CCDC
"Luck befell the family in 1993. They burst into cheers when they were offered a three-bedroom unit at Chinatown CDC’s Tenderloin Family Apartments. “We were so happy. The building is beautiful and the room is good. My granddaughters have their own room," said Felicidad Afenir, Tenant at Tenderloin Family Apartments. (Read more)

Testimonials

Testimonial of Leonid Eylman

Tenant at 201 Turk Street Apartments

Without the services available at 201 Turk Street Apartments, I could not have helped my family so much. Also, I could not make the contributions …… that I want to make to this country without the special services that 201 Turk Street Apartments offers


I came to San Francisco twelve years ago from the former USSR with my wife, my elderly mother and my elderly mother -in-law. At first, we stayed with my adult children in their small apartment, but it was very crowded and was only a temporary situation. Then I rented an apartment, but it was too expensive and was not wheelchair accessible (my mother was in a wheelchair).

When I moved into 201 Turk Street Apartments, I was very happy because I received many extra services that you don't get at most buildings. For Example, I was able to send both my mother and my mother-in-law to a local Adult Day Health Care facility, because, the Chinatown CDC Tenant Services person told me about that service. I also took English as a Second Language Class, Citizenship Class, and computer instruction that were offered by the apartment building. I and my wife and my mother all became citizens because of these classes.

I was an astro-physicist in the USSR, and I have been working on some inventions which can benefit this country, since I have been here. The Tenant Service person helped me find a free patent attorney. I just got a patent on my latest invention, which is a new kind of wind and/or watermill. This invention could help California--and the rest of the world--with the energy crisis as it can produce a great deal of energy very cheaply. The Tenant Services person helps me by editing my letters to the patent office and now helps me with my letters to places that could help me manufacture this invention. Without the services available at 201 Turk Street Apartments, I could not have helped my family so much. Also, I could not make the contributions--such as my inventions---that I want to make to this country without the special services that 201 Turk Street Apartments offers.




Testimonial of Felicidad Afenir

Tenant at Tenderloin Family Apartments

Luck befell the family in 1993. They burst into cheers when they were offered a three-bedroom unit at Chinatown CDC’s Tenderloin Family Apartments. “We were so happy. The building is beautiful and the room is good. My granddaughters have their own room”

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Felicidad Afenir, a nearly 82-year-old peppy and affable grandma, once lived with her husband and two granddaughters in a studio on Turk between Jones and Taylor in the middle of the Tenderloin for six years before moving into Chinatown CDC’s Tenderloin Family Apartments.

The old studio was the family’s dinning room, sitting room, and bedroom. Mrs. Afenir recalled her 18-year-old granddaughter had once complained to her, “How could four people live in this studio? I can’t even turn around.”

Luck befell the family in 1993. They burst into cheers when they were offered a three-bedroom unit at Chinatown CDC’s Tenderloin Family Apartments. Mrs. Afenir said, “We were so happy. The building is beautiful and the room is good. My granddaughters have their own room.”

Mrs. Afenir has resided at Tenderloin Family Apartments for 16 years. She has been an active tenant and always likes to volunteer for events, such as the Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas party.

“I like helping our tenant coordinator, who is also my best friend, to set up tables and chairs and clean up after tenant parties. I like helping people,” added Mrs. Afenir. “The tenant coordinators here have always been helpful and friendly.” She was given an award in 2007 for her inspirational leadership and support to the Family Apartments.

Asked if she knew her neighbors well, Mrs. Afenir, with a glint in her eyes, said she had encountered a long-lost friend on the day she moved into her apartment. “We lost contact since I left the Philippines in 1987 and now she lives one floor above me.”

Retired as security guard at the age of 78, the octogenarian grandma, who has immeasurable passion for helping people in the community, still has dreams of being a desk clerk at Tenderloin Family Apartments or even an elementary school teacher.



Testimonial of Nelson Szeto

Former AAA (Adopt-An-Alleyway) Member

I joined AAA Youth Project about a year ago. It had an astonishing impact on my life. AAA was the best “club” that I had ever worked with, because it was fun and educational



Within this exceptional nonprofit organization, I was able to learn about the fascinating history of Chinatown and the interesting people within it. I lived in Chinatown for all these years and I never saw the beautiful picture that it was. This is the sole reason why I do AAA today.

My second reason for being in AAA is that I received a chance to meet other youths from the city’s high schools. This builds community and allows the members to discover more about the world around them and understand similar teenagers from different backgrounds. AAA gives its members motivation and pride for the Asian American community. It offered me a chance to express my ideas and beliefs to society. AAA is the way for me to contribute to our world and be represented.

There are many great things that AAA members do. For example, we lead other high school children in sweeping alleyways every two months. We plan on how to improve our leadership in order to promote a cleaner environment for all of us to live in. Once in a while during a Work-A-Thon, we would combine with helpful volunteers from colleges and universities to plant new trees and paint over graffiti.

In return, AAA offers many various activities for its hard-working members. Fun workshops of leadership, hip-hop, html programming, and documentary are given out to help us learn some of the necessary skills and new talents. From these, we gain confidence and respect for different people in our society.

AAA led the way to new ideas and improvements in our community. The CATs (Chinatown Alleyway Tours), which is a tour led by a group of teens giving out tours to inform people about Chinatown, was a result from AAA. It is my feeling that AAA has the potential to succeed in its purposes and make dreams come true. It would absolutely open many young minds and increase new ideas that would result in a better world. AAA is definitely community service work that could make a difference.




Testimonial of James Brady

Former Property Manager and Board Member of Chinatown CCDC

I found the organization to be a very progressive place that really cared about the plight of many people and especially the community.



I first heard about Chinatown CDC, which was known as the Chinese Community Housing Corporation (CCHC) at the time in 1989, when the Reverend Gordy Lam visited a property that I managed in South Park for Mission Housing Development Corporation. I decided to get involved after I was asked to become a consultant for 90 days. I found the organization to be a very progressive place that really cared about the plight of many people and especially the community. I was even perhaps the first African American staff person at CCHC and I didn’t even speak any foreign languages, unlike some of my peers who were bilingual in Chinese.

Although I was later hired as a property manager to oversee all the Tenderloin projects that were in the pipeline under the Art Agnos’ mayorship, I also became a community liaison, working with the North of Market Development Corporation board; San Francisco Housing Authority to rent up and recruit potential tenants for our Tenderloin properties: Hamlin, Cambridge, William Penn, and Dalt hotels. At the time, my roles also included advising tenants as well as provide vocational services by hiring tenants as desk clerks to help maintain order and safety in all residential hotels. I worked with corporations such as PG&E to donate 61 refrigerators, one for each room, at the opening of Cambridge Hotel in 1990. I was also the Tenderloin community organizer by setting up tenant boards and establishing community participation with the City’s Department of Public Works to keep the community clean. This resulted in the cleaning of blocks where there was drug activity near our properties, and cultivated relationships with other neighboring non-profits. In collaboration with the police, we were able to clean up the 100 block of Eddy Street.

I left CCHC in 1995 to start my own business at TeleCon L.T.D, Inc., which provides telecommunication training and consulting to the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, where I am now very happy. I managed to organize and opened my own credit union in 1999 for low-income residents in the Tenderloin. Gordon Chin once called me the police, a politician, landlord, economic developer, advisor, mentor, role model, and a champion for justice.

Of the six years working with this organization, I’ve learned that every single person matters in this life and I am pleased to be working with the Chinatown CDC once again as a board member this time around.