At 8:45 am on September 11, 2001, I was getting off the M4 bus at 79th and 5th on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I was on my way to class at CUNY Hunter College School of Social Work, where I was an MSW student. I remember hearing the radio of a car parked along 79th Street. The radio announcer said that there was a hole in the World Trade Center. I remember thinking, “Morning radio DJs are getting really desperate. That’s not a funny joke.”

Our class took a break just before 10:00 am, and one student who came in late told us that she heard that an airplane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. I imagined a tiny private plane had grazed the building, and figured that the plane probably had sustained more damage than the building. (more…)

St. Anthony Foundation began back in the middle of the last century when the children of the Depression joined together to help the victims of an economy still recovering from World War II. The booms and busts of population shifts and changing job markets left some out in the cold and many lined up on Golden Gate Avenue. In today’s extremely challenging economy, St. Anthony Foundation can continue to attend to the needs of those affected by this crisis because we still depend on that higher instinct that we share with our supporters–the courage to reach out in generosity. For St. Anthony’s, that means being prepared to serve more meals in our Dining Room, which means more food to procure and more volunteers to cultivate. For those who support our work with their large and small donations, that means framing personal financial concerns within the context of those whose struggles may be more immediate or critical. For those who support our work with their volunteer time, that means inviting friends to share in their volunteer experience, as a way not just of volunteering their time, but also of moving through this economic paralysis by sharing the values of gratitude and service. And for the staff, it means longer hours, more innovative resource management, and more opportunities to cheer on those who make it through the struggle each day. The experts are telling us that, like the Great Depression, these economic developments will affect a generation. Standing with the poor through seven recessions over the past fifty-eight years tells us that the impact will reverberate even beyond that. While some may see the sacrifice, others see the opportunity to invite more gratitude and generosity into their daily lives. And while some tighten their hold and fear for their own families, others invest in those most threatened by the economy as another way of investing in their own children’s futures. We share their hope that by narrowing the chasm between the haves and have nots in this generation, we insure more opportunity for spiritual and social cohesion in the next. Perhaps these difficult times will produce another generation like the one that established St. Anthony Foundation–people pushing beyond their fears and reaching out to those in need. I offer this reflection from a new vantage point. Recently I was selected the Provincial Minister of the Franciscans. The provincial conducts many other social programs, and this promotion will enable me to guide the work of St. Anthony’s as the president of the Board of Trustees. This broader perspective has given me an even deeper appreciation of the impact St. Anthony’s has on the poorest of the poor, and on San Francisco in general. Our Deputy Director, Linda Pasquinucci has stepped in as Interim Director and will continue to attend to the day-to-day operations of the organization. And I will continue to share the inspiration I receive from our guests, staff, and volunteers. As the season moves forward, I encourage you to reach out to those in need, be it our guests or your neighbors, for whom support and encouragement may be critical. For it is truly in giving that we receive.

Last week at Thanksgiving, St. Anthony Dining Room served nearly 3,500 hot turkey meals. It was touching how many of guests that waiting in line for a hot meal shared what they were grateful for on our “Tree Of Thanksgiving”.

As Thanksgiving rolls into the Christmas season, there is lot to be learned from taking stock of what all have to be grateful for.

(more…)

Dear friends,

All the holiday celebrations and special festivities happening around St. Anthony’s these days remind me that another year is coming to an end and a new year is about to begin. I’m very excited and filled with hope about these months that lie ahead. We’ll be moving into our new building in May; we’ll be serving more people in our expanded clinic; we’ll be moving ahead with the construction of a new Dining Room. As this year ends, I invite you to help all these great things begin by making a donation to St. Anthony Foundation. You’ll be helping us begin a new year of hope and helping our guests begin new lives.

God Bless You,
Fr. John Hardin, OFM
St. Anthony Foundation

To hear Fr. John speak about hunger in the Bay Area on KQED’s forum, click here.

When I see the thousands of homeless and working poor sharing a meal each day, the parents and their children receiving care in our medical clinic, and the folks gaining computer skills in our Learning Center, I can’t help but feel that a truly great thing is happening here in the Tenderloin.

But then I reflect on a smile or a story shared by one our guests and I am reminded that true greatness is found in those stretching themselves to seek help.

Great courage and strength of character are required of those who struggle to overcome the isolation and the frustrations of homelessness. Regardless of what obstacles they face, our guests must first and foremost rediscover their own dignity and worth. Sometimes we see it when they can’t, and we nurture it back to life despite the hunger, the failure or the sickness. Sometimes they help us recognize their potential when it’s difficult for us to see.

Our founding vision and core beliefs are rooted in our commitment to meet the poor where they are. St. Anthony’s exists because Fr. Alfred Boedekker, our founder, spent time listening to the World War II vets who were “down on their luck.” Today our elaborate network of social service programs answers the need of our homeless neighbors primarily because we’re willing to sit at the table with them and listen to their stories.

We share with you these stories because more than all the statistical reports, outcome analyses or auditors’ statements, they let you know how your generosity is transforming lives. If we listen closely to these accounts, we hear how transformation leads to gratitude and gratitude leads to a desire to give back. In this way our guests who benefit from our services aren’t that different from our donors. I can’t count the times that generous donors have explained their gift as an expression of gratitude for graces received in their own lives—from the simple thanks to St. Anthony for a lost item found to the deep gratitude for an experience or a person who’s changed their life.

The lives of our guests speak to me of courage, persistence and gratitude. Their stories ignite that desire within each of us to be transformed.

With gratitude,
Fr. John Hardin, OFM