SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The San Francisco Public Defender Office this month marked 20 years of its MAGIC (Mobilization for Adolescent Growth In Communities) program, in which it has built and fostered partnerships that support its mission of keeping young people from the Bayview and the Fillmore districts from entering the criminal system.
Since 2004, MAGIC has partnered with community-based, faith-based, and non-profit organizations, city and county agencies, schools, and other stakeholders to create opportunities for young people to grow and thrive in safe, healthy communities, said the PD Office.
As per the SFPD website: MAGIC serves as a “convener, facilitating a wide variety of events and programs with local organizations and service providers that focus on the educational, economic, health, and juvenile justice needs of children, youth, and their families living in these communities.”
The SFPD website notes that some experiences include youth activities and workshops, annual events such as backpack giveaways, and community service projects such as providing Turkeys and fresh groceries, as well as health and hygiene kits for the unhoused during the pandemic.
“Our MAGIC programs work to strengthen communities that are historically under-resourced and over-policed,” stated San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, adding, “Ensuring that youth and families have access to opportunities and feel empowered is how we can create lasting community safety and break the intergenerational cycles of system involvement.”
“It’s a joy to serve our communities and to see our young people grow and develop their talents and academic achievements,” said Brittany Ford, MAGIC executive director, who also noted, “MAGIC participants form strong community bonds through service and friendship and give back to the community themselves.”
Brittani Mitchell, who became involved in Mo’MAGIC in middle school and is now a freshman at a Historically Black College in Maryland, said, “MAGIC didn’t just help me academically and personally – they taught me the importance of community. They showed me how powerful it is when people come together to support one another, and now I want to be that same source of light for someone else.”
According to SFPD, “MAGIC first started in 2004 by the late Public Defender Jeff Adachi with community leaders in the Bayview to address the impact of trauma, poverty, and violence on youth in targeted districts, and to close the school-to-prison pipeline. In 2006, the program expanded from the Bayview to a second location in the Fillmore, and the two programs have been known as B’MAGIC and Mo’MAGIC.
“In 2022, under the leadership of current Public Defender Mano Raju, the two programs were consolidated as BMo’MAGIC with Brittany Ford named the Executive Director.”
Over the years, MAGIC has won numerous community awards, the most recent one being in October 2024, when B’MAGIC won the Outstanding Partner in Community Award from the Southeast Community Center.
