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The mission district is a long time immigrant neighborhood for new arrivals,

formerly Irish, then Italian, and most notably now from the 60s and up.

The Latinos have called this home in addition to many other folks.

Every time that you immigrate, you don't know what you're going to find.

Thankfully, my immigration story was surrounded by Latinos.

John Jacobo and Susana Rojas, no San Francisco's mission district, well.

John was born and raised in the neighborhood, so it's always been home to him.

And they both work with nonprofits that support the Latino community in the area.

Susana remembers when she first got there.

You walk down the streets, there's people talking Spanish, there's like

las aneras con suzmantillas, selling fruit and selling tamales,

and it's just a very homey, very family-oriented environment.

That's what makes the mission community so special is that you can have a piece of home

every time you walk through the mission.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic.

Just like everywhere else in America, the mission shut down.

As the virus spread, it became clear that the Latinx community in the mission and elsewhere

...