Welcome to another installment of Eye on the Ball. There’s so much happening these days that it can be hard to keep focused. So, we’d like to spotlight a few things going on this week of special relevance to our communities.
As we all know too well, something is rotten in Denmark—(no offence, Denmark, we mean Washington, D.C.) From resisting racist immigration policy to defending the Affordable Care Act, we all have important work to do in defending one another and advancing the values of a decent society. Continue reading “Eye on the Ball: Where the Action Is”
“At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.”
— Rosa Parks
In retrospect, I realize that Rosa Parks was usually allocated a singular page in my elementary school textbooks, perhaps just mentioned in one of the pastel-shaded boxes that checkered the margins. In this fashion, Parks, like many other history-making people of color, was bracketed within the primary narrative of our national history.
As we have seen in recent weeks, presidential executive orders can come swiftly, barreling down on a population with the stroke of a pen. They can have enormous influence, enormous consequences. And, again as we have seen, they can also be resisted by the populace and overruled by the judiciary when they outrage our sense of decency and conflict with the letter of the law.
Attending a GLIDE Racial Justice Group (GRJG) meeting is a dizzying and eye-opening experience. The group is comprised of men and women from all different races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. Everyone’s life experiences may be different, but the glue of the organization is the commitment to fight racism and white supremacy. Continue reading “Learning, healing, and fighting: The GLIDE Racial Justice Group”
When people talk about “fixing the homeless crisis,” they can sometimes see it in a very simplified way, thinking if we just get “them” off the streets and find them housing, the homeless crisis would be resolved. In reality, finding housing is just the beginning. Many people who have endured months or years on the streets have to adjust to being housed. And there can be many barriers that get in the way. As a result, formerly homeless people will often struggle to keep their long-term housing. As a case manager at GLIDE, I see these struggles on a daily basis. Continue reading “Housing the Homeless Is Just the Beginning”
The great Grocery Bag Giveaway is a huge event in more ways than one. It is one of the most anticipated events of GLIDE’s holiday programming: hosted each year by GLIDE Co-Founders Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani and attended by thousands of community members, many of whom line up before dawn on streets closed to car traffic for several blocks around in expectation of receiving a free grocery bag containing all the fixings for a Holiday banquet for four. It is also a mighty logistical challenge, involving months of planning and fundraising and, on the day of the event, the pre-dawn mobilizing of most of GLIDE’s staff along with literally hundreds of community volunteers (including a ready-to-roll posse from key supporter GAP, Inc.). Finally, given the spirit of celebration that is always a key ingredient of the proceedings, the day carries an outsized impact on the holiday season for many participants (including volunteers) who might otherwise find these days hard emotionally and/or materially. Thanks to an amazing citywide team effort, GLIDE’s Grocery Bag Giveaway is huge in scale, and huge in heart. Continue reading “Hold the Judgment: GLIDE teams up with community partners to deliver food and choice to those in need”
A report back on key state and local propositions in November 2016
The last week-and-a-half has left us wondering about our nation’s future. Many of us are feeling loss, anger and fear. Protests and demonstrations are giving voice to genuine grief and outrage. And these feelings emanate from something even deeper: our love. Continue reading “Props to Love!”
If you are looking for Melina, chances are you will find her encouraging and supporting others who are in need. But it was not that long ago that Melina herself needed a helping hand. She found herself in San Francisco with no money and no one to turn to. After spending over a month on the street, enduring sleepless night after sleepless night and walking the City streets to keep safe, Melina was picked up by the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team, who took her to a women’s center.
It was at the center that Melina first learned of GLIDE. After so many exhausting days on the streets, constantly worrying for her safety, Melina could finally shower, rest and feel safe. She came back the next day and it was then that she discovered the 5 Keys School*. She signed up and was soon taking classes in American Lit, history and much more. The school operates on-site at GLIDE, giving students like Melina the chance to restart their education with the support and services they need to succeed.
One of the teachers at the school saw Melina’s potential and began encouraging her to think bigger by helping her work toward her high-school diploma. “I’ve learned a lot, and it was really cool to be inspired by all the people there, and I became GLIDE’s first graduate,” explains Melina. In just 90 days, she was able to earn a GED and receive a diploma. She not only became GLIDE’s first graduate but also has the honor of being the fastest graduate in the history of the program.
Melina found herself wondering what was next. “You need to be supported to get back on track with your life, right? So I’m like, do I just do that and walk away? Or do I want to wait a little bit longer and then have the opportunity to give back?”
Melina didn’t walk away. She is now helping to develop a new curriculum with the 5 Keys School and encouraging other women to follow her lead in restarting their education. She believes in the power of helping others, of paying it forward. At a time when she was facing such adversity, she never lost sight of the strength that comes in service to others.
*Originally established by the SF Sheriff’s Department in 2003 as the first charter school in the nation to operate inside a county jail, today Five Keys is a charter management (nonprofit) corporation that operates public charter schools in community satellite campuses in partnership with reentry and workforce development communities in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Five Keys provides traditionally underserved communities the opportunity to restart their education with a focus on: Education, Employment, Recovery, Family and Community. Five Keys is uniquely suited to serve GLIDE clients and reported the highest levels of enrollment ever seen for a first-time start up campus at GLIDE.
San Francisco’s Proposition Q would ban tents on the city’s sidewalks. Police and city workers would ticket tents and impound them along with all of their occupants’ possessions the next day.
Right now, there’s a sense of urgency regarding homelessness, with many housed residents feeling like something needs to change. That sense of urgency may come from empathy, fear, frustration—all sorts of experiences.
Prop Q plays to this urgency, but on a false premise. You’ll probably see their slogan, “Housing not Tents,” in their massive media campaign. But the first half – the housing – is completely missing from their equation. Continue reading “Why I Am Voting NO on PROP Q”
This past July, GLIDE’s Family, Youth + Childcare Center was honored to receive a Target Youth Wellness Grant, one of many such grants given nationwide, as Target aims to promote and inspire access to healthy eating and active living. For the kids in GLIDE’s afterschool and summer program, the grant is bringing new opportunities for P.E., outdoor play, active field trips and enrichment activities right here in the Tenderloin. Continue reading “Target Aims for Community Wellness”
