Save San Francisco

I am an 11th-grade high school student in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was born and raised in San Francisco and have been a resident of the City my entire life. My parents are entrepreneurs with 2 retail businesses in the Jackson Square / Financial District neighborhood.

“I have experienced San Francisco’s difficult times firsthand and want to help make a difference in my local community.“

I created RTO for a Cause to encourage employees to return to offices (RTO). I want to bring life back to SF by solving the root issue: We need people back in our city consistently. Employees returning to work is the key to reviving our small businesses and city.

My proposed plan is to have companies donate a dollar amount based on the number of employees that come to the office. We would run this program for 3 months (it takes time to establish habits!). The money would then be reinvested into helping keep downtown San Francisco safe and clean for employees, tourists, and businesses. The safer and cleaner it is, the more people will want to come back. It is a positive reinforcing cycle that can only get better and better and provide a boost to our economy.

Inspired by our friends at Salesforce and their Connect for Good initiative.

Why are we doing this?

When the Covid-19 epidemic hit San Francisco, everyone stayed at home and offices were shut down due to social distancing. Thus, downtown San Francisco became completely empty. Although it has been 3 years since then, employees are still working from home and downtown traffic still hasn't returned to normal. Our local economy and businesses are still suffering as a result. If more employees return to work downtown consistently, there will be more opportunities for local businesses to thrive because more money will be spent by employees buying lunch, shopping, or eating after work; the streets will feel safer with more people/activity and, thus, less boarded-up storefronts; there will also be more tax revenue for the SF government to expand city services.

The Doom Loop

What is the San Francisco Doom Loop? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a doom loop is "A scenario in which one negative development causes another negative development, which then makes the first problem worse. A vicious cycle."

Donate

Contribute to the cause and help raise money for a cleaner and safer San Francisco. The funds will be donated to the Downtown SF Community Benefit District. If you are a company participating, please donate through this campaign or feel free to contact me at [email redacted]. If you are an individual who just wants to donate to the cause, we will happily accept your contribution as well.

For more information, feel free to visit www.rtoforacause.com.