Sarah Montoya

This past weekend @sfparentcoalition hosted their first annual Family Fun Fest complete with over 9 stations for fun, learning and getting involved in SFUSD. @sfparentcoalition gave away books, hosted a bounce house, a Lego station, Polaroid PhotoBooth, giant board games, alongside tables to learn about participating in parent leadership at your local schools and speaking up at BOE meetings. In addition to this event which was tons of fun @sfparentcoalition is a nonprofit that hosts events to educate parents on how they can get more involved in theirs schools, SFUSD, and Board of Education Follow @sfparentcoalition for more fun & informative events Follow @sarahromontoya for all things SF & @bayarea.moms for all things Bay Area!

Just finished our first big event at my new job at @sfparentcoalition and it was so fun!

This is the story of us: We got married and found out our first baby was on the way just two weeks after our wedding day. When our little one was just 9 months old we found out we were having twins! We had 5 fantastic humans in 1 bedroom and it was amazing (and incredibly hard) Our wedding and our housing situation got write ups on major publications so I decided our family story was interesting and maybe even could help people so I created a public account My sweet boy survived cancer before his first birthday We moved out of the tiny apartment I still wanted to share all that makes SF amazing and I started getting opportunities to write for larger accounts, blogs and online magazines We’ve taken the kids on 2 epic road trips and one major trip to a Europe I’m obsessed with showing them and you everything amazing about living in SF I’m excited to share our story with you Follow along as our family of 5 lives and thrives in SF Professional photos in this reel by: @rachelgoblephotography @moonbellybirth @10baretoes

Hi 👋🏼 I’m Sarah It’s been a while since I did and introduction post or shared my story - so here it goes! I decided to make my account public after my wedding was featured on @theknot as an example of “real weddings” and soon after the @sfchronicle featured my family as the “missing middle” in housing policy and buying a home in SF: too rich to qualify for subsidies and too poor to buy at market rate. I figured if two media outlets thought my family story interesting it would be worth telling our story myself. At the time we were a family of 5 living in a one bedroom. It was a glorious adventure. I made my account public because I wanted to show a real middle income family living in SF, and so much has changed since this journey began. I’m still so proud of our vintage DIY wedding. I’m proud of how creative we were as we made this one bedroom apartment work for us and I’m proud of us for sharing our story in hopes of opening peoples eyes to how SF housing is hurting middle income families. I’m proud of us for knowing when it was time to move on from our tiny apartment and accept help from family to have something beautiful and stable even if it still means not owning a home. Over the past 6 years the focus of this account has shifted - I share less of our personal story and more activities, as I started sharing free family friendly activities and playgrounds opportunities came up for me to attend hosted events and I began working with other creators and writing for blogs and magazines. I want families to have fun and I love showing off all the fun things there are to do in the Bay Area. Even as part of my vision for this space has changed I’m still committed to showing that SF is a great place to raise a family AND we can do better. In the past 6 years we haven’t fixed the housing crisis. Our public schools are in the midst of a major budget crisis. The policy focus isn’t on families and that’s more than unfortunate- not because families matter more than others but because policies that help families help everyone. Thanks for being here and joying me in my love for SF and my passion for a family friendly city ❤️ #yimby #housingcrisis #ilovesf

Dog Man the Musical is playing THIS WEEKEND at the @sf_curran - there are still tickets for Sunday at 11 & 2! Use code MOM15 for 15% off! The show was so much fun!! if you read the books, you will enjoy watching them weave together all of the stories and create the magic of dog man on stage! I wish I could’ve taken a photo to capture the joy and delight on my kids faces! I’m so excited about all the shows @broadwaysf is bringing to San Francisco!! Don’t forget to follow @broadwaysf to see what’s coming and check out the ticket packages to see how you can save money! Follow @sarahromontoya for all things family fun in SF & @bayarea.moms for the Bay Area!

🌁It’s a beautiful and fun weekend in SF!! 🌁 Save and share!! Most of these events are free or cheap ($5) However, I did include Dog Man the Musical because it’s a can’t miss and you can use our code MOM15 for 15% off!!! Follow me @sarahromontoya for all things family fun in SF and @bayarea.moms for all of the Bay Area!!

It’s Suicide Prevention Month and AB 28, the historic Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, has been passed by a supermajority of the California state legislature. Thank you @matthaneysf & @scott_wiener for voting yes! We need @gavinnewsom to sign it into law. Over 50% of deaths by suicide involve a fire arm and fire arm deaths among teens are on the rise. It’s time to act to protect our kids. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress anywhere in the US. You are loved You matter You deserve help #AB28 #SB2 #CALeg #momsdemandaction #parentingispolitical #endgunviolence #suicideprevention

The Adventure Playground in Berkeley is like no place else!! Save & share this post! Kids play with paint, hammers, nails, and a variety of other tools. The structures are made from recycled materials and kids can build onto them. It’s the perfect place for fun risky play to build your kids confidence and sense of adventure! Address: 160 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94710 Regular Hours: FREE Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Drop-in Childcare Program: Thursday and Friday, 2:30 – 5:00 pm See pricing their website details in Drop-in Childcare Program. School Groups: Monday through Friday (see their website for details) Follow @sarahromontoya & @bayarea.moms for all things family fun in SF and beyond!

I nearly cried band screamed with rage reading @nytimes this morning. Childhood poverty nearly doubled last year. Ending childhood poverty in one of the wealthiest nations on earth shouldn’t be hard. These solutions focus primarily on creating systems that allow parents to work and ensure their work is paid appropriately. I’d also add that in light of these statistics we need free lunch at every school in America. Learn more about how you can get involved: @momsfirstus @chamberofmothers @campaignforchildcare @momsrising #wealthtaxnow #taxtherich #childhoodpoverty #parentingispolitical #parentsandpolitics #policychange