sf.citi is committed to providing ongoing updates about the latest community news and resources from the San Francisco tech industry and beyond.
- 906,107 confirmed cases in California
- 17,357 confirmed deaths in California
- 114,953 confirmed cases in the Bay Area
*As of 9:00am PT on 10/26
COVID-19 Updates from the SF Tech Community
UPDATES FROM THE TECH COMMUNITY
We are sharing the latest COVID-19 resources from the San Francisco tech industry, as well other community-minded initiatives pioneered by sf.citi members.
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared a progress report on Google’s racial justice commitments made in June 2020. As part of the company’s broader commitment to increased supplier diversity, Google set a new goal of spending $100 million annually with Black-owned businesses starting in 2021. To date, Google has allocated over $9 million in loans and grants for Black-owned businesses. The company also launched its Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
- During a time of record food insecurity, Instacart is making its grocery delivery services more accessible to lower-income customers by launching EBT SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) on its platform in partnership with ALDI. Instacart users will be able to add ALDI’s EBT SNAP-eligible items to their cart and select how much of their benefits they want to allocate to their order before checking out. Instacart’s EBT SNAP functionality with ALDI will roll out in Georgia, quickly followed by California, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
- Lyft partnered with Nike to ease early voting and offer discounted Lyft rides to polling places or registered ballot dropbox locations. The discount code is available to voters in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, and Portland from October 24 to October 30.
- Uber has also launched several iniatives to help people vote early (and safely) in the November 2020 election. Between October 24 through Election Day on November 3, Uber Eats is partnering with Pizza to the Polls to deploy a fleet of 180+ food trucks across 25 cities to deliver free food to people standing in long polling lines. Uber also offers an in-app poll-finding feature and 50 percent off roundtrip rides to and from the polls.
UPDATES FROM THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
- On October 23, Mayor Breed announced that San Francisco was awarded $29.1 million from California’s Project Homekey for the purchase of the Hotel Diva as permanent supportive housing. Hotel Diva, located at 440 Geary Street, will provide 130 new units of permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness in San Francisco.
- On October 23, Mayor Breed announced the creation of a new Community Liaison Unit at the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). Comprised of five members from the Police Department’s Community Engagement Division, the Community Liason Unit will focus on supporting public safety needs and ensuring all of San Francisco’s communities feel safe working with the Police Department.
- On October 20, Mayor Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax announced that San Francisco will continue its measured reopening process. Beginning October 27, the City will reopen “non-essential” offices at limited capacity. Indoor climbing walls and other businesses and activities will also repoen—see an updated reopening timeline here. These steps come as San Francisco moved to the yellow tier—the lowest county risk level for COVID-19—on California’s tiered COVID-19 system.
- On October 20, Mayor Breed announced the launch of the Stand Together campaign to unite San Franciscans against discrimination. Organized by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and community leaders, Stand Together will include a series of public town halls to address bias and discrimination, as well as community-inspired artwork and youth-led projects.
- On October 19, Mayor Breed announced new process improvements to speed up the approval of affordable housing construction. These include nine informational bulletins that provide housing developers detailed, consistent information about the City’s application of accessibility regulations and building codes. Prior to the bulletins, developers relied on individualized accessibility consultations with City inspectors issuing multiple accessibility compliance correction notices, often resulting in delays and higher project costs.
To stay up to date with all City of San Francisco updates, follow the Mayor’s updates here.
UPDATES FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
- On October 23, Governor Newsom announced California’s Project Homekey secured an additional $200 million, bringing total Homekey funding to more than $800 million. Homekey is California’s program to purchase, rehabilitate, and convert properties into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The new funding will allow the state to clear most of the Homekey waitlist with two more rounds of awards, including the sixth round, which granted $81.4 million for 6 projects totaling 430 units.
- On October 19, Governor Newsom named acclaimed California physician scientists to California’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup to review any COVID-19 vaccines before they are distributed in California. Guided by the principles of safety, equity, and transparency, this group of experts will verify the safety of any vaccine that receives federal approval before making it available to those most at risk in California.
To stay up to date with all State of California updates, follow the California Department of Health’s updates here.
SUPPORT OUR SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY
Every week, sf.citi will feature a different San Francisco nonprofit and share ways you can support its mission and work.
- Enjoy a stroll in the (smoke-free) outdoors and help end youth homelessness by participating in the Larkin Street Youth Services Mask Parade! Larkin Street’s Mask Parade ends on October 30, which means you’ve got one week left to walk, run, skip, hop, dance, strut, or parade in the name of a very important cause. You can register as a team or individual, and every dollar contributed, up to $25,000, will be matched twice by a longtime supporter of Larkin Street. Make sure to document your participation with a selfie and share on social media (#maskparadesf). Not interested in walking? You can still donate to a team or individual. Participants are also encouraged to glam up with glitter, mask, and costumes on October 30 at 4pm for an evening of virtual celebration with Cyndi Lauper. Be part of the solution to ending youth homelessness and sign up for the Larkin Street Youth Services Mask Parade.
Would you like to be featured in a future sf.citi community update? Tell us about your work in San Francisco by emailing jacqueline@sfciti.org.
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