March 23, 2013

Greetings Neighbors!  We have a Special Public Safety Meeting Notice.  

Due to a recent increase of crime and public safety issues, we've moved this year's annual meeting up by one month.  Please check out the meeting information located in the Calendar of Events section on the site.  

2013 Community Challenge Grant-Open Cycle Begins February 28th.  Deadline March 29th.

2012 Community Opportunity Fund Program: Deadline is June 29th

Get ready to roll up your sleeves, McKinley Square! The Community Opportunity Fund Program, part of the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks General Obligation Bond, gives neighborhoods, community groups, and park lovers an opportunity to make a difference in their favorite parks.

Park users know how to make their parks better and we want to help you make change happen! Our goal is to build community, foster stewardship, and leverage resources to improve San Francisco's vital public spaces.

Please enjoy the current draft copy of the Friends of McKinley Square Park [FoMSP] COF Application.

Draft is Located Here


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It's Official: Our Park Partners have Merged! 

San Francisco’s parks and green open spaces are deserving of a world-class, independent nonprofit organization. Neighborhood Parks Council and San Francisco Parks Trust, SF’s preeminent organizations serving parks, have joined forces to create the San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA). 

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You're Invited!

Greetings McKinley Square Park Community!

 

Please join us at this important meeting and provide feedback on plan designs for McKinley Square.  All are welcome – We need your ideas!  This is your opportunity to create a vision and design a park improvement plan for McKinley Square, and we want you to be involved.  

 

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1, 2011

10:30AM - 12:00 PM

Downtown High School

693 Vermont Street

(between 18th & 19th Streets)

 

The community design and workshop series is sponsored by the Recreation and Parks Department and San Francisco Parks Trust, with professional facilitation by John Merten from Studio Green.  

We’d also like to thank the many neighborhood organizations for supporting the improvement plan efforts.    If we missed you at the first 2 community workshops, please visit San Francisco Parks Trust at www.sfpt.org for more information and meeting updates.    

 

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the next meeting!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Linda Roberson

Recreation and Parks Department
Planning and Capital Division
30 Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Office: 415 | 575-5603

Linda.Roberson@sfgov.org

  

Please visit San Francisco Parks Trust at www.sfpt.org 

for more details and meeting information!  

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2011 Volunteers in Action!

May 20th 2011: 

McKinley Square Celebrates 4th Annual Clean Team Event!  The Department of Public Works (DPW), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans),the Recreation and Park Department (RPD), and the McKinley Square Park Foundation are supporting a Community Clean Team volunteer day of service to benefit McKinley Square park and the surrounding open spaces on Friday, May 20^th starting at 8:00-12:30pm.   *100 Volunteers Participating*

May 9th, 2011:

McKinley Square Celebrates 3rd Annual Clean Team Event!  The Department of Public Works (DPW), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans),the Recreation and Park Department (RPD), and the McKinley Square Park Foundation are supporting a Community Clean Team volunteer day of service to benefit McKinley Square park and the surrounding open spaces on Monday, May 9^th starting at 8:00-12:30pm.  *300 Volunteers Participating*

 

March 6, 2011:  Vermont Street SAFE Group Meeting

Vermont Street neighbors meeting to explore NERT teams and get updates from SF SAFE programs and services.

October 8, 2010:  Community Crime Watch and Public Safety Meeting
Community volunteers and local groups came together to host the 2nd annual public safety meeting with over 150+ neighbors attending.  Both local and state agencies provided updates and education on making public safety improvements to our areas.   Neighbors participated in a long Q&A session with questions targeting answers for traffic calming solutions, neighborhood safety in open spaces and much more.

October 4, 2010:  Updates will be included in the Meeting Minutes and posted next week.  We'll send out an email and post them here. 

September 1, 2010:  McKinley Square welcomes The Arc of San Francisco Volunteers!

After weeks of planning we launched McKinley's latest volunteer project with The Arc of San Francisco.  To learn more, check next months edition of the Potrero View. 

Can't wait?  Here's a related story about our new park partners from opening day entitled   "Work, Sweat and Dignity" at BlogTalk.

Watch the Flickr slideshow from opening day with The Arc of San Francisco at McKinley Square.

Saturday, September 25th 9am-12pm

Please come out and join the Vermont Street Neighborhood Association (VSNA) and Kansas Street neighbors for Clean Team event hosted by Department of Public Works and Clean Streets.  Meeting location: 900 Block of Kansas.  Lunch provided at Islais Creek for volunteers.

