Finally, a “Marvel” investment in San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood, the Mission District, will provide people the stability of a home. The recent groundbreaking for Phase 1 to build 136 units of permanent supportive housing, brings hope for a safer future for individuals, families and especially children.
Marvel or “La Maravilla” is located on Mission Street and 16th Street near the BART Station and it is part of a larger, 350+ affordable homes project. In a neighborhood shaped by displacement, this project is a test of whether San Francisco can still make room for its own people.
Community leaders, the Mission Housing Community Development Corporation (MHCDC) and Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) have fought for housing projects for decades. After years of activism, navigating local politics and the ups-and-downs of community organizations, the long-awaited affordable housing complex gained the financial support of Merrit Community Capital Corporation, Five Star Bank, and Western Alliance. Bank.
A vibrant, sunny San Francisco neighborhood, the Mission District has always attracted immigrants and innovators. Culturally, it has been influenced by the Gold Rush, Irish, Italian, Mexican and Central American immigrants, the Chicano movement, the innovations of the web/internet, displacement and gentrification arguably caused by tech wealth. Its weakness is the existence of drug trafficking, use, and abuse. Homelessness may just be another piece of evidence of a larger and complex social problem in the United States.
The Mission District’s strength is the mixing of cultures, exhibited every day and every corner as food, art, performances, murals, and other expressions of a rich, multicultural tapestry that Habla Español and other languages. The Marvel or La Maravilla will strengthen the people who at its heart, co-created the Mission District culture and are vital to its identity.
-Lupita Franco Peimbert
