To kick off the season of giving, St. Anthony’s will launch our 24^th annual Curbside Donation Program.  Each year, St. Anthony’s relies on the generosity of people all over the Bay Area to donate clean, cared-for warm clothing, canned or dried bulk foods, and monetary donations.  Our donation valets, clad in bright red jackets, will gladly greet donors curbside at St. Anthony’s to receive donations.

This year, St. Anthony’s would like to send a special thanks to our friends at the Institute on Aging.  What began as a small gesture of generosity several years ago has grown exponentially through the tireless efforts of their staff and supporters.  We are blessed to have the IOA as members of the St. Anthony community and we wish them hope and happiness this holiday season.

Curbside donations begin tomorrow at 9 A.M.  Have a wonderful weekend!

I had the honor of joining Mayor Ed Lee at a press conference this morning where he introduced the Season of Giving.  St. Anthony’s, Glide and Self-Help for the Elderly were invited to speak at this event, where Mayor Lee encouraged everyone to “Step Up” and give.  These are difficult times and at St. Anthony’s we see increasing numbers of people seeking services from all of our programs. The dining room alone saw a 15% jump in the number of guests in October.  Despite the many challenges people of San Francisco are facing, I also see hope on a daily basis.

St. Anthony’s, Mayor Lee, and many other social service agencies know that San Francisco has long had a commitment to care for those who are struggling.  When you make a financial donation or you volunteer with your time, you instill hope in our guests. Next week, Mayor Lee will be volunteering at St. Anthony’s alongside Police Chief Greg Suhr, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, and members of the SFPD and SFFD to help prepare our Thanksgiving meal.  Now more than ever, we need to believe in one another and give the gift of hope.  The Season of Giving is a time to share and come together. It is a season that truly never ends especially in a city as generous and caring as San Francisco.

Shari Roeseler,
Executive Director

Why did St. Anthony’s cross the road? Because we were out to lunch.

Exactly 12,000 lunches, 450 volunteers, a nine piece band, a petting zoo, photo archives of 60 years in the Tenderloin, and a whole lot of fun. If you missed our 60th Anniversary, fear not. We’ll be posting media articles, photos, and videos to our blog and facebook pages over the next few weeks. We couldn’t do this work without you–our donors, guests, and volunteers. Thank you 60 times over.

The Tenderloin is the most densely populated neighborhood in San Francisco by a long shot, with nearly 58,000 residents per square mile, compared to a rate of 16,000 per square mile citywide. Population density is greater in the Tenderloin’s fifty square blocks than in New York City.

In a neighborhood this crowded, the pleasures of taking a quick stroll through a garden only become more apparent. That’s what a few of us discovered today when we took a detour after lunch to explore the Tenderloin National Forest, an urban garden in a narrow alley on Ellis between Hyde and Leavenworth. (Thanks for the heads up, Dolores!).

The Tenderloin National Forest has been an ongoing project of the gallery and “non-profit artist-run multidisciplinary arts organization” the Luggage Store, whose artistic directors decided to transform Cohen Alley, long plagued by litter, loitering, and open-air drug activity, into a garden with natural vegetation, a modest pond with real fish, and murals on the walls. It also serves as a community events space.

And it provides those living and working in the neighborhood with a place to while away a short lunch break (the gates are often open mid-day when the gardeners are working), and a chance to admire the uncommon sight of greenery in the Tenderloin. It’s well worth seeking out: a forest in the TL as unique as the neighborhood itself.a

Anyone who takes frequent walks through the Tenderloin has most likely noticed these sleek banners (see photo) installed around the neighborhood. San Franciscans tend to forget that the Tenderloin is one of the more architecturally interesting neighborhoods in the city, and the banners serve as a reminder that just a few square blocks are home to an awful lot of buildings that are intriguing to the eye and integral to San Francisco history.

Learn more about TL architecture and history at the websites of the Uptown Tenderloin Historic District and North of Market-Tenderloin Benefit District, and read photographer Mark Ellinger’s blog, Up from the Deep. And next time you’re in the neighborhood, spend a few minutes getting acquainted with some of its 409 historic buildings. It might mean setting aside some time to stroll the streets and observe buildings up close, but one thing usually true about the Tenderloin is that it rewards those who bother to take a closer look.

As a member of the JEVA (Justice Education, Volunteers, and Advocacy) work unit, I host groups of volunteers on a weekly basis. Yesterday, as I was waiting in our Dining Room for the group to finish its shift, I was treated to an impromptu concert by one of our guests.

This guest, an older gentleman with an easy smile, sat down at the piano in the dining room lobby and started playing one of my favorite songs: Lucille by Little Richard.

I wasn’t the only person enjoying the concert. Another Dining Room guest heard the music and came over, smiling and dancing, and said, “There’s so much talent in the Tenderloin“. Other dining room guests who were still in line for food were smiling, dancing, clapping, and snapping their fingers.

After a few minutes, the piano player’s friend came over and said, “Hey man, I didn’t know you played the piano.” The piano player said, “I just needed something to do while I was waiting for you.”

All we have to do is open our eyes and our minds, and we can find all sorts of talent in the Tenderloin. I’m proud that the St. Anthony Foundation Dining Room is a part of what brings out the best in the Tenderloin: the talent, the generosity, the friendship, the community, and the love.

