first Small Sites acquisition. SOMCAN provided culturally-competent outreach and counseling to multiple Filipino tenant families in the building to educate them about their rights and options, leading to the purchase.

2018

The San Francisco Youth Commission adopts proposals of YOHANA pertaining to pedestrian safety and night safety. The proposals are now being reviewed and deliberated on by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, as part of “Vision Zero”, the City’s commitment to achieving zero pedestrian fatalities by 2024.

2018

SOMCAN created public pressure for owners of two rental buildings in SOMA to sell them to the San Francisco Community Land Trust in February and April 2016. This prevented the evictions of long-time families and keeps the units affordable in perpetuity.

2016

“Ignite Open Mic,” YOHANA’s youth-led open-mic, is established, providing a safe, creative space for the cultivation of youth culture and expression. The event regularly draws in packed crowds of local youth and adult allies.

2016

SOMCAN and other community groups pressure the owners of the historic Gran Oriente Filipino Hotel to sell the property to a nonprofit (as opposed to a private buyer) in order to protect tenants and preserve the property’s affordable housing. As a result, Mission Housing was able to purchase the building. As a land-trusted building, the Gran Oriente continues to provide affordable housing and serve as a cultural gathering space for the community.

2016

SOMA is designated as a “Filipino Cultural Heritage District” by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in recognition of the many and varied contributions of Filipino-Americans to the area since the 1920s.

2016

An ongoing, people-led lawsuit is filed to challenge the multi-million luxury development, 5M, demonstrating the neighborhood’s resistance to and resilience against slick corporate marketing and would-be divide-and-conquer tactics. If the project is completed, it would have irreversible, damaging effects on immigrant and working class communities in the SOMA.

2015

Fought for San Francisco’s first Youth & Family Special Use District, a 12-block area that recognizes and acknowledges the concentration of youth and families and encourage affordable housing, clinics, and grocery stores, open space, and recreational centers that are youth- and family-friendly.

2013

Fought for San Francisco’s first Youth & Family Special Use District, a 12-block area that recognizes and acknowledges the concentration of youth and families and encourage affordable housing, clinics, and grocery stores, open space, and recreational centers that are youth- and family-friendly.

2012

Fought for San Francisco’s first Youth & Family Special Use District, a 12-block area that recognizes and acknowledges the concentration of youth and families and encourage affordable housing, clinics, and grocery stores, open space, and recreational centers that are youth- and family-friendly.

2008

Victoria Manalo Draves Park, named after the first Filipina olympian, opens to the public. Draves grew up along Sixth Street in the 1920s and ‘30s.

2007

Partnered with Bessie Carmichael parents and teachers to build a new middle school facility in SOMA and preserve the pioneering Galing Bata Afterschool Program.

2006

Led the community in winning a historic mitigation package, a $20 million Community Stabilization Fund, to offset the gentrifying impacts of the Rincon Hill area plan, through the South of Market Community Coalition.

2005

Preserved 366 rent-controlled units slated for demolition, and negotiated an additional 135 affordable housing units with the Trinity Plaza Tenants Association.

2004

In partnership with the Continental Collaborative, SOMCAN negotiated a community benefits agreement with the developer of the Intercontinental Hotel, resulting in a series of know-your-rights workshops for SRO hotel tenants, youth and families, seniors, and Filipino WWII veterans.

2002

In partnership with the Continental Collaborative, SOMCAN negotiated a community benefits agreement with the developer of the Intercontinental Hotel, resulting in a series of know-your-rights workshops for SRO hotel tenants, youth and families, seniors, and Filipino WWII veterans.

2001

SOMCAN was founded after small businesses housed in the Mint Mall received simultaneous eviction notices. In response, various sectors of the community united and mobilized, and the evictions were subsequently halted.

2000