As the sun spreads onto 18th Street in the Mission District, it’s not uncommon to see Rafael Garcia juicing grapefruits in the Tartine Bakery kitchen, and, as the moon rises that same evening, it’s not uncommon to see him bringing a power washer into one of more than a dozen restaurants in the city. He’s recognizable by his iconic look: diamond earrings on either side of his chinstrap beard, a smile so joyous it forces his eyes to squint. But few regular customers, or even fellow staff, realize Garcia has a robust cleaning business that works primarily with restaurants in San Francisco and Oakland. His client list, now at 14, includes some of the Bay Area’s buzziest and best restaurants: Frances, Octavia, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, Understory, and Reem’s.

Rafael Garcia, who works as an assistant general manager at Tartine, began his tenure at the bakery on Guerrero Street after working as a janitor at a sausage company in San Francisco. It was 2011 and, while the cleaning job was fun, he wanted to gain a new set of skills. He started working front of house at the bakery, stocking cups and doling out croissants. “At that time, my English wasn’t so good,” Garcia says. “I had to learn to communicate with other people outside of Spanish.”

Garcia is as standard a sight at the Tartine Bakery as the country loaf itself. Paolo Bicchieri

As he put in his six-odd years of working at Tartine, his wife Rosa Lopez was gaining skills in residential cleaning. It was her idea to launch Lopez Cleaning Services in 2017 when she decided to launch her own house cleaning business. Tartine was looking for a new cleaning contract at the time, and he suggested they start there. “Five or six months later, they noticed it was looking good,” Garcia says. “So they invited me to clean the Manufactory when it opened.” In no time, he was responsible for both businesses, the commissary kitchen, and the 9th Avenue Tartine location when it opened — not to mention the gigs at customers’ homes that his partner, in life and business, was also taking on.

If there’s a textbook example of the power of word-of-mouth community, it’s Garcia and Lopez Cleaning Services. In short order he picked up contracts at Smallworks, a framing shop, and Mr. Muggle’s, a pet-sitting service, both of which are in the same Mission District milieu as Tartine — geographically and socially. When Nick Beitcher, owner of Midnite Bagel, went out on his own, he asked Garcia to clean his commissary space in the Dogpatch. Lopez Cleaning Services will handle the new retail location in the Inner Sunset, too.

“Rafa was the guy,” Beitcher says. “He knew every nook and cranny of the [Tartine] space and could do anything — equipment to fix, recipes that needed to be translated to Spanish, he was just the guy.” He’d watch Garcia go from a full shift at the bakery to a cleaning job that wouldn’t end until three in the morning, and he says he is blown away by Garcia’s work ethic. “He’s an incredibly hard worker,” Beitcher says. “There’s never any doubt he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do.” Garcia is sheepish, but acknowledges it’s been these kind of personal reviews that have allowed his business to flourish.

Garcia and his wife Rosa Lopez. Rafael García

Garcia is considered the resident master of any and all equipment, gear, and repair. Rafael García

The work does add up. Garcia says he and his wife love it — the hustle and grind — and really loves having clients and customers from both his business and his job at Tartine. Organizing his life, though, and feeling a sense of control is a main motivation. “We wanted to have our own time, our own schedule, and also for sure to make more money,” Garcia says. “To be free. Not living month to month.”

It’s been a hard time for Tartine. But not so for Garcia, though he did lose about 40 percent of his clients in the first year of the pandemic. The cleaning company has two rotating employees now, and he just added carpet cleaning and moving services to his offerings. There’s no limit in sight, he says. “Me and my wife, we’re growing together,” Garcia says. “I cannot know, but I want to make everybody happy. If you have a new opportunity, you have to take it.”

Sign up for the newsletter

Eater SF

Sign up for our newsletter.

The post How This Couple Constructed a Cleansing Firm That Helps A few of San Francisco’s Favourite Eating places appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A South San Francisco City Council resolution last week in support of a payer healthcare system sparked a major national conversation about the importance of accessible and affordable care.

“Every year in our country tens of thousands die from a lack of health care and many more go bankrupt. Every other developed country except the United States guarantees health care to all of its citizens, ”said Councilor James Coleman, who put forward the resolution in support of the council.

Payer health insurance, also known as Medicare for All, is defined as a system in which a single public or quasi-public body is charged with financing health care. In the United States, supply is currently largely in private hands. With a pay-in system, all US citizens would be insured for all medically necessary services. According to 2018 US Census data, 8.5%, or 27.5 million people, have no health insurance. Opponents of the payer system, however, say it will require tax hikes and higher government spending, while causing longer waiting times for patients and reducing benefits.

Much public comment came with a request to vote yes to this resolution.

