Message from the ASNA President, Jason Jervis
Season's Greetings neighbors and supporters of ASNA!
On behalf of the ASNA Board of Directors, I'd like to thank all of our members for helping us invest in our community through civic engagement and inclusive events that we look forward to continuing into the next year and beyond.
I'm thrilled to highlight some of the accomplishments we achieved together in 2021.
Membership: The number of active ASNA members started rebounding in 2019 thanks to new meeting formats and a change in meeting location, time, and frequency. Unfortunately, 2020 dealt us a big blow in memberships due to relocations and other pandemic-driven factors.
Since January 2021, our membership has increased over 120%! This was due in part to our investments in digital transformation, new programming for our members, and a variety of inclusive events this year. We are excited to see our member engagement reach critical mass as we look forward to 2022 and beyond.
Participation: Member participation as measured through volunteer sign-ups and turnout has increased by 200% since 2019. ASNA has some of the best volunteers around who contribute to their community selflessly month after month. We look forward to continuing and enhancing our community work in the new year.
Media Properties
Website: The ASNA website is our outreach and informational hub for members, potential members, and visitors to Alamo Square. Unique visitors to the ASNA website has increased by 22% since the beginning of the year.
Instagram: The ASNA Instagram account has increased by over 400% since March 2021 shattering the goal that we set in April to double our unique followers by the end of 2021. Having an increased presence on Instragram has allowed our organization to connect with a younger audience and attract energized new members. For more info visit our Instagram account @alamosquaresf
ASNA Newsletter: Our monthly e-news subscribership has grown by 12% this year. We're continuing to push forward with our digital format by working to improve our monthly e-newsletter content.
Community Investments
First Saturday Volunteer Gardening: Through the dedication of our Vice President Cynthia Chapman and our amazing volunteer network, Saturday Volunteer Gardening is our flagship monthly event for neighbors and visitors. Thank you to our committed volunteers for helping keep our park a beautiful sanctuary for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Community Happy Hours: In 2021 we invited our neighbors to come together in the spirit of "social re-entry" through a series of outdoor community happy hours to support our Divisadero Merchants. We hope to invest in future casual social events to bring together our neighbors to meet and get to know one another.
Evening with Supervisor Preston: We provided a very productive and informative virtual conversation with Supervisor Dean Preston. During the conversation we discussed issues relating to public transportation, housing, property crime, and traffic calming around the neighborhood. As a direct result of the conversation, a working group of neighbors are now working to make the streets surrounding the park safer for pedestrians.
Movie Night at the Park: For the past few years we've been collaborating with the SF Parks Alliance to improve Movie Night At the Park by moving the event from July to September. This year hundreds of folks turned out for the screening of the Disney Pixar movie, Soul. The event was a massive hit with the neighborhood and we look forward to doing it again next year!
Traffic Calming Around Alamo Square: Several of our members remain concerned and committed to improving pedestrian safety around Alamo Square. Together with WalkSF, we've formed a working group to analyze the traffic patterns around the park. The goal is to implement a traffic calming proposal for added safety measures to calm aggresive driving and help protect our most vulnerable neighbors.
Alamo Scare! The Haunted Forest: For the first time, ASNA partnered with our friends at NOPNA to provide a safe and relaxed Halloween event for the neighborhood kids. Born from the Toddlers of Terror event created in 2019, Alamo Scare! attracted over 200 attendees making it our most successful neighborhood event in years.
Alamo Square Tree Reforestation: Back in 2011 ASNA realized the need to restore the urban canopy of the park which had lost trees steadily over several decades. After raising funds for and planting over 184 trees in 2016, we began Phase II of the project this December by planting 70 additional young trees in the park. The next tree planting will take place in spring of 2022 and we invite you to continue to support our Trees For Future Generations fundraising effort.
As 2021 draws to a close, ASNA is perfectly positioned for continued growth and success through community engagement and bringing together neighbors to represent the best of the Alamo Square neighborhood.