Ocean View | Merced Heights | Ingleside (OMI) Service Providers Planning & Capacity-Building Process 2009-2010

In September 2009, San Francisco District 11 Supervisor John Avalos and the Community Development Division of the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) began discussing a planning process that would increase the capacity of Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside (OMI) service providers to collaborate to address and advocate for the OMI’s needs and to further the dialogue between this community and the City of San Francisco. Located in San Francisco’s southwestern-most area, the OMI is one of the most diverse areas in the City and home to approximately 45,000 people (2000 U.S. Census). Yet, the OMI community suffers from a lack of visibility and resources compared to other areas of San Francisco.

Supervisor Avalos and MOH envisioned a planning process that would 1) contribute to a responsive community-driven vision for the OMI and 2) create a collective under­standing by the City, Supervisor, and the OMI community of the area’s assets, needs, and community priorities in order to make strategic investments. The OMI Service Providers Cohort was created as the main vehicle through which this process would be implemented.

The three main components of the project were the following:

1. Planning and capacity building in the OMI in part­nership with community service providers

2. Comprehensive data gathering by San Francisco State University’s Institute for Civic and Community Engagement for data relevant to District 11

3. A written report to capture the demographic profile of the OMI community and to document the assets, needs, and priorities of the community

Through this project, we have learned that a small, coor­dinated investment by the City can create an opportu­nity for a community to maximize its assets.Along with the project report we offer a set of tools to download if you are interested in designing a community planning process.

Download the report.

Download the tools.