May 25, 2010:  Potrero Hill Booster Association Annual Dinner! Congratulations to the new Booster President, Audrey Cole!  

April 15, 2010:  Vermont Street Neighborhood Group (VSNA): After many months of SAFE neighborhood watch meetings and project planning with both DPW and neighbors; VSNA is ready to begin exploring funding options for the surrounding areas that directly impact their homes along the 800-900 blocks of Vermont, 21st, 22nd and Kansas Streets.  

March 4, 2010:  McKinley Square Park Foundation (MSPF) - Meet & Greet hosted by San Francisco Parks Trust- Joyce Book along with DB Spahn, Chairman, MSCA attended an informal  "Meet and Greet" with MSPF's fiscal sponsor; San Francisco Park Trusts. The goal of the meeting was to provide a brief overview of how SFPT and MSPF work together towards park advocacy and in facilitating the funding process on behalf of individuals or neighborhood groups like MSCA.  

March 2, 2010:  Multi-Agency Landscape Meeting- Identify existing conditions and property lines to be used for community outreach during the Master Planning Process under the direction of Recreation and Parks Department. [Re-Scheduled due to Weather Conditions].

March 1, 2010:  McKinley Square Park Foundation Board of Trustees Meeting- Overview of Goals, Strategy and Master Schedule for 2010. Update on Landscape Architect meeting and master planning process from RPD.

February 3, 2010:  McKinley Square Park Foundation Board of Trustees Meeting- The Board of Trustees for the McKinley Square Park Foundation hosted a "Meet & Greet" for the members of MSCA.  The purpose of the meeting was to provide a brief overview of our Foundations qualifications, goals and 2010 funding strategy outlined under our joint partnership with both Recreation and Parks and San Francisco Parks Trust [May 2009].  Discussions related to our board's stellar history with previous park funding experience [i.e. Franklin Square, Potrero De Sol] as well as identifying positive ways to partner with individual neighborhood groups like MSCA when facilitating funding for McKinley Square projects.  

January 26, 2010: Vermont Street Neighborhood Group (VSNA) SAFE Meeting- Formalize partnership with SAFE and the individual neighbors living on the 800-900 blocks of Vermont.  Discussed Kansas and 22^nd Street neighbors. Overview VSNA goals, boundaries and public safety projects related to the unimproved DPW areas (e.g. "Enclave") managed by the Department of Public Works.  Overview of 2010 beautification and project planning process related to coordinating agencies and funding options. Meeting Begins at 6:30 at Downtown High School.

January 18, 2010:  McKinley Square Park Foundation Board of Trustee Meeting- Identify Annual Goals and Scheduling for 2010 Funding Process under the direction of Recreation and Parks Department.  

January 19, 2010: Multi-Agency Landscape Meeting- Identify existing conditions and property lines to be used for community outreach during the Master Planning Process under the direction of Recreation and Parks Department. [Re-Scheduled due to Weather Conditions].

January 18, 2010:  McKinley Square Park Foundation Board of Trustee Meeting-   Explore the Master Planning Process under the direction of Recreation and Parks Department as it relates to 2010 Funding Process and Capital Improvements.

December 31, 2010: Next Year's Meetings: Beginning in January, we will meet again with the various agencies before hosting a community wide meeting for everyone to attend and review the status of the short and long-term solutions identified.

December 15, 2009: Vermont Street Neighborhood Association (VSNA) Short-Term Results are Happening! The best reflection of the swift response we are seeing from the Vermont Street Neighborhood Association (VSNA) and our local agencies (e.g. SFPD, RPD, DPW and Caltrans) can be seen by visiting the “enclave” located at the base of Vermont Street.  Both VSNA SAFE Group Co-Captains; Jennifer King and Henry Wimmer and the members have moved forward quickly when expressing their support for making short-term public safety improvements.  

Look for more updates from the VSNA SAFE Crime Watch Group in January 2010 after they host their first planning meeting.

