Again I am reminded, and grateful that St. Anthony Foundation has such amazing donors.  Our community partners, the individuals, foundations and businesses that keep us going deserve great praise.  As a result of city-wide budget cuts our services will be greatly impacted, but not to the degree at which so many other of San Francisco’s health and human services will be. 

Today, July 1st the largest health and human service budget cuts in San Francisco’s history are going into effect.  At St. Anthony Foundation, our programs brace for the resulting influx of guest, clients and patients, and will continue to provide the basic necesities of hot nutritious food, healthcare for uninsured individuals and families, and a network of care that continues to be the hands below the safety net for so many of our poor and homeless neighbors.

Please look at the affects these cuts will have on non-profits city-wide.

It’s true that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. St. Anthony Foundation + San Francisco Network Ministries = the Tenderloin Tech Lab = a lot more people becoming computer literate, learning advanced computer skills, getting computer access on a drop-in basis, or being trained for A+ certification.

Both St. Anthony Foundation and our partner, San Francisco Network Ministries, currently provide these services. The Tenderloin Tech Lab collaboration will allow us to pool our resources, increase teaching staff, and create a “one stop shop” for Tenderloin residents in need of computer training and access. Our hope is to eliminate the barriers to technology and help bridge the local digital divide with our isolated neighbors.

I have a special understanding of the importance of the Internet as a job search tool. A year ago, I completed a job search while on crutches. I had a telephone and a lap top, but no printer. Thanks to the Internet, I didn’t need one. I found job listings on the Internet, studied web sites for the organizations that looked most compatible, crafted cover letters and edited resumes based on the web sites, and got screened over phone. Only when I got an interview, did I finally need to call a cab and hop down to the front door.

The crutches were my only barriers to employment. Our guests at St. Anthony’s have multiple barriers, and many of theirs are permanent. Maybe I should volunteer at the Tech Lab with the job search class.