I'm lifting our blog post today wholesale from The Faithful Fools' invitation to their Quinceañera celebration on Oscard's Feast. This is going to be a wonderful evening celebrating and supporting a wonderful organization. Check out the details below and the get your tickets here.----------
They never told us it
was IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
So, we went ahead and did it anyway—we started walking
the streets to discover our common humanity, and we founded the Faithful Fools
to share that experience of discovery with anyone else who would join us. That
was 15 years ago! There are so many stories that come out of those early days of
founding the Faithful Fools . . . Kay found pennies, Carmen found Kay, the two
of us found a building, and then we found lots of other Fools, all of whom
seemed to just show up at the right moment.
It seems only right that we celebrate our 15 years
together, with each other and with you, at this year’s Oscard’s Feast. The
celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday in Latin America, a “Quinceañera,”
celebrates a transition from childhood into adulthood. There aren’t too many
moments in life to tell stories about where we’ve been and to utter aloud our
hopes of where we are going, but we are going to take our 15th year celebration,
the Fools’ Quinceñera to do just that.
The Quinceañera is an “in-between” moment, which is an
experience that defines our lives as Fools. We have walked “in between” since
the beginning and we are still walking in between—between the pain and truths of
the streets; between the desires of volunteers to find meaning and their need to
offer their strength to others; between taking what we do seriously and laughing
at ourselves; between having enough and the desire to grow; between the pain of
those who have never had and the pain of those who fear losing all.
The poet Rainer Marie Rilke wrote, “For one human
being to love another human being; that is perhaps the most difficult task that
has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work
for which all other work is merely preparation.” Our life at the Fools’
Court has been the kind of preparation that Rilke tells us about. It is our
profound hope that it will continue to be. While we do the things that must be
done—act as payee for SSI recipients, provide a place for people to be in
creative relationship, listen to those who are rarely heard or seen - we also
must look to the future. We are called to keep our hearts and minds and the
doors of the Fools’ Court open as place for all kinds of people, no matter who
they are or what they seek.
The Quinceñera is not only a celebration of the past but
an excited welcoming of the future. We have great hopes for the future—we are
seeking to buy the building next door. As an organization, Faithful Fools is
very young, just beginning in one sense, but entering into a phase of youthful
strength and hope. We see ourselves as hosting more interns and volunteers,
working with community organizations to create fellowships in community
activism, possibly creating a hostel for groups who travel to San Francisco to
learn about poverty and homelessness and be of service. We are working to
connect with colleges and graduate programs to create service-learning programs
that are rooted first and foremost in relationship and reflection. These are the
dreams of fools. . . . the dreams of people who don’t really know what is
impossible. Our dream is that the building at 222 Hyde will be a place that
creates relationships, just as the Fools have done since the
beginning.
For 15 years the streets of the Tenderloin and Nicaragua
(and so many other streets where we have taken retreats) have provided a place
for more than 5000 youth and adults to walk, learn, and reflect together. As
Fools, we have responded to innumerous immediate needs with compassion. People
have been fed and housed. They have walked on the road of recovery and reunited
with their families. Their creative life force has been awakened and
strengthened through art and meditation and a sense of belonging. Immediate
needs change, compassion doesn’t.
We are deeply grateful to you and for you. Your support,
sometimes with money, just as often with wisdom, relationship, and encouragement
keeps us going. You remind us of the value of what we do, even in the hours when
it seems most difficult. It seems only right that you should be there on April
13th when we celebrate 15 years of faithfulness. So look for something pink to
wear, in honor of our Quinceñera and come celebrate. As always, we invite you to
buy a ticket for someone who cannot afford to pay or to make a donation to
support our vision and work as we walk forward entrusted with the task to
love.
The Quinceañera is both celebration and
anticipation. We have great hopes for the future—we are seeking to buy the
building next door. As an organization, Faithful Fools is very young, just
beginning in one sense, but entering into a phase of youthful strength and hope.
We see ourselves as hosting more interns and volunteers, working with community
organizations to create fellowships in community activism, possibly creating a
hostel for groups who travel to San Francisco to learn about poverty and
homelessness and be of service. We are working to connect with colleges and
graduate programs to create service-learning programs that are rooted first and
foremost in relationship and reflection. These are the dreams of Fools . . . the
dreams of people who don’t really know what is impossible. Our dream is that the
building at 222 Hyde will be a place that creates relationships with our
neighbors, just as the Fools have done since the beginning.
We hope you will come to Oscard’s Quinceañera Feast,
bring friends, neighbors, and any one else who would have fun with foolish
stories and dreams. A gaggle of clowns along with Martha Boesing are working on
a fun little performance that tells memorable Fools’ stories. We will laugh at
our own most sacred and silly moments. Please come join us, tell us your stories
about how you know the Fools and maybe even hear stories you haven’t heard
before.
Oscard has never turned away a guest, so even if you
can’t come, consider buying a ticket so all of Oscard’s friends can have a place
at the table. We invite you to pledge or make a one-time donation towards the
work we do.
We are deeply grateful to you and for
you. Your support, sometimes with money, just as often with wisdom, love, and
encouragement keeps us going. You remind us of the value of what we do, even in
the hours when it seems most difficult. It seems only right that you should be
there on April 13th when we celebrate 15 years as Faithful Fools. So please do
join us, if you can.
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