San Francisco African American Arts and Cultural District

Annual Fundraiser Feb 23- SFAAACD hosted its first San Francisco's "Black Resilience" Gala which was a testament to the strength and tenacity of Black communities in the city to persist in the face of systemic racism. This resilience acknowledges the unique hardships faced by Black communities and emphasizes the importance of organizing, advocating, and creating spaces of support. Additionally, it celebrates the beauty of Black culture in the city and recognizes the invaluable contributions of Black people to San Francisco's history, culture, and economy.MOHCD Operating Support - With the support of MOHCDs Operations Grant, SFAAACD has been able to make significant headway with our CHHESS Report including planning. The CHHESS Report is a cultural legacy document and strategic plan to provide guidance for achieving cultural stabilization. This document is key to operating as one of the Cultural Districts in San Francisco. The Operating Grant also helped us plan the Juneteenth Event at Gilman Park. This event was an opportunity to celebrate and it was a cultural space for unity, healing, joy, and restoration. It was also a space to support black vendors and businesses that have roots in the Bayview community. Furthermore, the grant helped SFAAACD to host San Francisco's "Black Resilience" Gala which was a testament to the strength and tenacity of Black communities in the city to persist in the face of systemic racism. This resilience acknowledges the unique hardships faced by Black communities and emphasizes the importance of organizing, advocating, and creating spaces of support. Additionally, it celebrates the beauty of Black culture in the city and recognizes the invaluable contributions of Black people to San Francisco's history, culture, and economy.MOHCD Capacity Building - With the support of MOHCDs Capacity Building Grant, SFAAACD has begun developing a Board Action Plan, Fundraising Action Plan and Employee Handbook. We have also strengthened the leadership of our team through Executive Team Workshops and Staff Meetings. We have started planning for a Board Planning Workshop to help build leadership within the Board once the full Board has been created.Economic Vitality Incubation Hub- SFAAACD successfully opened the Hub in early October 2023 and had a Hub Grand Opening party with approximately 100 people in attendance. SFAAACD was able to support several community businesses such as: Afatasi the Artist, Gumbo Social, Gratta Wines and Market, Kristine Mays, Divine Desserts, Balloon Sistas, Viva's Printing by using this as vendors at the Hub Grand Opening event. This helped the companies financially and also helped bring awareness to their businesses as we showcased each business that we used. The Hub itself is a place where business owners and entrepreneurs can come to learn more about resources and services to support their endeavors. Blackness Outdoor Event Series- Throughout 2023, SFAAACD hosted several events as part of its Celebration of Blackness Outdoor Series. These events included: Sunnydales Family Day, Bayviews Juneteenth Fathers Day Celebration and Sam Jordans Block Party. Each of these events brought out hundreds of Bay Area residents to celebrate culturally specific holidays, family events, artistic performances, and all for spaces for vendors to sell their products and services.SFMTA Shuttle Program - For the SFMTA Shuttle Program, SFAAACD worked on getting community members within the 94124 zip code to complete a survey to help shape the Bayview Shuttle Program. SFAAACD set up tables and survey stations at several events including, Bayview Juneteenth, Us4Us Peace Rally, SF Historical Context Statement Open Forum to allow community members to share their feedback. We collected over 100 surveys from Community Members.