Yesterday we celebrated National Women’s Health Week at St. Anthony Medical Clinic by hosting a special Women’s Health Day. This year we featured several educational sessions on breast health, exercise, nutrition and emotional health. In addition to our regular Clinic staff, some sessions were hosted by speakers from La Casa de las Madres and the Avon Breast Center at San Francisco General Hospital.

In between these sessions attendees enjoyed a special lunch outside featuring a lacinato kale salad, a wild rice salad with cranberries and pecans, a jicama mango salad and healthy low fat brownies made with cherries instead of butter! During lunch Jackie Hsieh did a healthy cooking demo featuring her diabetic-friendly eclairs, which amazingly have only 10 grams of carbs and are delicious.

To show our appreciation for their attendance, and for sharing their experience and wisdom with each other,  and in order to encourage them to make their own health and well-being a priority, the Clinic gave each attendee produce from the Tenderloin People’s Garden and a gift bag generously donated by Sephora.

St. Anthony Foundation, our Board of Trustees and our Board of Directors are pleased to announce the appointment of Barry J. Stenger as our Executive Director. In St. Anthony’s 63 year history of serving the poor and low income of San Francisco, Barry is the seventh person to lead the organization.

Barry has over twenty years of nonprofit management experience. He has been St. Anthony’s Director of Development for the past eight years. He holds a Ph.D. in social ethics from the University of Chicago, taught at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and Santa Clara University, and has contributed to the work of the Franciscans on the west coast in a variety of capacities.

When asked what he’s excited about in assuming these responsibilities, Barry said that he believes “St . Anthony’s is poised to enter a new and dynamic phase of its service to the community: we’re building a new Dining Room; we’re reaching out to new generations of San Franciscans who want to be involved in our work; and we’re focusing on new metrics to measure the life-changing outcomes for the guests we serve.”

Believe it or not, there are women in our own community who do not have access to feminine hygiene products.

Take a moment. Consider what your life would be like without hygiene products?  Unimaginable, right? Poverty has turned what should be considered as a right for women—access to feminine hygiene products—into a privilege available only to those who can afford it.

Luckily, with your help, we can change that. Now is the time to help our fellow women who don’t have access to critical hygiene items and give to the St. Anthony’s Feminine Hygiene Drive.

When:

Drop off your donation on March 8^th , International Women’s Day, anytime from 3:00-5:00 and meet the other members of this generous community.

What: sanitary napkins and tampons

Where: Can’t make the March 8th drop off? Deliver or mail any time to St. Anthony Foundation, Attn: St. Anthony Women, 150 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco CA 94102

How: Next time you are buying for yourself, pick up a package for a woman who doesn’t have them.  Get together with your friends, classmates, co-workers. Join the conversation on Twitter (#TsanitaryTsunami) or share the message on Facebook and let’s take care of business.

Last Thursday, January 24^th was quite an exciting day for St. Anthony’s. It was the day we broke ground for our New Dining Room at Golden Gate and Jones. Here are the remarks of our Interim Executive Director, Barry Stenger, as he introduced the event. (in photo from right: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former St. Anthony’s Executive Director Fr. John Hardin, and Barry Stenger)

This is an amazing day—one that we have long awaited. Many of us have been working a long time to get to this day.

Of course we’re all here today to celebrate something new. But when I look out on all of you gathered here I realize there is something very familiar about this gathering.

Yes, we’re here to break ground on something new—a new building that will house the New St. Anthony’s Dining Room and 90 units of new affordable housing for our seniors sponsored by Mercy Housing.

But when I look out on this diverse crowd, standing here at the corner of Jones and Golden Gate I see something normal and familiar—people hanging out on this corner is nothing new.

A new venture with Mercy Housing and St. Anthony Foundation in an innovative and exciting collaboration—but the Franciscans and Sisters of Mercy stepping up to help the needy of San Francisco is something that has been happening in this city for a long time.

There are some great old photos from after the 1906 earthquake and fire. One of them shows a line of people going right up Golden Gate Ave here, waiting for the Franciscans to feed them out the rectory door at St. Boniface. And there’s another photo, one showing the Mercy sisters standing in front of a hospital tent that they set up in Golden Gate Park to care for those who had lost their homes.

For years this corner has been the place where people who have a little something extra come and share with those who have little.

In 1950, Fr. Alfred Boeddeker stood where we are standing and recognized the dignity and the struggles of those out of work, veterans suffering the effects of war and those battling addictions. He brought together civic leaders, hotel owners, and willing volunteers from the painters and electrical unions—that coming together on this street corner became St. Anthony’s Dining Room.

After a few years, because there always seemed to be enough food to feed everyone in line, this coming together became known as the “Miracle on Jones Street.”

