Today scanning through the weekend’s pile up of emails I came across an interesting article from the Foundation Center’s Philanthropy News Digest reporting on a recent study that reveals America’s poor are the most charitable demographic per capita.

“The poorest one-fifth of American households contributed an average of 4.3 percent of their income to charitable organizations in 2007, while the richest fifth donated 2.1 percent of their income.”  This statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is not terribly shocking.  When someone has personally experienced how valuable each dollar is in making it out of the red that month, or to finding food that day, shelter that week, it is understandable that they would be compelled to in turn help someone else when they are in a position to do so.

Working at St. Anthony Foundation I have seen generosity and compassion in places that I would have never expected it.  Recently our Social Work Center was paid a visit from a former guest, who nine years ago received rental assistance to secure housing.  This time the visit was to repay that amount and hopefully help someone else get on their feet.  There a many other stories like this one, men who have come through the Fr. Alfred Center drug and alcohol recovery program returning to bring food for the Dining Room, or guests from the Dining Room returning to volunteer.

While, yes, there is clearly concern to be raised over the point of the wealthier strata donating less comparatively, it is none the less heartening to read and bear witness to stories of community and compassion especially in these toughest of times.

As they struggle to make ends meet, Patricia and her family get the medical attention they need at the St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic.

Like any mother, Patricia wants the best for her children. She lives in a small Tenderloin apartment with her husband, Isaac, and their five children. The day-to-day struggles of making rent, taking care of the children, and putting food on the table have gotten more and more difficult; lately, it has been hard enough just to get by.

Four months ago, Isaac was laid off from his job as a cook at a local restaurant. He recently picked up part-time work with another restaurant, but at three days per week the hours are not enough to make a living, much less provide for a family of seven. Isaac is ineligible for unemployment because he is working; yet he does not work enough to qualify for employee benefits, and his paycheck is not enough to support the family.

A sustainable income for a family of four in San Francisco is approximately $60,000 per year– drastically more than Isaac earns working part-time. The cuts to Isaac’s salary have made it extremely difficult for the family to afford basic necessities like food, rent, healthcare, and clothing for their children. Last month they had to take out a loan to pay the rent, which they are now repaying, $15 each month.

Now more than ever, Patricia and Isaac have been reaching out to community resources like St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic to provide stability and help get them through these difficult times. Located just down the block from their apartment, the Clinic is one of San Francisco’s oldest and largest free medical clinics and the sole provider of free pediatric care in the neighborhood. Each year, the Clinic cares for more than 3,500 uninsured poor and homeless patients. With the city’s skyrocketing unemployment rates and an exceedingly high cost of living, it is no wonder more and more families are turning to St. Anthony’s and other community clinics for their medical care. More than 80,000 San Franciscans lack health insurance, a number that will likely rise as unemployed or underemployed families lose employer-based medical coverage. At the same time, city-wide budget cuts have reduced the availability of other safety net services for families most in need. For uninsured families like Isaac and Patricia’s, the Clinic is a lifeline.

Patricia learned of the Clinic from a friend. “I didn’t know where to go for medical attention. A friend of mine said ‘I know where to take you, I know of a medical clinic where they’ll see you for free.’” The Clinic has become a lifesaver for the family. Dr. Katy Broner provides primary care, immunizations, and well-child checks, and helps them access the Clinic’s range of specialty care like allergy treatment and podiatry. The Clinic’s onsite pharmacy and dispensary allows them to pick up their medications, free of charge, without having to travel across town.

The Clinic has also been a point of entry for other St. Anthony’s services. Dr. Broner has referred Patricia to St. Anthony’s Free Clothing Program for help obtaining school clothes for her children, and to the Social Work Center to consult with a social worker about rental assistance. “I know if I need something, I come here. I know the doctors will take care of me,” Patricia says. “Whatever problem I have, I always come looking for Dr. Broner.”

Isaac continues his search for full-time work. Patricia, always with her children’s success in mind, has begun taking English classes to help them with their schoolwork.

With a restored sense of stability, Patricia is hopeful for the future and grateful for the sense of community that she finds in the Clinic.

“I know a lot of people affected by the economic crisis and am glad that I can come here. It’s the only place I know of where people without any money can still get medical attention.”

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual “Out Of Reach” report was released last week with information for 2009.

According to Out Of Reach 2009 (released last week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition), California’s “Housing Wage” is now $24.83 per hour. The Housing Wage is the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford rent and utilities for an average two-bedroom apartment. The typical renter in California earns $17.52 per hour. An individual earning minimum wage ($8.00 per hour) would have to work 124 hours per week to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.

An estimated 58 percent of California renters do not earn enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent.

There are many of us who do not own stocks, who aren’t really too sure how the erratic and failing market is going to affect us.  We have been inundated with news stories reporting the market’s every ominous move with only a slippery grasp on how this will manifest itself in our daily lives.

Perhaps the best indicator would be to step back and visualize the safety net, stretching up San Francisco’s Market Street.  Starting with it’s already frayed ends in the Tenderloin, so many of our poor and homeless neighbors have slipped through this outdated and insufficient web.  As you continue up to Powell Street, we see the city’s retail and tourist industry workers, struggling to collect enough hours to make ends meet; maybe picking up another job, or restricting their spending which cuts into rent, medication or, most often, into family food budgets.

Now more than ever St. Anthony Foundation is seeing low-income families, the working poor, people working two and three jobs to survive in this city, coming in for a meal, for a food bag, for medical care that they cannot afford to provide for themselves or families.  Where there was once even if modestly, at least security, this safety net has frayed perilously higher up the economic ladder than we have seen in decades.

Instability weaves its way through the twine of this net reaching all the way up to Montgomery, to closing banks, out of work brokers and down-sizing businesses.  It is now that the story of hard times makes the front page everyday.

From the stock market, to our supermarkets, up Market St. we are seeing the effects.  It doesn’t need to come from the ticker, no industry experts analysis,  we see it in the streets of our city, in the faces of our guests.