SAVE JAPANTOWN YOUTH LEADERS

Nakayoshi members involved with nihonmachiROOTS have been busy launching a weeklong campaign to lobby the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, to reallocate funding for the JCYC's Japantown Youth Leaders program. Find out more on how you can join in the efforts, and how important this program is to Japantown's future.

SAVE JAPANTOWN YOUTH LEADERS (JYL)

Background: Recently, JCYC was informed by the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) that the only funding allocated for youth services in Japantown will not be cut in 2010/2011, but completely eliminated. For the past 12 years, the Japantown Youth Leaders (JYL) program, formerly known as JAYS, has brought hundreds of youth to Japantown on a weekly basis to participate in community service, leadership training, and personal development. The youth who consistently support our community festivals and events such as Cherry Blossom, Nihonmachi Street Fair, and Kodomo no Hi, are current or former participants of JYL.

Why You Should Care: Despite the city’s budget crisis, other communities will still be receiving funding from DCYF. In 2010/2011, DCYF will allocate $20 million for children and youth services and has decided that Japantown is not worthy of even a small amount of those resources. This decision demonstrates a blatant disregard for our community and sets a very dangerous precedent for the future. We believe it is in the best interest of our community to collectively take a stand and make it clear that the needs of Japantown can not and will not be dismissed by the city of San Francisco.

How Can You Help: The Mayor has the discretion to restore this funding until June 1st when his office, by law must submit a budget to the Board of Supervisors. We have the rest of May to let the Mayor know that it is not acceptable for the city of San Francisco to dismiss the youth of Japantown.

Continue to check back to JapantownNOW.com or visit nihonmachiROOTS' Facebook page to see how you can help us send this message to the Mayor.

How can you help shape the future of SF Japantown?

We hope that you are able to support the work of several Nakayoshi members who are also involved with nihonmachiROOTS, a group of young leaders in San Francisco Japantown engaged in outreach efforts regarding the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan, which could significantly alter the future of San Francisco's Japantown. Please attend the Japantown Community Engagement Workshop for Youth and Young Adults on Saturday, March 27, 2010 if you can, or make a donation in support of nihonmachiROOTS' activities to be matched by the San Francisco Japantown Foundation's grant program. More information is below:

How can young people help shape the future of SF Japantown?

Find out how at the Japantown Community Engagement Workshop for Youth and Young Adults on Saturday, 3/27/10!

nihonmachiROOTS presents: Japantown Community Engagement Workshop for Youth and Young Adults

Saturday, March 27, 2010

10am - 4pm, San Francisco @ Buddhist Church of San Francisco

1881 Pine Street at Octavia

http://www.japantownnow.com/

nihonmachiROOTS invites all youth and young adults concerned with the future of SF Japantown to attend the Japantown Community Engagement Workshop. Registration is free and lunch will be provided to participants.

Register online for the workshop by clicking here.

The Planning Department of the City of San Francisco is currently working with members of the Japantown community to re-draft the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan in the next year. This plan will have a lasting impact on the state of Japantown in the years ahead. As members of the generation that will inherit the results of the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan, we have the most at stake in the outcome of this planning process. Whether or not you are a resident or visitor to San Francisco's Japantown neighborhood and community, we encourage everyone, especially young people, to raise their awareness and their voices regarding the future of our Japantown.

Through nihonmachiROOTs' Community Engagement Project, our goal is to engage 600 people in 60 days around improving the Better Neighborhood Plan and begin to develop new leaders within the community to organize around issues a­ffecting Japantown for the future. It all starts with the Japantown Community Engagement Workshop on March 27th.

At nihonmachiROOTS' Japantown Community Engagement Workshop, you will:

• Learn how the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan will affect neighborhood development, residents, businesses and community organizations in the years to come
• Connect with other young people engaged in the Japantown community who are also concerned with the outcome of the planning process
• Strategize on how we can educate others and ensure that the voices and interests of the community are represented in the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan
• Build a foundation for youth and young adults to make a difference in San Francisco Japantown's future

We hope you can make it to the workshop! Please help us spread the word and forward this to anyone you think would be interested in getting involved!

Register for the nihonmachiROOTS Japantown Community Engagement Workshop online!

Questions? E-mail us at nihonmachiroots@gmail.com

Learn more about nihonmachiROOTS at: http://www.japantownnow.com/about/

nihonmachiROOTS is supported by our fiscal sponsor, JCYC. The Japantown Community Engagement Workshop is made possible through a generous grant from the San Francisco Japantown Foundation.

The grant program is a MATCHING PROGRAM. That means that if you donate anytime from now until April 30, 2010, the Foundation will match your donation dollar-for-dollar up to $2000! In other words, if you donate $1, you are really giving $2 to nihonmachiROOTS to work on projects that engage the Japantown community.

You can donate online or by check. Visit this page for the online donation link or a downloadable form that you’ll need to send in along with your check: http://www.sfjapantownfoundation.org/donate, Donations must be made directly to the San Francisco Japantown Foundation and designated to our organization, nihonmachiROOTS. The web page tells you how to do that.

Again, donations must be received by the Japantown Foundation by April 30, 2010, so please don’t forget to donate soon!

You can read the official grants announcement here.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

The nihonmachiROOTS team