Focus on Families and Children

By Frances Neagley

One of the wonderful benefits of our new Hayes Green is the large number of children and families that are making use of the park. There isn’t a time during the day when the play structure doesn’t have kids on it, in it, or around it. And their parents are sitting nearby, getting to know the neighbors. This success has helped HVNA focus on something that has been a priority for a long time, but one that hasn’t been fully supported by the infrastructure of the organization.

Earlier this year, the HVNA Board established several core initiatives, in order to ensure that our energies were focused throughout the neighborhood. These were about long-term planning, immediate needs, and quality of life. One of the most successful offshoots of that focus has been the Hayes Buchanan Task Force, an offshoot of our focus on the Hayes Valley Playground Perimeter and the Children and Families in that area.

The Public Safety committee has clearly identified that there should be multiple efforts made to improve the quality of life for our neighborhood. One of these is enforcement, and the group has been involved in educating and informing neighbors about the removal of undesirable elements from our community. The committee has also provided neighbors with a forum to review enforcement concerns.

Perhaps more important to the neighborhood are efforts of prevention. HVNA has focused on opportunities for children in many of its lobbying efforts and, as shown in Hayes Green, has had some success. Some of the strongest feedback from the community related to the proposed development of the UC Extension site is the need for programmed activities for the youth in the area. Efforts at Hayes Valley Playground and Koshland Park also reflect the need to work together to offer our children the best opportunities and our families the most support possible.

At the urging of many community members, HVNA has established a new committee: Families and Children, under the excellent direction of Richard Johnson. As Gail Baugh, an active neighbor and Co-chair with Richard of the Public Safety committee noted, “Now we can see our community as family, and new offspring to be nurtured. Richard understands this point well.” Richard and Gail have worked together with the Public Safety committee, and their outreach efforts have been successful. Many of the people who have been participating on the committee and attending its meetings have expressed their frustration that there is more finger pointing going on than prevention efforts. More telling, there has been frustration that others don’t understand people from different parts of the neighborhood. The sense of community isn’t felt in all areas, and it should be.

By focusing on our future, the children and families in the area, we focus on the larger family that is Hayes Valley. On Monday, Sept 12th, the Public Safety meeting at Hayes Valley Playground was so well attended that people were climbing over each other for seats. And it wasn’t a calm or boring meeting either, as people felt free to voice their concerns. HVNA President Paul Olsen remarked that the spirited meeting was a good sign. As he put it, “If people didn’t care so much, they wouldn’t come and they wouldn’t argue. There is so much energy in the room because people in Hayes Valley are passionate about their quality of life.” Olsen thanked Gail Baugh for running the meeting, and her efforts in getting such a good turnout. Olsen singled out Supervisor Mirkarimi for his attendance, insight, and efforts to make progress in this area. The supervisor has been of tremendous support to our group.

Anyone wishing to join the Families and Children committee can contact Richard Johnson at Safety@hayesvalleysf.org