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.

I saw an article today about the inherent need for health care for the poor and uninsured and was stuck by the similarities between a group of Tennessee-based health care providers who opened shop in the Los Angeles Sports Arena and our own clinicians here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic. The LA group, known as Remote Area Medical, is comprised of hundreds of hundreds of doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals who historically have focused on caring for impoverished rural populations. As we know here in the Tenderloin, the demand for health care for the underserved in big cities continues to grow and now the RAM doctors have taken to the busy streets in an effort to meet healthcare needs, much like we do every day here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic.

As Health Care Reform continues to move forward, I find myself feeling hopeful for the future of American health care – even if major changes won’t be entirely evident until 2014.  However, here in the Tenderloin we see the need for health care TODAY, the need for services for working  adults  and families and children right outside the St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic doors. We provide care to more than 3,100 poor and uninsured patients a year and many of whom will not be eligible for government health care coverage when it becomes available. We will be here, as we are today, providing those in need with the comprehensive healthcare they deserve.

Ed. Note: This week’s entry is written by Ryan Hall, a current intern at St. Anthony Foundation.

Sometimes the most profound experience of the Divine occurs in the most unexpected place. Since I began my internship at St. Anthony’s last fall, my usual mode of transit is through the Civic Center BART and for nearly seven months one man has been capturing my fascination, Melvin the violin man. If you’ve been through there, you know exactly who I am talking about. His appearance is much like those of many homeless individuals who have few resources to take care of themselves, tattered and dirty clothes, missing teeth, and carrying everything he owns. Yet, he is by no means ordinary. Melvin is in the BART station nearly every time I go through there and he is always playing a violin, always smiling and occasionally dancing. There is one caveat however; his music is not typical by any means. To the trained and untrained ear, Melvin’s music often sounds like fingernails on a chalk board. When I first saw him I thought he was just trying to be funny to make a buck, as all the strings on his violin were clearly broken. Whether it’s drugs, mental illness or inspiration, I do not know, but as the months went by I realized that Melvin really believed he was playing something beautiful. He even has sheet music that he appears to have written, and occasionally stops playing in order to edit it for just the right notes. His concertos are truly unique!

When I see him however, many questions come to mind. We live in a society that often places primary value on a person through their wealth, fame, professional skill or advanced knowledge, yet Melvin doesn’t quite fit into any of these categories. His music will never get him a record contract and most likely he will never be famous and make millions (though he is fairly popular on YouTube).

If this is how society frequently judges people, I often wonder, where does Melvin fit, not to mention all those we serve at St. Anthony’s? As a Christian, I believe every human being is loved by God and therefore has inherent human dignity and value that can never be taken away. Each time I see Melvin, I am reminded of this. Melvin challenges our culture to look beyond our superficial values and see the person for who they really are. They have nothing else to offer, but themselves. Melvin tries to offer his skill, knowing that is what his culture wants if his life is to have value, but his skill is frequently not appreciated. Nevertheless, when I walk by I am able to recognize his true value, which is so much greater than anything our society could place on him. Sometimes, I imagine that he really is playing a beautiful piece of music, certainly God can hear it. I thank God for Melvin each time I see him because without him, I may not recognize humanity’s true value and the divine presence in each one of us.

There’s been plenty of attention to the new Disney / Tim Burton collaboration of L. Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Although there are many ways to interpret Alice’s “journey” of distortions, I imagined a little version to go something like this:

“Alice”, rather that falling down a “rabbit hole”, comes up from the BART/Muni Civic Center station underground, into the neighborhood of SF’s Tenderloin. She’s considering becoming a volunteer at St. Anthony Foundation, though still a little nervously entertaining some of the stereotypes of the neighborhood that she’s heard. Her first surprise is the bustling Farmer’s Market in United Nations Plaza. Wonderful aromas of fresh greens and flowers draw her into the crowd of shoppers speaking languages from all curves of the globe. Alice can’t resist a sampling of honey tasting at one booth, and with an added sweetness makes her way across McAllister St, up Leavenworth to Golden Gate where she sees about a dozen or so toddlers gathered on the corner. All of them are giggling with each other as they get ready to cross the street with their teachers from the Head Start Program. “My goodness!” thinks Alice, “children in the Tenderloin!” (Yes, the Tenderloin is home to many families, with members of all generations, many of them first generation immigrants). As Alice rounds the corner, walking East on Golden Gate, she walks past St. Boniface where she sees the tail end of a growing line of folks. “Can you tell me where St. Anthony’s is? “ she asks a tall fellow with a guitar strapped to his back. “You’ve found it, “ he smiles. “This is the line for the St. Anthony Dining Room”. He gives her a small bow, and adds – “Care to join us for lunch?” Alice smiles widely: “Thank you for your help! I’m here to volunteer.” The gentleman points toward the staff person handing out the numbers to enter the line: “She’ll tell you who you need to talk to”.

And so begins, a journey into “Tender-land” for Alice…not anything liked she’d imagined! “I wonder if some of the things I’ve heard about this neighborhood might be a bit biased or distorted.” Puzzled and hopeful, Alice signed up for a Volunteer Orientation.

To be continued …