Doors Always Stay Open - Even On A Lockdown

Saint Paulus just posted a Facebook update:

At a time like this when the media incited fear (solely to increase readership) which accelerated lock-downs around the planet, Saint Paulus maintained one stance: We keep walking the same road, together. Our goals don't change, our vision never falters and our faith rises in always advocating for the poverty. With people obscenely hoarding food, taking away from others that sensible shopped, these individuals didn't consider that the homeless are still homeless. They're still without food and now are suffering even more without everyday resources. Less people on the streets to give them a dollar, less foot traffic to share food, less garbage to find possibly a pair of discarded shoes. Please adhere to social distancing, but before you pop out, take some food with you. Drop it six feet away from a homeless person. Got spare time to spring clean? Bag up old clothes and drop them by the public trash. Just be kind, thoughtful and keep paying forward. We may be on a lock-down but we can always keep the door open. Blessings.

We live in a society whereby one disruption causes overinflated havoc, so let's review a few examples based on situations we've self inflicted the past few days:

• Irritated by having to wait 15 minutes longer than usual for $18 sandwiches, just prior to the mandatory Coronavirus lock-down.
• Aggravated because you have to work from the comforts of your home in pajamas, and meetings need to be moved online.
• Frustration from being on hold for an hour with the local pizza store about ordering a pie, even though you achieved an impressive amount of work during this hold time...in slippers, in bed.
• Moaning about an increased work load yet refuse to delegate.
• Extreme anxiety that seven bars of soap may not get you through the next three weeks.

 Now let us view this from a different angle through a homeless person's eyes:

• The homeless would spend those 15 minutes buying two weeks worth of food for $18 and share this with at least one other displaced person. Those 15 minutes would be a very happy occasion and $18 would feel like $1,000,000.
• Around 30% of homeless have a degree, are newly street living and have no addictions. They would relish being back in working society and wouldn't care where their office/desk was.
• Knowing the phone lines were jammed for pizza requests, they'd hang up because a: why stress the pizza company and stall existing orders? and b: another less busy restaurant would appreciate the business instead.
• The homeless run a survival-of-the-fittest yet also a collaborative society. If they had an increased work load, collaborative 'no ego' team work would immediately be utilized.
• The homeless would have traded or given away six bars of soap by the time you paid for your seventh.

Yesterday, an employee of our partnership organizations was on the bus. She was heading home after San Francisco announced the lock-down. On this virtually empty bus, a guy sat in the next chair to hers, wearing his mask. When confronted about this irony (the mask - no social distance - an empty bus), he refused to move, claiming he was a healthcare professional and this employee was beneath his social status. His ego, chauvinism and lack of common sense is standard practice of what we experience daily. After getting off the bus, this employee saw a few homeless people. They were all six feet apart from each other and passerbys.

The homeless, for all their faults and quirks, have great common sense, street smarts, logic and always say please and thank you. The ones with homes, bank balances and job security usually do not. Over the next few weeks, be grateful for the roof over your head, cash to pay the monthly bills and even the basics of job security. But always keep that door open to help the needy.

Support 'Showering the Homeless with Jobs' Program

SF CARES is running an incredibly powerful, new initiative and we need your help to accelerate it. We all know that San Francisco has the worst poverty crisis in history and this has turned our city into the Disneyland for the homeless i.e. if you're poverty stricken, come to SF for free food, free clean needles etc. With so much cash floating around, it's being dispersed incorrectly - easily proven by the rapidly growing homeless numbers. In short, multiple non profits are profiting off the poverty, receiving grants/donations and certainly not distributing it ethically. If they were, the homeless statistics would decrease. But they're not.

SF CARES has a long history of advocating with the displaced. Why are we experts in this field? Because our team comprises of individuals who were homeless, are homeless and advocate for homeless. So we jammed our brains together and created a brand new feat to truly eliminate the poverty numbers by getting the displaced back into work and new homes.

How are we doing this?

One of our partners, who is within the SF CARES family umbrella, will have showers at their new church site. The site: 999 Eddy Street. The partner: Saint Paulus Lutheran Church.

When Saint Paulus returns to their Eddy Street church later this year, the site includes multiple facilities i.e. a sanctuary (obviously), a kitchen, office space for rent, conference rooms and....showers with laundry facilities.

The aim is that the homeless hand over their resume when they come to Saint Paulus for a shower. While showering, SF CARES will match their resume to an open job position. They'll come out the shower, wear donated office attire clothes and head to their new job. The employer will set the new recruit on a 30 or 60 day trial (quite standard for new employees) and pay for their hotel (plus stipend). This provides immediate stability.

During their work probation, SF CARES will secure affordable housing and after the probation, the individual will now have a full time job and roof over their head. The more we reduce the number of people living on the streets, the more we publicize the numbers/statistics and PR this to the media. The more that other churches (and religious orgs, universities, schools etc with showers) hear about our success, they'll replicate our blueprint formula until this runs nationwide.

