As we have been rallied, warned, encouraged and informed by our resident advocacy expert, Colleen, the state budget deadline is upon us.  By midnight tonight California’s legislature and governor must reach an agreement on this both  fiscally and emotionally draining budget dilemma.

Democrats have rallied behind the idea of raising taxes on oil and tobacco to help meet the $24.3 billion deficit; however, the governor has resolved to veto any revenue increasing measures.

Read more about the countdown to the budget deadline here.

Everyone in California will be affected by this budget.  The proposed cuts will deeply impact several communities, many of them are groups that we already see in St. Anthony Foundation programs; the elderly, the mentally and physically  ill, people struggling to overcome addiction, families in need of food, clothing and health care.

We wait in solidarity with our guests, our community, to see what the governor’s tomorrow will look like.  And, remain steadfast in our mission and commitment to be the hands below that safety net, providing services to  sustain and stabilize those most in need.

Earlier this month, Silicon Valley’s very own Google came by to volunteer during a day of computer repairs and training at St. Anthony’s Tenderloin Tech Lab.

St. Anthony Foundation has had the privilege of partnering with members of the corporate community for many years. We have worked with a variety of corporate service projects from company wide service days to individual volunteers offering time and professional skills through their company. Corporate volunteers have served meals in our Dining Room, planted gardens in our residential programs, conducted mock interviews in our Employment Program and hosted bingo games at our senior center.

To inquire about your company partnering with St. Anthony Foundation contact the Justice Education/Volunteer Advocacy Manager, Angelina Cahalan, at abcahalan@stanthonysf.org or (415) 592-2727.

“In times like these, when we’re facing challenges unlike any in our lifetime, and you all know this better than anyone, I know it can feel close to impossible … Some may view volunteering as something extra, but ‘real change’ comes from the bottom up, from citizens working and mobilizing and serving the nation that they love …” (excerpted).

So said First Lady Michelle Obama as she delivered the keynote address for the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service convened this week in San Francisco. As I’ve been thinking about Michelle’s words this week, I’ve realized that the essence of her timely message is one that St. Anthony Foundation volunteers have largely harmonized with for nearly 6 decades! I’d perhaps make a couple of modifications—I’d say that our volunteers demonstrate the ‘real change’ that comes from within, and as that dynamic breaks down barriers between “us & them”, change in the structural barriers to a more just society are nourished. And yet, our First Lady words speak clearly to the worst socio-economic conditions that I’ve seen in my lifetime. In what I think of as a kind of “spiritual economy”, the care that our volunteers offer day after day, year after year, is the kind of “currency” that lifts up not only our clients and guests, but St. Anthony staff as well. And yet, how often do we hear any number of our volunteers say “I get so much more than I give!”

In my last little blog entry about a month ago, I voiced my concern that volunteering be understood as an invaluable response to our current economic downturn—but not “the answer” to it. And, as our President’s “United We Serve” Initiative gives new impetus to volunteering, I wonder if in fact we will witness the blossoming of connection with others that service encourages. Just one little example of this continuum is a story from one of our Summer Immersion High School groups. When the participants were reflecting on some of their experience, several of the students spoke of how moved they’d been by a homeless man who had made such an enthusiastic effort to help them feel comfortable. They assumed at first that this gentleman was one of the staff! Now some of those same students are involved in advocacy efforts to maintain San Francisco’s City Budget funds for essential programs, such as the one where this hospitable fellow safely laid his head over night. That’s change, for real alright—from within, across divides, and toward the restoration of caring community.

Former St. Anthony Dining Room guest and volunteer Mumu on how budget cuts in California and San Francisco will hurt poor and homeless people. While St. Anthonys does not accept any government funding for its programs and services the impact will be felt hard here. Our guests will have less support in their communities and our programs and their staff will serve even more people to make up for the closure of near by services.

Two of the most popular topics for conversation in the St. Anthony Foundation Dining Room are sports and politics. Today’s blog entry on the state budget will capture that spirit, because the easiest way to understand what’s happening with the state budget negotiations is to compare them to a football game.

This week, the Democrats threw two incomplete passes: one Wednesday (with a vote on alternate cuts package that failed) and one Thursday (with a vote on cash flow bills that failed). This means that we have returned to the line of scrimmage: advocates for social and health services have neither gained nor lost ground, but we have lost two precious days of negotiations.

Senate leader Darrell Steinberg gave a hint at the behind the scenes demands by the Governor and the Republicans when he stated,

“We don’t take pledges in our caucus like some do but if we did it would sound like this: We are not going to eliminate CalWORKs, we are not to eliminate Healthy Families, we are not going to eliminate IHSS and and we are not going to eliminate CalGrants. We are not going to eliminate the safety net. You need to know where we are not going to go.”

What does this mean for advocates who want to take action against harmful cuts to health and social service programs? As the legislature returns to square one (or third down, or whatever), so must we! We need to make calls, calls, calls!

