In a region as vibrant as the Bay Area, community service takes many shapes and forms. Below are four organizations that are making our community better for everyone. Look closely. These groups are changing lives. Imagine what you could do.
Linking San Francisco
Linking San Francisco is a partnership between the San Francisco Unified School District and some 30 nonprofit agencies that seeks to connect classroom learning to meaningful community service. In one example, many of the seventh-graders in the bilingual classes at San Francisco's Denman Middle School were recent immigrants from the Philippines. They had difficulty adapting to American culture and learning to speak English, not to mention learning in English. Teachers in Denman School collaborated with St. Mary's Adult Day Health Care where neighborhood senior citizens, most of whom also emigrated to America years ago, had other difficulties, such as frailty, alienation and boredom. Each student was paired with a senior, and both got to know his or her new friend through oral-history interviews, arts and crafts, and general socializing. Back in the classroom, the students read The Hundred Penny Box (a fictional book about intergenerational friendship), wrote poetry about themselves to share with the seniors, charted their own family trees, researched the places where their particular senior was born or grew up, and kept journals of their visits to the senior center. By the end of the year, students were able to make formal presentations to their seniors showcasing their improvements in communication skills.
CONTACT:
Jill Glickman, Program Director
San Francisco Unified School District
2550 25th Ave., Room 24
San Francisco, CA 94116
Tel: (415) 920-5020
E-mail: LINKINGSF1@aol.com
San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG)
http://www.slug-sf.org
Billed as one of the nation's largest urban-gardening programs and arguably one of its most creative, SLUG is not only responsible for some 100 neighborhood gardens all over San Francisco, but it has also added strong economic-development and job-training components. One of their most innovative projects, the Urban Herbals Project, empowers young adults with employment and with the skills needed to create their own businesses and participate in the economic development of their community. Urban Herbals products are made from the highest-quality locally grown organic berries, fruits and herbs, and approximately 25 percent of the ingredients are grown by the youths at garden sites in their neighborhoods. Urban Herbals provides employment for young adults while also involving them in the process of community-based entrepreneurship. Young adults gain valuable skills by working in all aspects of the business, from growing the food to marketing the products. Urban Herbals was born from the need to develop revenue-generating projects while providing a "second level" stepping stone for young adults who have graduated high school and urgently need support in building their future.
CONTACT:
Bryan Lease, Community Garden Coordinator
2088 Oakdale Ave.
San Francisco, Calif. 94124
(415) 285-SLUG (7584)
Email: Slug1@creative.net
San Francisco Urban Service Project
http://www.sfusp.org/
The San Francisco Urban Service Project is an innovative young-adult development program that seeks to unite diverse young leaders with community action for social change. The Urban Service Project recruits, places, trains and supports young adults (Corps members) in 10-month positions. Corps members support youth empowerment, civic engagement and literacy development programs with San Francisco youth.
At Balboa High School, Urban Service Corps member Nathaniel Torres led freshmen from Balboa's Action Academy in designing and holding a conference on violence. Students decided on this program after extensively surveying community members regarding their local concerns. Students continued with this theme by completing an oral history project centered on violence and its effect on the lives of students and communities. The end result? A book compiling these tales.
At Literacy for Environmental Justice, Urban Service Project Corps members Marshawn Weaver and Antonio Arenas lead groups of high school students on tours of toxic sites in the Bayview/Hunter's Point district of San Francisco and steward student's at the Heron's Head community park. In unison with this environmental education, local high school youth wrote articles for the Bayview community newspaper that informed residents about the recent toxic fire in the Bayview Shipyard and spurred community meetings and dialogue around the fires.
CONTACT:
1406 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 642-3476 Recruitment Line
E-mail: info@sfusp.org
Southern Exposure
http://www.soex.org/
For eight weeks in the summer, Southern Exposure's gallery transforms into an art studio, a neighborhood forum and a performance space for youth, local artists and community-based organizations. Mission Voices Summer, a collaborative project between Southern Exposure, Casa de los Jóvenes, Horizons Unlimited and Youth in Action, bridges neighborhoods and cultures by pairing professional artists with young artists from participating community organizations. The collective explores cultural identity, personal and cultural responsibility, and social issues via different artistic media, including drawing, painting, sculpture and photography. Through creative projects, group discussions, field trips and presentations, the program fosters community awareness and positive interaction with other area teens. All members of the collective are paid for their participation. Mayor Brown said of Mission Voices, "A model of innovation, it represents the best in what a community with a common vision can accomplish."
CONTACT:
Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
401 Alabama St., San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-2141
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Find out ways to get involved in your own local community and the global community.
Read more stories like these, from the people and organizations featured in the "Raising a Ruckus" program.
For more profiles of innovative programs across the United States, visit http://www.grassroots.org
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