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St. Anthony’s Resource Center: There’s Always a Way Forward
Helping guests navigate the systems that stand between crisis and stability
September 24, 2026
Let’s say you want to start over. You’re clean and sober. Clear-headed and ready to get out in the world again. Thinking about work, a new place to live—a fresh start.
There’s just one problem. You have no I.D. No birth certificate. And no idea how to get them.
“I hear it all the time,” says Marie Crinnion. “Clients come to me feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. They’ve heard a lot of ‘nos.’ But I tell them there’s always a way forward.”
Marie is a Community Case Manager at St. Anthony’s Resource Center, and she sees her job as helping guests navigate big life transitions. It’s advocacy, personal coaching, and relentless detective work, all provided by Marie, four other expert case managers plus intake and supervisory staff–all located in the nonprofit’s main office in the San Francisco Tenderloin.
Over half of residents in the Tenderloin earn less than $20,000 a year and are unable to provide for basic needs such as housing, food, health care and clothing. Plus, many guests, newly sober or from outside the area, have had essential possessions—like identity cards—stolen or misplaced during transition.
That’s where St. Anthony’s Resource Center comes in. The team connects guests to social services offered on-site, or to the network of other available services in the community.
The help provided by the resource team is very individual, often at a pivotal moment in someone’s life. And it’s the little things as much as the big things. A housing subsidy for a rental deposit. A furniture grant that funds a new table and chairs. Or combing through a list of alternatives to satisfy an I.D. requirement. It takes experience and persistence, but the payoff can be a turning point for a guest who just needs a hand up to overcome a roadblock.
“Let’s make a list.”
“Every day, we have drop-ins to the center, and they get our full attention,” Marie says. “Even when the problems seem complicated, we know we can bring down the anxiety by breaking it into small steps, one step at a time. A client and I will begin with a simple list. What can we do this day, this hour? Working on the solution together—it’s emotionally uplifting.”
It’s also personal.
Marie has a lot of leeway to solve problems, but it’s the heart that often drives her actions. Like finding a pair of men’s suspenders to comfort a woman who lost her husband to COVID, or delivering new towels and sheets to a young mom reluctant to ask for help.
Interventions like these, when handled with care and compassion, bring hope to guests who are often worn out from trying to solve problems on their own. Financial grants, subsidies and help with complex systems and basic needs pave the way for a new beginning and also relieve the mental distress that comes with navigating bureaucracies on your own.
The handwritten cards and messages Marie gets from clients are testaments to the life-changing impact of her work. In one message, a grateful guest whom she helped connect to housing wrote, “I feel so free and happy now!” Another shared his gratitude for Social Security back pay that took four years to secure, writing, “Thank you for everything you did to get me to this milestone moment, Marie.”
Ultimately, Marie is the bridge that connects individuals to the right resource at a critical time. Maybe it’s a mention of St. Anthony’s free clothing program that’s needed before tackling the bigger search for housing. Or an offer to make an appointment at the clinic to see about that cough before it gets worse.
It’s about seeing the whole person—and recognizing that progress rarely happens all at once. Starting with a warm welcome and an honest conversation, Marie and the resource staff get to work on action plans that chip away at obstacles and light a new path toward the dignity and stability every guest of St. Anthony’s deserves.
Your support makes the work of Marie and the Resource Center team possible, providing guidance and hope on the path to stability. Make your donation today at stanthonysf.org/donate.
