Sunday May 30th is the Annual Narcotics Anonymous Men’s Breakfast put on by the East Bay Central NA committee. This will be the 10th annual breakfast and 350 men from around the country are expected to attend.

The Father Alfred Center has had a proud affiliation with the men’s breakfast since it was started back in 2000. A resident of the St Anthony Foundation Rehabilitation Center (then known as Seton Hall), named Darryl Smith painted the very first banner. The banner and that first breakfast were a big success and every year a handful of tickets are donated by alumni of Father Alfred Center, to some of our current residents. As part of the decorations that first banner (along with every banner since then) are rolled out and hung up for display.

This years theme is “Vision with out limits”. It appears on the banner as well as on tickets next to the Men’s Breakfast Motto “Diversity Makes a Difference”. The motto represents the variety of men from every walk of life, ethnicity, and social status who can be found in attendance. The exchange of experiences and the formations of friendships are the hallmark of the NA Men’s Breakfast.

Along with what I am told is an impressive spread of food, speakers from around the country are flown in to talk on the subject of recovery. As they speak a CD is cut for purchase. Some copies of the CD along with books and other Narcotics Anonymous literature are given away to those in attendance who are newest to recovery.

For the first 8 years of the Breakfast up to 500+ men would be in attendance. As N/A members from other area’s have attended the men’s breakfast and experienced the miracle that takes place there, they have begun putting on their own versions. So although the number of participants has dropped in the last two years, the phenomenon is growing.

This morning I noticed and article about a study at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that which suggests that “small thoughtful gestures and a little everyday gratitude can yield a great deal of happiness and help strengthen personal relationships.” The nerd in me loves a scientific study quantifying the value of something we’re taught is of social value (and often instinctively recognize as important) but it’s actually the date of this article that got me thinking.

Perhaps it is no coincidence, but today is exactly six months from Thanksgiving day – in another six months we’ll be celebrating this feast of gratitude again. Though we may be on opposite calendar pole of the holiday season, I try to continually carry the attitude of gratitude we feast for every November. This is particularly true in respect of the numerous positive relationships in my life, so many of which are part of community here at St. Anthony Foundation.

It may not seem like much, but (like the study suggests) I’ve personally found that little acts and expressions of gratitude can make a world of difference in my perspective on life. Here at St. Anthony Foundation, I am continually grateful to our guests, clients, and patients whose stories and perspectives invaluably enhance my understanding of the joys, pains, and needs of our community. I am grateful for our committed donors and sponsors whose generosity is a true expression of compassion. I am grateful to the staff and volunteers here at the St. Anthony Foundation whose love and dedication drives our services and inspires my own work.

Being a part of this community has pushed me every day to place my whole heart into every simple, earnest expression of “thank you” and has enhanced my gratitude with the motivation to give back in appreciation for all that I’ve received.

Charles Schwab Corporation calls a company-wide volunteer week every year. This year, one Schwab group called us. They trotted and sweated in the Dining Room, serving trays, sorted clothing at the Clothing Program, coached job seekers in the Tenderloin Tech Lab, and brought extra meal delivery help to our neighbors around the corner. They made it easier for one guest to wait in line; talking to people in Charles Schwab tee shirts distracted him from his fears.

Everyone knows that Charles Schwab Corporation helps people save, invest and manage their money and helps companies with retirement and stock plans. Individual employees also donate their time and talents throughout the year, in addition to volunteer week. Their focus is nonprofits that lift people out of poverty and improve the financial well-being of low-income people. Their specialty is financial literacy.

St. Anthony Foundation’s clothing supply is still moving straight through from donation to distribution. Charles Schwab employees organize company-wide food and clothing drives. Faces in the group lit up when we talked about the need for clothing. Our faces lit up, too, when we realized we’d struck a chord.

Then over the weekend I got this from a participant. “Hi, Alina. Thanks again for letting us join your community last week. It was an awesome experience. I’ll check into the idea of a clothing drive.” Imagine: financial wizards who focus on people in poverty and specialize in clothing drives.

A little over a year ago, I wrote a blog post on San Francisco’s budget cuts creating make shift drop-in centers for the homeless. General Hospital’s waiting room becomes a warm and dry place to be with a television to watch, the 24 hour Safway at Church and Marked provides a bathroom and a place to be, and the San Francisco Main Library subsititues for a quiet place to nap for those unable to obtain a shelter bed the night before.

Over the past year San Francisco’s main library branch, located at Civic Center Plaza, has employed a social worker to talk directly to patrons in order to link them with social services.

“What we found out is that a lot of the homeless people who come here, they come to get away from being homeless and we found that a lot of folks we spoke with didn’t really want to engage with an outreach worker at that point,” Dr. Raj Parekh, a psychiatrist without the city’s health department, told KTVU2 News yesterday.

The need for such services is not just limited to San Francisco. Libraries in major cities across the country have called San Francisco in hopes creating their own similar programs.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday, May 24 – Red Beans & Rice
Cajun spiced red beans and rice.

Tuesday, May 25 – Mongolian Beef
Beef suated with vegetables and mushrooms in an Asian oyster sauce.

