While meandering down Golden Gate toward Market on this sunny Friday afternoon, I finally stopped to look closely at something I had mindlessly passed countless times before. That would be Mona Caron’s beautiful mural “Windows into the Tenderloin” on the northeast corner of Golden Gate and Jones, across the street from the original Dining Room.

Caron’s mural depicts the Tenderloin landscape with some added whimsical touches. Before beginning to paint the mural, Caron did extensive research in the neighborhood, meeting with community leaders and organizations as well as around 280 Tenderloin residents. On her website, Caron writes that the figures that appear running errands, socializing on the sidewalk, or sitting in the park all depict actual people from the neighborhood whom she got to know while working on the project.

Learn more about the story behind the mural and the artist here, and most importantly, skip passing by one day and stop to enjoy the mural for yourself.

For many staff and volunteers who live in the East Bay, yesterday proved to be a test of faith and resilience to keep the miracle on Jones Street going without missing a meal – a miracle that has continued nearly every day since we served our first meal on October 4^th, 1950.  By 2:30am, a three-alarm fire engulfed West Oakland and the neighboring BART station.  Fire trucks, ambulances, and helicopters swirled throughout the area as emergency officials closed the BART lines going into the city.

Our head chef awoke to see the fire in person on the opposite block of her West Oakland home.  She hopped in a car and managed to beat the onslaught of traffic (the Chronicle reported 27.5% more traffic on the Bay Bridge yesterday). One staff person arranged a shared taxi to get from Oakland to San Francisco in time to help fill in for others that could not make it.  Those who live in San Francisco arrived early to triage critical operational decisions, ensuring our Dining Room doors would open, as always, at 10am.

Cissie Bonini, Director of Basic Services and Emergency Preparedness described the effort by saying, “We know we can’t stop serving.  Everyone chipped in.  Volunteers chipped in.  We pulled staff from our Clothing Program and we made it happen.”

More often than not, people rise to the occasion in emergency situations.  Walter Elliott once said, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”  For those of you around the Bay Area who rose to the occasion yesterday, thanks for racing with us.

Mary Claire Christensen (left) and St. Anthony's Outreach Coordinator Dolores Gould

Mary Claire Christensen came to the campaign for a new St. Anthony’s Dining Room from the serving line. She volunteered in St. Anthony’s original Dining Room beginning in the late 1980s, serving warm, nutritious meals to guests.  During the nearly ten years she served, Mary Claire became acutely aware of the need to modernize the kitchen. “The kitchen was just not as efficient as it needed to be” to serve so many people in need, she said.

The efficient design of the new Dining Room itself, the plan to locate the Free Clothing Program and the Social Work Center immediately upstairs from the Dining Room, and the partnership with Mercy Housing to build 90 units of affordable housing for seniors on the floors above St. Anthony’s programs impressed Mary Claire. 

Mary Claire says that because “St. Anthony’s really will serve people 365 days a year” it was not a difficult decision for her to make a significant gift to the capital campaign for the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room, in addition to her annual support.  An investment in the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room will guarantee that “St. Anthony’s will always be there.”

St. Anthony’s feeds San Francisco.  And so can you. Click here to join in making a contribution to the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room.

Spud.com, a website that specializes in delivering local organic groceries to customers around the Bay Area from their base in the Bayview neighborhood, delivered some very special goods to St. Anthony’s last week. After a May donation drive, Spud.com and their lovely staff collected a few boxes full of good condition clothing and shoes for our Free Clothing Program. We appreciate the effort and the donation! Thank you Spud.com!

My name is Andrew Nauer, and this summer I’ll be working as St. Anthony’s Communications and Outreach Intern.

Volunteerism and working toward social justice were somewhat foreign to me before coming to St. Anthony’s. I remember visiting the old Dining Room my sophomore year of high school at De la Salle for the immersion program.  I served food to the guests, conversed with some of the surrounding community, washed dishes, and then I suddenly was on my way home. I had only gotten a taste of the St. Anthony’s experience and what their foundation is all about. I have come to understand that this place goes beyond the free meal to an individual in need, and that’s what inspired me to take this internship.

I began volunteering several months ago when my mom had been offered a position at St. Anthony’s. My desire to help the Tenderloin district and the San Francisco community as a whole led me here. I am very interested in experiencing all that the St. Anthony Foundation has to offer in order to better understand what area of the social justice field I want to pursue a career in.

My personal goals for this internship include gaining a stronger understanding of the causes and effects of the poverty issues that the Tenderloin experiences, and exploring the different possibilities for future career in the social justice field. Furthermore, I plan on doing my best to help people on the outside understand what goes on at St. Anthony’s through Facebook, Twitter, and other popular foms of social media. I am very excited for all that St. Anthony’s has to offer the community and I look forward to begin sharing that with others.

It wouldn’t be Tuesday in the Dining Room without Phyllis and her colorful “tats” helping to serve our guests.

“We have a friend in common”, she told me.

“Really? Who is that?” I asked. Then she showed me the scroll with the name St. Francis inscribed on it along with a flock of beautiful birds tattooed on her arm.

“I’m a good Jewish woman but I love the saints and he’s my favorite.” Mine too, I said.

“Some of my friends think I’m crazy for having tattoos. And for serving in the Dining Room, for that matter. But they both make me happy.” She smiled.

Phyllis has the edge on me; she can compare her tats with our guests’ , many of whom have a colorful variety of their own. But me, I don’t have any tats to show off….yet.

Music is always a part of the dining experience here at St. Anthony’s. Guests, volunteers, and staff alike count on the music to bring their experience to life. You’ll often see staff members singing along and guests moving to the beat of the playlists that stream through our Dining Room sound system.

But on Tuesday, June 5, the Dining Room had a special musical treat: LIVE music! As seniors were served their first trays of delicious Beef Stroganoff, classic accordion melodies were being played by the one and only Tom Torriglia, a local musician that performs for the Bay Area non-profit Bread & Roses. Bread & Roses provides free, high quality live music to non-profit institutions that serve those who might not otherwise be able to experience such performances.

It was a treat for everyone to have a live accordion player grace us with such Italian American classics as O Sole Mio and Bella Ciao. One guest was even serenaded with Happy Birthday! Emotions ran high as the classic songs reminded our older guests and volunteers of their childhoods. Thank you Bread & Roses for your lovely contribution to our Tuesday meal!

Last November, St. Anthony Medical Clinic received a $10,000 grant from Diabetes Hands Foundation in recognition of our participation in the Big Blue Test and to support our work with uninsured and underinsured diabetics in the Tenderloin. (You can read about that here, here and here.)

This Spring, Diabetes Hands Foundation selected St. Anthony Medical Clinic to be featured in their annual Big Blue Test video. The result is a wonderful portrait of a lesser known program at St. Anthony’s. If you are not aware of the work done here in the Clinic, this video will give you a great sense of who we are, what we do and of our strong bond with our community.