Our presence here today signals to all of San Francisco that the Miracle continues. We’re not turning water into wine; no, we’re transforming an old auto body shop into a state of the art Dining Room and homes for our senior citizens—the Miracle continues.

We’re not walking on water or raising the dead, but we are building homes and providing clothing and social services that will help people live lives of dignity and meaning—the Miracle continues.

We’re not feeding thousands on the hillsides—wait, we are feeding thousands on hillsides. On this hillside between Nob Hill and Market Street we’re feeding thousands every day. And this miracle continues as we construct a facility where another generation of San Franciscans will come to reach out to those in need. The Miracle continues.

The Miracle must continue—because we still have $2.5 Million to raise to build the New St. Anthony’s Dining Room. Let this gathering here today be a statement of our confidence that this miracle will continue and that we will raise the needed funds to complete this project

It is very exciting to see that today we are gathering at this blessed corner. I want to thank all of you for coming. The people who are responsible for this new building are here today. Those who had the idea for it, those who designed it, who donated or lent the funds to insure it’s construction, the builders who make it a reality and those who will benefit from it. Some will speak today or be formally recognized. But in the tradition of this corner and what has happened here for so long I want all of you now to turn to one another and congratulate your selves. Reach out and shake your neighbor’s hand and say, “Thank you.”

Guest blogger Maura Hurley is a St. Anthony’s volunteer.

The sky was cloudy, but the day was joyous on Golden Gate Avenue as San Francisco notables and a host of other visitors and guests celebrated the groundbreaking of the long-awaited new building on Jones Street that will house a larger St. Anthony’s Dining Room and 90 units of affordable housing for low-income senior citizens.

Among the dignitaries: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Ed Lee, Police Chief Greg Suhr, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and S.F. Giants mascot Lou Seal.

The a cappella Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir entertained the crowd with a rousing rendition of “God is Great.” And Tammy Nelson from the cast of “Beach Blanket Babylon.” dressed in her pizza delivery outfit, sang “San Francisco” (open up your Golden Gate) as the crowd cheered.

The groundbreaking itself–at the bottom of the construction site — featured dignitaries wielding gold-colored shovels and an interfaith blessing.

Three representatives of the Sikh community in Fremont took BART to the City to attend the event. Balbir Sull, Avtar Kaur and Nirmal Singh Chemma said that their community has been donating new blankets to St. Anthony’s for 16 years.

Stephen Russell, a prep chef at St. Anthony’s, was there, too. “It’s a good feeling to be part of something that a lot of people will make use of,” he said.

Jill Lonergan, marketing manager at Nibbi Construction, the company constructing the new building, said that when she heard the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir would be performing she decided to come. But then said she would have come anyway to be part of the event.

Sergio Nibbi, whose father started the construction company and whose sons now run it, said that his relationship with St. Anthony’s goes back many years. “When you wanted to make a donation, you made it to them. It was automatic when I was growing up,” he said.  Today, he added, “St. Anthony’s gets a special rate but we get it back many times over in blessings.”

Rochelle Fort, a social worker at the nearby Mercy family housing apartments, said that she was excited about the new building and thought that some of the seniors in her building would want to move there. “There just isn’t enough housing now for seniors” she said.

Robert Harrell (pictured left), who has kept St. Anthony’s guests, visitors and employees safe for nine years as a staff member of Client Safety Services, summed up the day. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Now let the show begin.”

As we see year after year at St. Anthony’s, the abundance of gifts from people in the Bay Area is truly awe inspiring. If you’re a return donor to curbside, you’ll notice many changes this year as we are operating out of our temporary Dining Room at 150 Golden Gate Avenue. In addition to the new location for drop-off donations, we are asking for a specific list of essential items for our guests.

Please bring donations of food, hygiene items, new socks, and hand-knit scarves and hats specifically during the Curbside Donation Drives. Please help us to fill this critical need by focusing on donations of these items for 2012. All other donations are accepted throughout the year, Monday-Friday from 8am-4:15pm at our Free Clothing Program at 8th and Mission.

2012 Curbside Dates:
Saturday, November 17th – Thursday, November 22nd
Weekends: 9am-3pm; Weekdays: 8am-5pm

Saturday, December 22nd – Monday, December 24th
All days: 9am-3pm

Stay tuned as we announce details on activities, entertainment, and spreading holiday cheer to our guests through musical performances, gift bag giveaways and tree decorating. And thank you to the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Nothing but Treble for joining St. Anthony’s on December 22nd and 23rd to bring holiday music to our guests.