December 14, 2009:  DPW and the Vermont Street Neighborhood Association (VSNA) SAFE Block Captains from the 900 Block of Vermont Street participated in a walk-through of the area which has resulted in a week long clean-up and 250K renovation project this week.  These efforts will be ongoing and are focusing on beautification and public safety projects surrounding the 900 block of Vermont (e.g. “Enclave”)

December 1, 2009:  Multi Agency Board Meeting- (10) Potrero Hill Neighborhood community groups (e.g. Potrero Hill Boosters Association, Potrero Hill Parents Association, Kansas Street Neighborhood Association, Vermont Street Neighborhood Association, San Bruno Avenue 

Neighborhood Association, McKinley Square Park Foundation, McKinley Square Community Association, The Potrero's Crime Watch Group, Vermont Street SAFE Groups, Potrero Hill Neighbors Group) including many smaller SAFE Neighborhood Crime Watch Groups hosted a closed door, multi-agency public safety meeting (e.g. SFPD, DPW, RPD, Caltrans, District Attorney, SFMTA) to address long standing public safety issues related to McKinley Square Park and the surrounding areas. 

The list of items discussed originated from the 100+ neighbors who attended November's Community and SAFE Neighborhood Crime Watch Meeting hosted by Downtown High School principle, Mark Alvarado. 

Together with (10) community group leaders and local press representatives from the Potrero View, the multi-agency meeting and partnership coordination was a great success.  The goal was to discuss and identify areas that needed both short and long-term solutions.  The meeting was designed to create a solid working relationship between our neighborhood and these park partners.  We had 100% attendance and the support of Mayor Gavin Newsom based on his personal visit to McKinley Square back 11/20/09. This was a very successful meeting for all!

November 20, 2009: Mayor Gavin Newsom Meets with Downtown High School Students and Faculty!  Joyce Book was invited to attend the meeting between Mayor Gavin Newsom and the students of Downtown High School (DHS).  The goal was to learn more about the ongoing efforts with DHS and creating new ways of getting these students more active in community events.

After the DHS meeting, MGN agreed to an impromptu one-on-one meeting related to ongoing public safety issues identified in the areas surrounding McKinley Square Park.  MGN and Joyce met afterward at the base of Vermont Street (e.g. “Enclave”) and briefly reviewed some of the well documented community concerns related to the (3) properties located there (e.g. DPW, Caltrans, RPD) and agenda items related to previous SAFE Crime Watch meetings.  

MGN expressed strong support towards any efforts increasing public safety surrounding McKinley Square and immediately followed up by sending out multiple text messages to the related department heads at both city and state agencies (e.g. SFPD, RPD, DPW, SFMTA, Caltrans, District Attorney).  This was a game changing moment for all of our efforts to date related to funding and agency support.   Items discussed related to well documented, long standing issues related to homeless encampments, gang activity, speeding, crime and our neighborhoods overall concerns on maintenance and repairs.

November 15, 2009:  SAFE Neighborhood Watch Captains-  We have (2) new SAFE Neighborhood Crime Watch Captains! Let's welcome Jennifer King and Henry Wimmer, Vermont Street Neighborhood SAFE Group (800-900 Block of Vermont Street) and longtime Potrero Hill resident

Kelly Keith (Rhode Island Street).  

Many came out to support the ongoing community efforts being championed by long standing SAFE Crime Watch Groups like the San Bruno Ave. Neighborhood Groups lead by SAFE Co-Captains: Joe Treinen and April Ellis and the Kansas Street Neighborhood Association's Raymond O'Connor.  We also have many smaller, existing SAFE crime watch groups along the 500-800 blocks of Vermont Street SAFE Group and (8) additional blocks surrounding the McKinley Square areas! 

 

MSPF will continue to host annual public safety community outreach meetings related with SAFE Neighborhood Crime Watch with the goal of creating a larger, SAFE neighborhood for all.  

August 15, 2009:  San Francisco Parks Trust awards McKinley Square $2,000.00 from this years Innovators Award Program!

This year the McKinley Square Park Foundation worked together with over 10 individual neighborhood groups towards facilitating and authoring a variety of community grants to support public safety and preservation efforts at McKinley Square.  Two grants were awarded with a total of 2K to benefit McKinley.  The McKinley Square Mom's Group received $750.00 towards the purchase of a new community play and storage box to be located in the children's play areas.  The goal of the community box is to support clean and safe play at McKinley.  $1,250.00 has also been awarded to McKinley for future projects.

Congratulations!

About SFPT Innovator Awards :: $20,000 for park projects Innovator Awards honor Park Partners and other community-based organizations that are committed to improving their neighborhoods, parks or recreational programming in sustainable, forward-thinking ways. Awards are between $500 and $2000 for the purchase of equipment or site-improvements that will help increase park usage and strengthen programs. This year we awarded more than $20,000 to local groups. Congratulations to McKinley Square's 2009 Innovator Award Winners!

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