House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, joined the nonprofit United Playaz at their clubhouse in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco Friday to celebrate their first anniversary in the building.
The celebration began with a tour for the local elected officials. Upstairs, a DJ played Michael Jackson songs as community leaders and young people gathered on the rooftop basketball court. After the tour, speakers took turns congratulating United Playaz.
A big chocolate cake stood nearby, waiting for the speeches to end.
United Playaz is a nonprofit that provides youth support like after school and summer camps, violence prevention projects like gun buybacks and re-entry programs for previously incarcerated adults.
The clubhouse is at 1044 Howard St., between Sixth and Seventh streets. It includes teaching spaces, offices, a recording studio, a computer lab and a rooftop basketball court. United Playaz say they serve more than 75 young people a day.
“The Playaz need a space like this one that reflects the power and purpose of that work. This is a space that you all deserve,” said Haney, who played a role in securing funding for the building before it opened. “It allows you to serve more people to have a deeper impact, to have folks have a place where they know that they’re valued, they know that they’re seen.”
Jason Lacey works at the clubhouse with children and adults who have been impacted by the carceral system.
There’s not a lot of outdoor space,” Lacey said, talking about places where kids can gather in SoMa. “The organization, it grows. We need places — space for the kids when they come to the programs.”
Lacey was incarcerated for 25 years and the opportunity to give back to his community is important to him.
“The kids I talk to are pretty much at the age I was when I was in jail in my late teenage years,” he said. “I try to be the big brother I didn’t have. And this organization gives me a chance to do that.”
Pelosi praised Founder and Executive Director Rudy Corpuz for being a force of nature and inspiring confidence in his community.
“Rudy has been a champion for all of you and in doing so, he’s really been a model to the country,” Pelosi said. “When we try to get resources for a project, we want to be able say it is of national significance, that’s why it should be recognized. That’s easy when it comes to United Playaz.”
Throughout the one-year celebration, Corpuz said repeatedly that he already had his eyes on another building to expand into.