A New Chapter in the Richmond
By Sarah Wan, CYC Executive Director
The Richmond District is near and dear to San Francisco, to me, and to CYC.
I have lived in the Richmond for over 30 years, and CYC has likewise been in the Richmond for over three decades, at first to meet the needs of immigrant youth in the neighborhood looking for jobs but facing discrimination and barriers to entry. Over time, we have grown in response to community needs, offering workforce development services to all youth, leadership programs for high schoolers, and technology classes for seniors.
Every year, we mentor hundreds of youth on skills such as resume writing, interview practice, professional communication, job searching, and career planning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we expanded to serve the neighborhood with translation services, Medi-Cal and food stamp assistance, safety workshops, and housing and transportation information.
Our deep ties in the Richmond have made it clear to us that the community would greatly benefit from more centralized resources to serve youth, families and seniors. The Richmond is a particularly diverse neighborhood, with a large Asian Pacific Islander population, a large percentage of the community living in or near poverty, and many languages spoken. The neighborhood lacks the density of some other areas of San Francisco, which makes centralized community resources that much more important.
We’re excited today to share with you our plans for a new community hub in the Richmond, located at 952 Clement Street. On November 10, 2021, we are breaking ground at this new facility, which will offer expanded workforce development, youth leadership, and senior support programs, as well as workshop and meeting spaces for community partners and cultural events. The new CYC Richmond Community Hub will expand education and employment opportunities to young people, low-income adults, and older adults in the Richmond District. Like all CYC programs, the new Hub will support cultural pride and a family-centered approach.
This is an exciting day for us, and we’re humbled and proud to have city and state leaders like Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Connie Chan, former Supervisor Sandra Fewer, and Assemblymember Phil Ting with us to show their support. Thank you for being a vital supporter of CYC and the work we do, and we look forward to sharing more news about the new Richmond Community Hub, leading up to our grand opening in Spring 2023.