8th Annual Giving Voice to the Season

Thanksgiving Dinner

Saturday November 19, 2011

Noon until 3:00pm

John Muir Elementary Auditorium

380 Webster St @ Oak

Please join us for a celebration of community with

Food & Entertainment and a 30 Turkey raffle!

Fostering a Safe and Caring Community

Holiday Season 2011

Additional Information contact:

Marco at email: mdiaz@ymcasf.org or Phone: 749-2715

Sponsored by Western Addition Beacon Center, Community Partners United, Mo Magic and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi

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Mo’ MAGIC fundraiser to help support their summer youth programs:

Mo’ MAGIC is organizing another magical summer for the children and youth in the Western Addition. In our dedication to combating summer learning loss, we have coordinated activities, field trips and enrichment for hundreds of children and youth in the community.

We are pleased to announce our newest project – The MAGIC Show. It is a fundraiser that is critical to our summer learning initiatives. On April 25, 2011 we will have a reception and program highlighting Mo’ MAGIC and the Summer of MAGIC, with performances by Pop Lyfe and recognition of community leaders such as Fillmore legend Leroy King, volunteer extraordinaire Richard Johnson and Western Addition Beacon Director Takija Gardner.

The suggested donation for the MAGIC show is $75 ($50 for Western Addition residents and service providers and $20 for youth), but any donation is appreciated. Please consider making a donation and joining us for a night of MAGIC on April 25, 6:00pm at Yoshi’s San Francisco. Visit The MAGIC Show donation page here to get tickets. Donate Now!

Mo’ MAGIC is collaboration of organizations and community members working together to create opportunities for youth to grow and learn. Currently we host weekly enrichment opportunities for more than 400 neighborhood children and youth and a weekly mentoring series for 100 youth. We hire enrichment teachers for 10 organizations serving 250 youth and distribute 1500 backpacks filled with school supplies EACH YEAR.

We need to raise $50,000 for this summer’s events and activities to cover the following costs:
• 8 literacy workshops for 450 children and youth
• 8 mentoring workshops for 150 youth
• 5 field trips for 500 children and youth
• 3 enrichment teachers for 300 children and youth
• 4 community events for 500 children youth and their families
• Buy 3000 books for neighborhood programs and housing developments
• Annual health fair and backpack giveaway for more than 1500 children, youth and their families

Every tax deductible donation, not matter how small, will make a difference and is crucial to the support of this community programming. If you can’t donate money, please donate time and volunteer. To make a donation visit our home page www.momagic.org and click the donate now button or you can send checks (made out to our fiscal sponsor AAACC):

The MAGIC Show
762 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

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by Myke Suyat

The Western Addition Neighborhood Workforce Services (WA-NWS) Partnership was formed to help connect jobseekers with the right services to overcome barriers that may be preventing them from finding employment. It’s not enough that a One Stop Career Link Center opened in 2009. People are dealing with other issues outside of identifying job opportunities or having a resume prepared. In some cases, there are legal issues or there are family issues. While organizations that handle these kind of challenges already exist, people often don’t know about them. Thus, the partnership was created this past fall to bridge the gap between resource and need.

“It’s really important that the partnership exists,” says Kriztina Palone, a Project Manager at the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD). “There’s a great need in the Western Addition overall, but particularly with residents in the various housing developments, including public and subsidized housing, who may need the services and don’t know they’re available. The partnership engages the entire community to connect these residents with services that enhance their opportunities to gain employment.”

The WA-NWS Partnership consists of the OEWD in an advisory capacity, Allen Community Development Corporation (a program of Bethel AME Church), Up From Darkness, Brothers for Change, Renaissance Parents of Success, Mo’ MAGIC, Westbay Development Corporation, and the Western Addition One Stop Career Link Center. The partnership, through a series of coordinated efforts, targets those underserved residents in public or subsidized housing, or anyone who may have multiple barriers to employment. The partnership also provides presentations directly to residents on-site at housing meetings. One of the presentations occurred in November to residents at Plaza East Apartments. Martha Hollins, manager of the Plaza East Tenants’ Association, says that the residents were “very receptive to the information sessions and had plenty of questions for the presenters.”

With goals in mind for 2011, the partnership will continue to hold presentations, distribute information at events, survey, and work with people one-on-one so that subsequently, they will enroll into workshops, training programs, case management services, and the One Stop Career Link Center. When the economy stabilizes, hopefully our Western Addition neighbors will have taken steps necessary to get their lives in check and their job applications above and beyond the minimum requirements so that they, too, can qualify for new opportunities.

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by Myke Suyat

As the new Program Assistant at Mo’ MAGIC, I plan to ride this “new guy” title as long as I can. Almost one month on the job and I’m still discovering who we are, what we do, and why we do it. I think I have a good grasp of this organization, but I learn new things everyday because we do more than what we say we do on paper. Mo’ MAGIC Director, Sheryl Davis, who is affectionately dubbed, Sister Davis within the walls of the office, is busy, really busy.

Founded by the SF Public Defender’s Office in 2004, we are “a collaborative San Francisco neighborhood-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to transform the community and youth through the MAGIC of collaboration.” The program first served the Bayview & Hunter’s Point community and then in 2006 expanded to Fillmore and Western Addition neighborhoods due to the efforts of Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. Thus, Bayview MAGIC’s sibling was born, Mo’ MAGIC (Mo’ is short for Fillmore), with Ms. Davis at the helm. Before Mo’ MAGIC, programs were being offered to the community that were disconnected. Now Mo’ MAGIC coordinates and collaborates efforts in the Western Addition.

Once defined by our name, Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities (MAGIC), we initially served organizations working with at-risk or underserved youth, who are more susceptible to juvenile delinquency. But driven by the needs of the entire community, we expanded to serve other unmet needs. “We couldn’t just serve the kids without looking at the rest of the household,” Ms. Davis explains. “The families need assistance, too.” The partnership has grown to include jobreadiness, mental and health-service organizations, housing development managers, and resident associations.

“We have evolved into a one-stop shop of neighborhood know-how,” Ms. Davis continues. “We work towards our mission by convening stakeholders, building community and capacity, and sharing information and resources.”

Our annual events include weekly summer activities, academic support, field trips, holiday celebrations, a backpack giveaway, interfaith activities, teen council and leadership, community gardening, and more. The youth, as a result of their regular participation in community events, have taken ownership of the neighborhood. And through regular interaction with each other, these same kids have helped to break down some of the invisible walls that have caused separation and fighting. Ultimately, Mo’MAGIC is achieving the mission of Public Defender Jeff Adachi when he instituted MAGIC along with Western Addition stakeholders by decreasing truancy and youth encounters with the criminal justice system.

As we plan for 2011 and continue to serve the neighborhood on a tighter budget, we invite you to participate, share your ideas, or volunteer at an event. All meetings are open to the public. For more information, please contact info@momagic.org or visit us on our website atwww.momagic.org.

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