Meet Rudy.  I just did, as he walked into the Tenderloin Technology Lab, a partnership between San Francisco Network Ministries and the St. Anthony Foundation,  along with around 40 other people this  past Saturday, September 22.  It was our quarterly Tech Fair.  During this special Saturday event, we work with ReliaTech to offer free computer repair and special computer courses.  Rudy was here for the computer repair.  As I talked to him about what brought him here this Saturday, I realized that there is a great connectedness between the service providers and that he had quite a journey to end up at our Tech Fair.

Rudy initially started his voyage into the 21st century and computer technology when he enrolled at San Francisco City College.  As a student in their Medical Assistant program he quickly realized that he needed to overcome his technology phobia (50% of his courses are computer based).  As he struggled with his fear of technology and the cost of computer technology in particular he reached out to his social worker at Tom Waddell Health Center.  From his social worker, Rudy was referred to the Santa Rosa Computer Recycling Center.  With this referral, Rudy was able to secure a free computer.  This allowed Rudy to continue to work on his goal to overcome his phobia and become comfortable with computers, but after 2 months of use, Rudy’s new computer crashed.  Scrambling to figure out how to repair his computer, Rudy contacted many computer repair shops only to realize the price of repair was out of his reach.  This only reinforced Rudy’s fear of technology and the price of technology in particular.  Fortunately, while accessing services at the San Francisco Public Library Rudy saw a flyer for the Tenderloin Technology Lab’s Tech Fair.  He immediately signed up and was able to access our service of free computer repair.

As we talked, I asked Rudy why he thought computer technology was important, and he explained that he needed the skills to apply for jobs online as the likelihood of finding a job through face to face interaction is rapidly decreasing.  Due to this fact and as other services move online, Rudy said that he feels very fortunate to have entered the 21st century.  As a service provider, I felt comforted to know that with many organizations offering many different programs, we are able to work in conjunction to allow people like Rudy to utilize an array of services.

Megan Trotter is the manager of the Tenderloin Technology Lab

Last week, a construction crew from Nibbi Brothers General Contractors demolished the final walls of our original Dining Room (view photos HERE).  This bittersweet moment marked a critical juncture for St. Anthony’s as we honor the legacy of our past and look towards the future.

Earlier this year, we asked people around the Bay Area to help build The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room. As of today, we’ve raised over 86% of the funds necessary to break ground.

If you have not joined us in this once-in-a-lifetime project, now is the time to act. We hope to raise the final 3 million dollars by the early months of 2013 and clear the way for a new St. Anthony’s.

Donate here to feed the future and be part of the Dining Room San Francisco built .

This past Thursday (8/23) was St. Anthony Foundation’s First Annual Back to School Family Clothing Service Special Event! And special it was! Over the past year, we have seen a dramatic and alarming increase in the number of families accessing services at the Free Clothing Program. The Back to School event served sixty three families including one hundred and fifty nine children! The event was by appointment only and each scheduled guest was able to get two full sets of clothing for each child as well as pick up a set for themselves and their partner. Thanks to an amazing group of donors, volunteers and supporters, we were able to provide new clothing, shoes, accessories, baby blankets, toys and backpacks full of binders, notebooks, crayons, pens, and glue sticks.

Leading up to the event we relied heavily on the help from enthusiastic volunteers to get all of the clothing sorted and hung. We aim to provide our guest’s with the highest quality clothing possible so we hand selected Back to School appropriate digs for ages ranging from one to eighteen. Thank you to Adobe, Azusa, and an incredible individual volunteer named Nico (hey!) for getting our back of house in order! Thank you to Old Navy, Live Nation, Alemany Blvd Walgreens, KNBR and KFOG Radio for their amazing donations of clothing and school supplies, without which this day would not have been possible.

Day of, we saw incredible energy from staff and volunteers both in our front of house and in back.  Up front, we aim to create a dignified shopping experience so volunteers and staff were there to help guest’s find everything they needed, keep The Store looking sparkling clean, and even enjoy some play time with the adorable kids. Thank you to Schoolbags for Kids, a program that provides backpacks and school supplies to children in need around the world, for not only providing new backpacks for our guests but for volunteering up front the entire day! A special thank you to our St Anthony’s Stitchers who provided their adorable baby blankets and knits and showed up to see service in action!

So many children will be showing up to class in their stylish new clothing and accessories. A true mark of success was when a little girl (pictured above) opened her backpack to see it filled with a binder, notebook and other treats. She looked up at her momma and burst into tears. There were many moments like this one, all serving to emphasize why we do the work we do and how important it is for those we do it for. We continue to serve families M, T, W and F so if you should have a donation of new or like new clothing that you think could benefit our younger guests, please visit us at 101 8^th St. To schedule a pick up for five bags or more please contact me at (415) 592-2826.

Thank you again to everyone that helped to make this event a success!

Check out this coverage of Back-to-School Day on KGO ABC 7!