Jennifer, a South San Francisco resident, shared how a single payer healthcare system could have prevented her recovery from being delayed and saved the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Without that [Affordable Care Act] and taking Medicaid would not have recognized my condition in time. I would probably be dead already, “she said.

She was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and was covered by Medicaid. She was relocated by a doctor who specialized in her type of condition and from a specialty pharmacy because she was off the network. For most of the time, she was taking one of the most expensive drugs for her condition, which costs about $ 220,000 a year, she said.

After moving to South San Francisco, she was able to find a better doctor and is now back on the very first drug she was given after her diagnosis that said it worked.

“That’s five extra years of lost time and wages and at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs to the state that could have been avoided if we had single-paid health care,” she said. “I’m not alone in this type of experience.”

Other community members, nurses, and advocates shared their stories and support.

“The reality is that our current health care system is so broken and for-profit that many of our patients and their constituents are delaying treatment because they cannot afford it,” said a 12-year-old nurse at Kaiser Medical Center in South San Francisco.

The pandemic has also exacerbated problems in the health system and the loss of jobs for many has included loss of coverage, Coleman said.

“I had family members contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic,” said Denton Murphy, a resident of South San Francisco. “Conversations I had to have with them were reluctance to go to the hospital because they weren’t sure they could afford it. I don’t think we could make it any more dystopian than we are right now. People are worth more than dollars and cents. I think this resolution helps to assert that. “

Vice Mayor Mark Nagales pondered how the COVID vaccinations could bring some form of health care into the community, even for those who do not have health insurance.

“I will support this resolution because I have seen firsthand the inequalities in health care with some of our residents,” he said. “It is important for us to make a declaration that we will not appear as a city or state, but also as a federal government. As a country there are people who have no health care and who suffer. “

Mayor Mark Addiego said he thought this was something to strive for, but didn’t think the solution will turn around for anyone at any level – be it the state or federal level.

He first said he would not vote in favor of it because he did not understand the language of this particular resolution enough to move forward. But after Coleman shared why this resolution was personal to him, Addiego changed his vote to yes.

“I would like to put this resolution to the vote because I am not comfortable being an accomplice or being silent about the broken health system,” said Coleman.

Coleman shared how his father suffered a traumatic injury when he was 5 years old, paralyzing him from the waist down. His mother had two jobs to make ends meet. He also looked after his father so that his mother wouldn’t be out of work for too long to still have health insurance.

The city council unanimously approved the resolution.

Alex Walker, Senior Field Representative for Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, and Jordan Grimes, Political Director of the Peninsula Young Democrats, also called for strong support for this resolution. Coleman also mentioned support from the office of State Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and State Senator Josh Becker, D-San Mateo.

The post South San Francisco council helps single-payer well being effort | Native Information appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Known for her philanthropic and community service work, Pam Baer has been Involved in numerous causes over the years. One of the reasons for this has top priority Was in the public Health care system and more precisely, mentally and behavioral health.

As the lifelong director of the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation ((SFGHF), Pam was instrumental in This is how capital campaigns, events and strategies work Help fund solutions for the most vulnerable in our community.

T.he pandemic and its consequences has brought to light an array of relevant issues and the need to provide even more support to public health. There is a great need to support the vulnerable and Pile of sugar San Francisco General Hospital ((ZSFG) remains a safety net for so many. As a result, Pam Bear’s commitment to the cause of the foundation continues.

T.The committed team at ZSFG thThey suffer from poverty, homelessness and a lack of insurance, as well as recent immigrants and local color communities. Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, the foundation has had its focused on the subject how a person’s socio-economic circumstances can directly affect their overall health and wellbeing.

The San Francisco General Hospital Foundation‘s The 2021 mission is to “support and fund excellence in patient care and innovation at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center because we believe in the equity, access, and quality of health care for all.”

“Issues out mental health is widespread among our most vulnerable citizens. This went hand in hand with the COVID crisis Has the general Operation at full capacity have to support the community through it Double pandemic. ”, Pam Bear Conditions.

In 2018 she helped too create and start the Transform Mental & Behavioral Health Fund. The organization supports and pilots Mental health Programs and initiatives and has raised more than $ 5 million since its inception. The aim is to ensure barrier-free care and to destigmatize mental health problems. However, when the pandemic broke out, the demand for mental health facilities and support was further highlighted. Now in phase two, the fund is picking up speed to meet this challenge. The Transform Mental and Behavioral Health Fund helped fund and initiate prÖGrammes like the Acute Care Team and Telecare Health in order to Make care safe and accessible through the COVID pandemic.

The post Pam Baer helps the Zuckerberg San Francisco Basic Hospital and Trauma Middle via the pandemic appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The Clipper Card can be added to Apple Pay and used with Express Transit features on San Francisco Bay.

