First of Its Kind Mayoral Forum With Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor London Breed will respond to questions, concerns, and policy issues raised by older adults and adults with disabilities in a public forum sponsored by the Dignity Fund Coalition on Friday, January 11, 2019, 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco.

Community and disability rights advocate Yomi Wrong, will emcee the event and will be asking questions of Mayor Breed in front of a live and a live-streamed audience (http://sfgovtv.org/DFC-mayorbreed).

The forum is a follow up to the Dignity Fund Coalition's April 2018 Mayoral Candidate Town Hall in which over 2,000 participants heard San Francisco's Mayoral Candidates, including then candidate Breed, field questions on a range of topics critical to older adults and adults with disabilities. The Dignity Fund Coalition Mayoral Candidate Town Hall was the largest and most accessible mayoral candidate town hall of the election season. "We are keeping the momentum going because our community is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities," said Marie Jobling, Co-Chair of the Dignity Fund Coalition. "We look forward to continuing the conversation with the Mayor and to working with her Administration on policy issues that can help San Francisco's older adults and adults with disabilities live with dignity, independence, and wellness."

The forum with Mayor Breed will address issues related to the aging and disability demographics in San Francisco, often accompanied by increasing social and economic vulnerability. Today 1 in 4 San Franciscans are older adults or adults with disabilities. By 2030, 1 in 3 San Franciscans will be over the age of 60. "So many in our community are being forced to leave the city everyday," said Fiona Hinze, Co-Chair of the Dignity Fund Coalition. "We want to work with the Breed Administration to ensure that San Francisco is a place where people can live and age at home and in our communities with dignity and quality of life."

In 2016, more than 1,000 community organizations joined together as the Dignity Fund Coalition to support the passage of Proposition I (the Dignity Fund) which guarantees baseline funding for supports and services for San Francisco older adults and adults with disabilities, veterans, those aging with HIV, and other chronic conditions and caregivers.

Timely implementation of the Dignity Fund is underway, but more is needed to address growing need and to ensure equitable access to Dignity Fund supports.

The Dignity Fund Coalition calls on Mayor Breed to:

• Champion the Dignity Fund. The city has gone on record in support of efforts to make San Francisco an aging and disability friendly city. Leadership is urgently required to protect and further implement the Dignity Fund.
• Elevate issues of older adults and adults with disabilities as a citywide concern and resource. Challenges facing older adults and adult with disabilities should be at the forefront of current city strategies and discussions to address housing, homelessness, street/sidewalk safety, transportation and employment to name a few.
• Harness all city resources and lead innovative collaboration within city departments and offices, among service providers, non-profits, and business. Challenges facing older adults and adults with disabilities cut across multiple issue areas beyond the supports offered through the Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS).
• Promote a vision that leverages the prodigious resource of 25% of the city's population on behalf of San Francisco's overall quality of life.

To learn more about the Dignity Fund Coalition and the Dignity Fund visit www.sfdignityfund.org.

Event live-stream: http://sfgovtv.org/DFC-mayorbreed.

Media Contact: Andrew Adams / [email protected] / (917) 569-9644

SOURCE Dignity Fund Coalition

Related Links

https://sfdignityfund.org