The Tenderloin neighborhood, where St. Anthony Foundation is located, has the highest concentration of poverty and homelessness in San Francisco. Fifty percent of Tenderloin residents earn less than $20,000 a year in a city where it costs over $28,000 for an individual to merely survive. More than 5,000 Tenderloin residents live in residential hotels, many are seniors or families who share an 8 x 10 foot room without a kitchen or private bathroom. Rent payments alone consume 75-100% of their limited or fixed incomes, leaving little if anything for food, medicine or other necessities. Without the resources to meet these basic needs, many of our low-income neighbors slip through the cracks into a cycle of poverty and homelessness.

St. Anthony Foundation serves more than 1,600 poor or homeless people every day through a network of programs that provide tools for those who seek to transform their lives. Beyond simply offering support, our programs seek to empower our guests to increase self-sufficiency. Our services include our flagship program, St. Anthony Dining Room; a Free Clothing Program; the Free Medical Clinic which has the only free pediatrics program in the Tenderloin; a Social Work Center; the Tenderloin Tech Lab (a partnership with Network Ministries); the Father Alfred Center the city’s only licensed year-long residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program; and the Madonna Senior Residence and Center which provides supportive housing for homeless elderly women.  St. Anthony’s combines direct services with volunteer immersions, justice education, and advocacy campaigns to educate people about the root causes of poverty and homelessness and engage them directly with the people we serve.

Whether the primary cause of need is hunger, homelessness, mental illness, addiction or another challenge, we address the multiple barriers encountered and help to craft an approach that addresses barriers with equally comprehensive solutions.