To: San Francisco Board of Supervisors

We ask that you vote to include $10 million for the Recreation Center at Herz Playground in the 2020 San Francisco Health & Recovery Bond.

Certain San Francisco neighborhoods have experienced amazing growth and investment in recent years -- but others have been left out of that progress. San Francisco has never seen this lack of equity between its neighborhoods -- in investment, community resources, and in community wellness. But you have an opportunity to remedy that with the 2020 bond.

We’re not interested in skyscrapers or luxury apartments; there is so much about our Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley communities that we love as they are. But there is one thing we have been asking for over decades: a rec center with an indoor basketball court and other facilities we can enjoy together. Our community has never had one -- meaning our kids and families traverse the City to play indoor basketball and exercise in the winter months, and don’t have a community space to gather, like other neighborhoods do.

The need for a gym in our community has never been more urgent than it is now, as we are all trying to cope with the physical health, mental health, and economic effects of COVID-19, which has hit our community particularly hard. We know that, after we are able to safely come back together, this gym will change lives in our community.

We sincerely ask that $10 million for the Herz Recreation Center be included in the 2020 San Francisco Health & Recovery Bond.

Thank you.