Love Your Mission Neighborhood Day at 16th Str. BART Plaza February 9, 2006

NEIGHBORS TAKE OVER NEGLECTED 16TH STREET BART PLAZA

Youth, families and neighbors gather on Love Your Mission Community Day
to transform the 16th Street BART Plaza from a neglected street corner
to a cultural commonswith song, Hip Hop, poetry, Tai Chi, and hand-made Valentines.

Thursday, February 9, 2006 1:00 ? 5:00PM
16th Street BART Station Plaza @ Mission & 16th Street

Working, low-income families with a diverse cultural heritage are struggling to maintain the health of the Mission District in the face of destabilizing economic changes after the dot.com boom and bust. In response, The Mission Community Council has organized Love Your Mission Community Days to claim the 16th Street BART Plaza as a safe open space to celebrate the traditions, creativity and diversity unique to the San Francisco Mission District

Rising housing costs and Ellis Act evictions are driving hard-working families out of the Mission in record numbers. The conversion of Production, Distribution and Repair facilities (PDR) into lofts limits crucial work sites for low-income immigrant men and women seeking employment. The neighborhood, especially the 16th street BART Plaza, has become a magnet for drug sales and crime. In addition to these challenges, the Mission has less than 1% of the open space in San Francisco, which denies youth and families safe places to gather, play and celebrate their community.

Love Your Mission Community Days transform the 16th Street BART Plaza into a public space where community members can share their talents and promote pride in the their neighborhood. The second in a series, Love Your Mission Community Day features:

*Hip Hop dance performance by middle school girls from the Columbia Park Boys & Girls Club,
*Poetry reading & science project by elementary school students from St. John?s Tutoring Center,
*Free supplies and postage for making Valentines,
*Artwork by Joshua Short in the City?s only outdoor art gallery in the Southwest corner of the 16th Street BART Plaza.
*Tai Chi performance,
* At the Crossroads Street Youth Support Program information table.

Love Your Mission Community Day is sponsored and organized by the Mission Community Council (MCC) and inspired the work of the Plaza 16 Affinity Group. The Mission Community Council MCC is a consortium of over 40 agencies, faith groups, neighborhood associations, and public departments who work to support the Mission as a neighborhood where community members participate with dignity in the decisions that affect their lives.

The Plaza 15 Affinity Group includes St. John?s Educational Thresholds Center, Horizons Unlimited, Inc., Sixteenth Street Neighborhood Association, SFSU/UCSF Valencia Health Services, Intersection for the Arts, and other community members.
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CONTACT: Emily Claassen
Mission Community Council
(415) 282-6209 x19
emily@micocosf.org