Wednesday, May 26 – Pork Sugo
A hearty and traditional tamto and pork sauce served over rigatotoni.

Thursday, May 27  – Turkey Hash
Prepared with potatoes, peas, carrots in a rich gravy.

Friday, May 28 – New Delhi Stew
Chicken, corn and bacon cooked in a creamy sauce.

Saturday, May 29 – Chef’s Choice

Sunday, May 30 – Curried Caluiflower and Chickpeas

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

In San Francisco, nearly one in three people over 75 years old lives in poverty. This is more any other county in California. Not L.A. with its massive urban poverty, not Tulare with its thousands of low-income farm workers, not Humboldt with its devastating unemployment. San Francisco, one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthy U.S.

In the Tenderloin, over 15,000 people live below the federal poverty line. One in six of these are seniors.

More than 76% of seniors survive on smaller monthly incomes as a result of the Social Security cost of living adjustment being denied. In 2009, 92% of seniors’ monthly expenses increased by $40 to $120 while their income did not increase at all.

Nearly half said they were having trouble paying their electrical and utility bills. They made up the difference in hospital and doctors visits.

As my colleague Jen puts it, seniors are no longer living on a fixed income. They’re living on a shrinking income.

That’s why so many programs at St. Anthony’s take special care when it comes to seniors. The Dining Room, the Free Clothing Program, the Social Work Center all provide special services for senior guests. In the Dining Room, Guest Services staff keep on eye on the elderly and flag a social worker when a senior begins not to look well. Social workers check in with seniors to make sure that their safety, health, and well being are being tended to.

The Dining Room also hosts a monthly Senior Brown Bag Program which provides meat, fresh produce, and non-perishable food items, as well as a monthly Emergency Food Assistance Program disbursement, using food supplied by the Federal government. St. Anthony’s has opened an Emergency Clothing Closet upstairs from the Dining Room, crucial for elderly people who have trouble walking the four city blocks to the regular Free Clothing Program.

The Social Work Center helps seniors secure a consistent source of nutritious food, safe housing, benefits, medical care, and money management. It’s a delicate balance of a person’s self-sufficiency, St. Anthony’s support to maintain it, and an intervention available if needed.

We’re all seniors in training, as Fitz, another St. Anthony’s colleague, used to say. One day we’ll be grateful to receive respect from those who also give us help.

Yesterday, volunteers from Charles Schwab came into the Tenderloin Tech Lab and helped both Drop-in clients and individuals from the Father Alfred Center, St. Anthony’s inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

Volunteers were available for 2 hours to help folks learn the process of searching for jobs, e-mailing potential employers, and editing their resume and cover letters. The volunteers from Charles Schwab were able to pass on their computer knowledge while simultaneously learning how difficult it is for individuals with limited or no computer access to learn how to do what we consider “simple” tasks.

Yesterday’s event was relatively small from a numbers standpoint (4 volunteers, 7 students), but the relationships that were formed during these few hours is immeasurable. As was proven today, volunteering is quite humbling and very rewarding. It is our hope that the group volunteers from Charles Schwab come back and help out on a regular basis and become part of our faithful volunteer base!

Students from Mercy High School, an all-girls college-preparatory school in San Francisco, just brought a van full of donations from their most recent clothing drive.

The clothing they collected will go to help poor and homeless families and individuals at St. Anthony’s Free Clothing Program.

Thanks, ladies! You are awesome!

Tomorrow is the big day, St. Anthony Foundation is gathering with anti-hunger advocates from across the state and heading up to Sacramento.  Each May St. Anthony’s Advocacy Coordinator, Colleen, rallies the troops, bringing staff, guests and volunteers to speak with policymakers about hunger legislation that effects low-income and homeless people.

To prepare Colleen holds educational seminars regarding the upcoming legislation and cuts that are being proposed.  She breaks down the budget and legislative process and helps St. Anthony guests form their testimony to share with those they will be meeting with in Sacramento. This experience empowers guests and staff,  bridging the gap between people affected by policy and those that make it.

St. Anthony Foundation receives no government funding and that gives us a special  fiscally-untangled voice when speaking out about cuts to services.  Sine we do not stand to receive or lose funding we are able to speak directly and clearly to the issues.

Stay tuned to the blog to see photos and recaps of the action!

It is with generous support from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and California Hunger Action Coalition that St. Anthony Foundation is able to participate in Hunger Action Day.

“Knit 2500 scarves.  By hand. By Christmas.”

That’s the idea behind St. Anthony Foundation’s Holiday Scarf drive planned for this year’s Christmas Celebration. We want to give every guest who comes to us for a meal on December 25th to leave with a brand new, hand knitted scarf to keep them warm for the following winter months.

We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next six months to insure that all our guests get these thoughtful gifts by Christmas. We’re still undecided on what to call this outreach of crafty support, that’s why we’re reaching out to you.

Have an idea of what to name it? Leave your naming idea in the comment’s field below by Monday, May 31. We’ll take the best name’s a present them on the blog to be voted on soon!

Download: PDF Flier with more information. Please feel free to email it to your friends and family and encourage them to participate as well!

Update: The votes are in! This project will be known as “Scarving Artists”. Thanks for the suggestion, Bill S.!