This weekend, call your legislators and the Governor and tell them that you support a budget that uses revenue enhancement measures to mitigate the worst of the proposed cuts to the safety net. This information sheet makes it easy to know who to contact, and what type of message needs to be delivierd to particular legislators.

Let’s set aside a few minutes this weekend to call our state leaders and tell them some decisions are inconceivable when measured against the human toll left in their wake.

The state legislature is expected to vote on the Budget Conference
Committee’s version of the budget today. As you may know, the Budget Conference Committee’s plan makes cuts (but not as drastic as the Governor’s plan) but avoids some of the worst cuts by raising revenue. (For a comparison of the Governor’s and the Conference Committee’s plans, go to:  http://bit.ly/ABxNo)

The Conference Committee plan is certain to fail if the bills don’t receive 4 votes from Assembly Republicans (54 votes out of the 80 member Assembly) and at least 2 votes from State Senate Republicans, (out of the 40 member State Senate) assuming all Assembly and Senate Democrats approve the plan, including just declared former Democratic Assemblyman – now independent – Juan Arambula.

Advocates have been working very hard to increase the political pressure on the legislature and Governor to consider revenue increases and to avoid the worst of the cuts. Civil disobedience yesterday in front of the San Francisco state building led to 17 arrests for blocking traffic. The protesters were seniors and people with disabilities who oppose cuts to health care and SSI. Similar protests took place in LA and Sacramento yesterday, and more advocates will converge on the Capitol today.

If you want to advocate for a fair budget, here’s how:

Sign this petition from California Labor Federation:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stop_corporate_tax_cuts_petition

Contact the Governor’s office and tell him that you want a fair budget. Tell them you support revenue increases as a way to enable some restoration of funding for vital health and human service programs.
http://gov.ca.gov/interact

As more critical city and state funded programs shut their doors, St. Anthony’s doors remain open, with more people walking through than ever – including those who never imagined their lives would lead them to the Tenderloin to ask for help.

Today one of our long term donors offered to match donations up to $50,000 to help meet the immediate needs. Your donation today will be worth twice as many meals, clinic visits, or clean socks. And the timing is critical. Please extend your gift today to those whose lives are at risk merely from being caught in the hands of poverty.

What’s cooking at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday,  June 22nd  Pasta Marinara
Rich tomato sauce topped with parmesan cheese

Tuesday,  June 23rd  Chili con Carne
Chunks of beef with chili sauce and pinto beans

Wednesday,  June 24th  Carolina Chicken
Cream sauce with ham and corn

Thursday, June 25th  Mac and Cheese
Pasta in cheese sauce served with fresh vegetables

Friday, June 26th  Beef Tagine
Pasta in cheese sauce served with fresh vegetables

Saturday June 27th  Chicken Pot Pie
Ground pork sausage and white gravy

Sunday June 28th  Ham and Artichoke Fritatta
Baked with potato and cheese in an egg batter

HAPPY JUNETEENTH!!!

June 19 is the annual celebration of Juneteenth, the oldest ongoing celebration in honor of the abolition of slavery in the United States. On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers marched into Galveston, TX with news that slavery had been ended by the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier. For two years, slaves in the area had been unaware of their right to freedom. Texas had not had much contact from Union troops until after the April 1865 surrender of General Lee, the leader of the Confederate side in the Civil War. By 1865, Union troops were finally able to subdue the Confederate soldiers who still resisted the Northern victory.

The response to the news by the former slaves was both shock and joy. Some waited to find out if there would be a new relationship with their former masters, but many just left immediately in search of a better life and separated family members. Today, people celebrate Juneteenth in honor of those who suffered under the burden of slavery, and in honor of their freedom.

The word “Juneteenth” is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” and its popularity has grown and subsided through the years. Since the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s, it has become more popular as more people have learned about it.

(June 19, 2009 / Michelle & Lexie / SEATTLE EAST SIDE EXAMINERS)

Ever since I first learned about Juneteenth, I’ve been fascinated by the story. For two whole years all those enslaved people in Texas were legally freed, but went on living and laboring in their dehumanized condition because no one had managed to get the good news of their liberation to them.

Haven’t you had some Juneteenth moments in your own life? For many of us in recovery it’s been a clarifying moment (or season) when we realized that we actually COULD live free from the slavery of addiction. For others it may have been the liberating experience of crossing over some previously forbidding barrier, getting past fear and apprehension, (perhaps by volunteering at a place like St. Anthony’s Dining Room) and discovering that the world isn’t as scary a place as it once seemed to be. And for some of us it may have been one of those light-bulb-going-on-in-our-head moments when, thanks to the revealing insights of a teacher or mentor, or even to the stubborn position of an opponent in a debate, some previously hidden truth suddenly, finally, opens up to us.

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