Ms. A from the Bayview – A Project Snapshot

The Project: Ms. A and her husband moved into their home in the Bayview District in 1944. Since then, they have raised their 3 children, 10 grandchildren, and more than 20 great- and great-great-grandchildren in their home! Ms. A’s priority is the safety of her family, friends and community members; opening her multigenerational home to community members who are down on their luck. Read More »

My neighbor fell, in her home last weekend…

On Saturday, my neighbor came over to ask if we had seen Lill. Lill is 84 years old, and has lived in her home for 40 years. She lost her husband last December and is living on a small social security income.

We were worried because Lill loves her morning paper, and is diligent about picking it up every morning. It was 3:00 PM and the paper was still in her driveway.

So we called Lill’s daughter-in-law. Later, we heard that Lill had fallen and got stuck for 12 hours before her daughter-in-law arrived and helped her. She’s OK, but I shudder to think of what could have happened if we hadn’t noticed the newspaper. Read More »

The Raman Hotel – A Project Snapshot

The Project: The Raman Hotel opened their doors in 2005 after a fire had displaced all its residents. The Raman hotel was acquired by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, becoming a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) providing 87 units of housing to the homeless population, specifically seniors. Read More »

October Volunteer of the Month – photographer extraordinaire, Michele Rider

Although Michele jokes that as long as there’s tasty food and cold beers on hand, she’ll be there, I know that the work we do and the impact we have is a huge motivator for her to give so much of her time. I had a chance to talk to Michele Rider, our October Volunteer of the Month, about why she volunteers and here’s what she said:

Read More »

Holy Ghost Service Center – A Project Snapshot

The Project: Holy Ghost Service Center currently houses thirteen residents, providing a long term residence for the formerly homeless men for 17 years now. The center also runs a food pantry in the basement, distributing and delivering food boxes to 1,000 people annually. Read More »

Ms. M from the Bayview – a project snapshot

The Project: Ms. M along with her three cousins decided to venture out to sunny California from Mississippi. Ms. M spent her life in San Francisco working as a nurse at UCSF while her husband was a Merchant Seaman. Ms. M is now 90 years old and her top priority is the safety of her family. Ms. M describes her home as a safe haven for all her nieces and nephews. As her niece stated, “It is a blessing to have an aunt that is willing to take care of others.” Read More »

Prep-day Bonanza

There was a chainsaw, a bobcat, a run in with some deadly creatures, ice cream, exterior walls meant to be interior walls, and pizza.  All the organized chaos of a typical Rebuilding Day and a little extra…  Read More »

What?! There’s a big event on the 28th?

Look out Loma Prieta 1989, meet Rebuilding Day 2012 – we are expecting to cause a few minor tremors in San Francisco’s tectonic activity.  The positive shakeup the volunteer teams, prep teams, office volunteers, sponsors, captains, donors, videographers, and photographers will make on our 21 projects will be off the charts. Read More »

AmeriBonfire Initiation

This past Saturday, the newest AmeriCorps members of Northern California were initiated which include both Jake Bryan from the Peninsula affiliate and myself, the newest member at RTSF. As part of our initiation, we were united by the four elements Earth, water, air, and fire. Initiation consisted of standing around a lightly lit fire pit at Ocean Beach, sand, burnt hot dogs, and high winds.. Freezing! Fortunately, AmeriBonfire was a success since we haven’t seen each other after MLK work week in Pittsburgh. Read More »

Get to Know Your Neighbor – Ms. D from the Excelsior

Photo by Julie Michelle Photography

Ms. D is a 3^rd generation San Franciscan, her family is 7^th generation Californian and her home is about 100 years old – in fact, the home was originally built for  Presidio officers, complete with a horse stable in the back. Read More »