Lotito Family with Fr. Thom, Shari Roeseler and Fr. Bob.

Today the Lotito family came to St. Anthony’s to celebrate the Fr. Floyd Lotito’s birthday. Fr. Floyd Lotito, longtime director of many of St. Anthony Foundation programs, passed away June 14, 2009. They brought along 30 hand knitted scarves to be given to guests at St. Anthony Dining Room on Christmas Day.

We were honored to have his relatives with us to share memories of his life and his work!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

St. Anthony’s begins collecting scarves for the holidays at Renegade Craft Fair

This year, Christmas really will begin in July, as San Francisco historic non-profit St. Anthony Foundation begins collecting hand made scarves as well as pledges to knit scarves at the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. St. Anthony’s hopes to collect a few thousand scarves by Christmas, which will then be handed out at St. Anthony’s well known Christmas holiday meal to guests of the St. Anthony Dining Room.

The official scarf drive will kick off at the San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair http://www.renegadecraft.com/san-francisco on Saturday July 31^st and Sunday August 1^st at Fort Mason Center. St. Anthony’s monthly underground knitting club, the Scarving Artists, have already received pledges for more than 100 scarves, and have already received more than a few richly colored, thoughtfully knitted items. The first 250 scarf pledges will receive a canvass tote knitting bag and an invitation to return with their hand-knitted items at the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Show taking place on December 18-19 in San Francisco.

St. Anthony’s will also host a “how to knit for the homeless” workshop at the fair and will invite people to be a part of their social justice flash-knit-ins which take place throughout the city.

Each year, St. Anthony’s offers some gift of comfort to those who come to the 60 year old foundation for a Christmas meal. This year, St. Anthony’s is reaching out to the city of San Francisco’s craft artists to help provide some holiday warmth and cheer to the disenfranchised by pledging hand-made knit scarves which will be given out on Christmas day at the St. Anthony Dining Room.

Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco is free to attend and is one of the seven fairs throughout the United States that Renegade Handmade is hosting this year. The Bay’s favorite craft, art, design and DIY spectacular will feature over 225 of today’s finest indie-craft talents from all over the nation.

St. Anthony Foundation’s programs help heal individuals and families with programs that provide a gateway out of poverty, including a Dining Room which serves 2600 meals every day, a free clothing program, a technology lab,  residential drug and alcohol recovery program, and a free medical clinic. St. Anthony Foundation does not accept any federal, state, or local government money for its programs, and is entirely funded by private donations.

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This from Theresa, who is interning at St. Anthony’s this summer:

The work that I do here at St. Anthony’s has given me such a profound appreciation for the things that I have in my life.  I find it fascinating how St.Anthony’s is able to meet so many needs of individuals and families in the Tenderloin. The amount of gratitude that the clients have for all the services that St.Anthony’s provides for the community is so eye opening. I have witnessed more dignity and respect  here at St. Anthony’s in a month, than I have in my 17 years on earth. I know I will carry this experience with me in the future.

There is something about serving that can make a bad day great.There are many days where  I can recall  not wanting to get up for work, commute to San Francisco,and walk in the (ice cold) summer air, but as soon as someone greets me with a smile or hello, I am more than ready  to serve and learn. Interning at the  Tenderloin Tech Lab and being able to slow down and work one on one with a client is so rewarding. A computer, something so simple and natural to me, is not as common to everyone. I am able to use a natural skill to help others and that feeling can not be expressed in words. Often, I find myself learning as I teach, the clients are so brilliant and I love hearing their stories because they have so much wisdom and strength within them. Once, I was helping an elderly man who was sitting on two seat cushions, as I stood next to him he reached and grabbed one to place in the chair beside him. “We can not start until the teacher is seated and comfortable!”, it was flattering, being that I am only 17 years old and my elder called me his teacher, not to mention the seat cushion was very comfortable.

We had a wonderful group of volunteers from Murray Hills Christian Church in Beaverton, Oregon, come visit the Free Clothing Program. They not only helped us give clothes to our guests, when they were done they went shopping and came back with bags and bags of socks and underwear to give to our guests. Thanks!!!!

Wednesday, August 4th is “Teddy Bear Clinic” day here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic! California Pacific Medical Center is joining us in hosting this special clinic day to teach asthmatic children about how to manage asthma at school, at home, and in case of an attack.

At the “Teddy Bear Clinic,” located at 150 Golden Gate in the 1st Floor, kids can come in to adopt their very own teddy bear and join clinic staff for an afternoon of play and learning how to take care of their bear.

This special clinic teaches kids to take care of the asthma symptoms for their new teddy bear friend and then provides kids with the opportunity to work one-on-one with Asthma Educators to learn how to better manage their own asthma.

A special thanks to California Pacific Medical Center Child Life Services for helping us put on this fantastic event!

The San Francisco General Hospital in partnership with the Avon Foundation were on-site here at St. Anthony Foundation administering mammograms for St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic patients  through the Comprehensive Breast Care Center. This “mammo-mobile” provides vital screening services to undeserved women around San Francisco in an effort to prevent breast cancer through early detection.

Women who receive primary care at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic are given clinical breast exams as part of routine health exams and are signed up for yearly mammogram screenings through the Comprehensive Breast Care Center.

Since its inception in 2004, the Avon Comprehensive Breast Care Center has provided over 34,000 breast screenings and more than 2,000 breast health procedures. Diagnostic procedures include digital mammography, ultrasound-guided biopsy, stereotactic biopsy, localization procedures, as well as clinical, health education and case coordination services.

The “mammo-mobile” will be making monthly on-site visits to St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic to ensure  patients have ccess to these life saving services. It is community partnerships like these  strengthen the safety net and make health care available to all.

Can you believe St. Anthony’s has been serving the underserved in San Francsico for 60 years? We are putting together our 60th anniversary commemoration, and are looking for people that have utilized services at any time in the last 60 years to share their stories. Please drop a note to faviani@stanthonysf.org if you have any thoughts or stories. thank you!

There are very few people that come to the Tenderloin Technology Lab, a partnership with San Francisco Network Ministries, that aren’t amazed. Amazed that every single station  is filled with low income, homeless, or in-between folks that are face-to-the-monitor busy; amazed that the classroom is filled with hopeful faces turned towards the instructor and poised to learn how to open an email account or use Microsoft word; amazed that such a bright, lovely Technology Lab exists in the Tenderloin- and, in spite of what they see before them, amazed that homeless people need or have access to computer technology.

I thought about this today when reading The Adventures of a Homeless Girl blog,  ”Why Do We Get Offended That Homeless People Have Access To Technology?” http://bit.ly/bkTUgU . What many people don’t realize is that housing and employment are more likely found on Craigslist than the newspaper or a “help wanted” or “room to rent” sign. That school applications, directions, benefits eligibility, and bus schedules are located on line. And that people are more likely to stay in touch and connected via email or Facebook than in person, especially when you don’t have a physical address. And if you don’t have technological literacy and access, how will you connect to the people, services, and information that will help you survive?

So Homeless Girl, we hear you, and appreciate your sharing your story so folks can hear first hand about what a lifesaver technology can be.  Keep blogging, your voice is important!

A nice article about Shari and her vision for St. Anthony’s:

http://www.catholic-sf.org/news_select.php?newsid=&id=57411

Hear what new Executive Director Shari Roeseler has to say about the increased number of families that are coming to St. Anthony’s:

http://movin997.radio.com/tag/st-anthony-foundation/