The Apple Wallet on the iPhone has support for adding certain transit cards from within the app. These cards can be used in Express Transit mode and reloaded with Apple Pay.

The last card to be added is the clipper card. It is the San Francisco Bay Area transit card of choice and can be used with all 24 transit agencies in the area.

San Francisco is also one of the cities with enhanced transit instructions, so users can find real-time schedules for a bus, train, or ferry that are compatible with the Clipper Card. Just hold your iPhone or Apple Watch near a Clipper reader and you’re done.

Express Transit Mode is a feature that allows users to assign an Apple Pay card for use without authentication. It is necessary to pass through busy areas like a turnstile without having to pause and authenticate the transaction.

Cards used in Express mode are also available up to five hours after the iPhone battery is discharged. This means that the user can use transit services even if the device’s battery is empty.

The Clipper card connects the TAP card and the SmarTrip card in Apple Wallet. Apple maintains a list of all transit cards available for Express Transit mode by region.

Stay up to date on all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say “Hey Siri, play AppleInsider” and you’ll get the latest AppleInsider podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for “AppleInsider Daily” instead and you will receive a quick update directly from our news team. If you’re into Apple-centric home automation, say, “Hey Siri, play HomeKit Insider,” and you’ll be hearing our latest special podcast in just a few moments.

The post San Francisco Bay Space Clipper Card now helps Apple Pay with Specific Transit appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SF DA Chesa Boudin

By Juliet Bost

SAN FRANCISCO – Newly Proposed Re-Entry Housing Program Act – designed to disrupt prison for the homeless – proposed in Re-Entry Housing Program Bill 328 was approved by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, SF Public Defenders, and the Prosecutors Alliance of California.

The Reentry Housing program, presented in AB 328 by Housing and Community Development Committee Chairman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) and shared by Congregation members Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) and Buffy Wicks (D -Oakland), aims to disrupt the pipeline from incarceration to homelessness and reduce relapse rates, which are seven times higher among the homeless.

The program would use the savings from the closure of state prisons to provide five years of renewable grants to district and city-level housing support programs for former detainees.

The Support Housing Framework, which prioritizes affordable housing for those on probation in extreme poverty, is an evidence-based solution to probation workers’ insecurity.

The program’s authors also acknowledge that they acknowledge that efforts to reduce relapse rates must also address racial inequalities within the homelessness crisis and cancer system
African Americans are over-represented among the homeless and incarcerated.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is a progressive voice calling for the need to put the needs of communities, victims and offenders at the center of criminal justice reform, especially those who are disproportionately harmed by the criminal justice system .

In an interview with KQED in early January, Boudin recognized that the SFDA’s office “has played a leadership role in revising how we can promote public safety and assist victims of crime while reducing our reliance on racist measures Local governments have destroyed families and communities and bankrupted them. “

In creating the Reentry Housing program, members of the State Assembly, along with prosecutors, defense lawyers and activists, are calling for prioritized financial investments in communities as a key aspect of criminal justice reform.

AB 328 is widely supported by affordable housing advocates, including the Residents United Network (RUN), a statewide coalition of affordable housing activist organizations.

RUN members in particular have expressed overwhelming support for AB 328 during the three-day event of the Virtual Lobby Days.

“[AB 328] helps formerly incarcerated people move from mistakes and the prison industrial complex to stable living and a better future, ”commented Anakh Sul Rama, member of RUN and organizer of the Community Housing Partnership in San Francisco.

Housing California, a Sacramento-based affordable housing organization and sponsor of AB-328, commended HCD committee members for passing the proposal in a tweet Monday night.

“[AB 328] This would go a long way in ending this cycle of homelessness and incarceration in California. “

Boudin confirms that sentiment in his aim to break this cyclical pipeline from homelessness to incarceration and back.

“I was elected on a very transparent and clear platform to equally enforce the law and fight for racial justice and justice in our criminal justice system,” said Boudin in the same KQED interview.

“To focus resources on root causes of crime so we can break the revolving door that embodies the failed American approach to coast-to-coast criminal justice.”

Juliet Bost is in a third year at UC Davis with a major in Political Science – Civil Service with a minor in Religious Studies. They are originally from San Mateo, California. You are a member of the Chesa Boudin Recall – Changing the Narrative Project.

To sign up for our new newsletter – Everyday Injustice – https://tinyurl.com/yyultcf9

Support Our Work – To Achieve Sustainable Performance Of $ 5 To $ 10 To $ 25 Per Month, Click The Link Below:

The post San Francisco District Lawyer Chesa Boudin Helps Reentry Housing Invoice to Disrupt Jail to Homeless Pipeline appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.