Instead of having a shower and being sent back onto the streets, our showers will actually be preparing the displaced - having a shower just before heading to their first day of work. This is empowering, gives hope and excitement of a new door opening. We know 40% of people living on the streets have the credentials and qualifications to jump back into the work force. They're recently homeless and have no addictions, nor are 'street life conditioned.' That's our initial target market.

What We've Achieved To Date

• SF CARES has secured a govt employment partnership with jobs available at non profits. This is going to be an easy transition for the homeless, by working with colorful like minded individuals. 
• SF CARES has secured dozens of volunteers, that'll help us daily in matching resumes to jobs and candidates to homes.
• SF CARES will receive donated work and non work clothing, alongside items to furnish new homes. This ongoing donation has been guaranteed.
• SF CARES is talking with a govt housing partner and also a national corporation that works with affordable housing. Once we've secured a deal with either or both institutions, we'll post an update.
• SF CARES is in discussions with a web company to produce either the web portal/website or app - the software that'll be available to other orgs nationwide, when they're ready to use our blueprint formula.

Won't you support us in our feat? One resume, one shower, one job and one home at a time.

Vision Event - Free Eye Test/Glasses

This is truly one of our most warm, fuzzy events that SF CARES runs - every other month. For years, we've run one of the city's most popular free eye test and free prescription glasses programs.

Every month, dozens of individuals and medical providers/specialists call us daily, asking when the next event will be. Today is our Vision Eye event, so the next one is tentatively scheduled for the 1st Tuesday in May. NB: The first Tuesday of every other month is when our Vision Event takes place at Saint Paulus Church.

How it works: The first 45 people in line receive a ticket, wait for their number to be called, see our eye doctor for a test and within two weeks, be able to pick up their new prescription glasses.

The cost: Zero.

The thank you prayers to SF CARES and God: In abundance

So if you have eyesight problems and can't afford vision medical fees, please come down.

If you have glasses (prescription or none) and don't need these anymore, please donate them for our Vision Event. You can drop them off Monday - Thursday between 10.00 am - 4.00 pm. We greatly appreciate your support.

These photos, from today, are of Jordan Ward who heads up SF CARES and runs the Vision Eye event. 

New Announcements Coming Shortly

At SF CARES, we've been active in so many ventures throughout the past few years alone, including the Friendship Banquet where we have served about 30 HIV+ marginally housed/homeless individuals a fancy meal, every week and supporting our partners including Saint Paulus Lutheran Church, San Francisco Night Ministry, St Francis, St Mary and St Martha Lutheran Church and running our every-two-months free eye test and prescription glasses event.

We have many more announcements that we'll be promoting soon so so please follow our Facebook page for immediate updates.

Have a blessed weekend!

SF CARES

In the News: SF Bay Times

Opera Superstar Frederica Von Stade to Sing Street Requiem in Support of Homeless Choir 

reposted from:  http://sfbaytimes.com/opera-superstar-frederica-von-stade-to-sing-street-requiem-in-support-of-homeless-choir/

Famed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade will join with a mass chorus of singers and chamber orchestra in two California premiere performances of Street Requiem by Australian composers Dr. Kathleen McGuire, Andy Payne, and Dr. Jonathon Welch AM. Other vocal soloists include Blake Quin, Ilyas Iliya and Mark Jackson.

This week, it was also announced that Street Requiem has been selected as a semi-finalist in the professional choral composition division of The American Prize national non-profit competitions in the performing arts. (For more information, see http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/composer-semi-finalists-2015-choral.html)

McGuire, who is well known to Bay Area audiences having led the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and others from 2000 to 2013, will return from Melbourne, Australia, to conduct Street Requiem on Saturday, August 29, at 7:00pm at Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, and on Sunday, August 30, at 2:00pm at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, 225 Tilton
Avenue in San Mateo.

The concert is a benefit for Singers of the Street (SOS), which McGuire founded in 2010. Now led by Ashley Moore and a project of Welcome, SOS is a choir of San Franciscans who have experienced, or are at risk of, homelessness. Its mission is to raise their voices for justice, healing and joy. SOS will open the concert and will also sing with the mass choir in Street Requiem.

“Street Requiem provides a musical opportunity for us to mourn not only the homeless who have passed away, but also our own frustration that there are still so many homeless individuals living in streets and shelters,” said the Rev. Megan Rohrer, Executive Director of Welcome. “Beyond a one of a kind concert experience, audience members can also celebrate that the price of admission enables homeless individuals to heal and express themselves for years to come.”

Composed in 2014, Street Requiem has already received international acclaim. Music critic Wayne Lee Gay (Dallas Magazine) said: “A remarkable, unique and beautiful work…an unfailingly engaging cantata. The religious texts were constantly questioned, but with an effect that produces transformation rather than blasphemy. The audience is never let off the hook: in the final movement, the chorus intones, as if to remind those who observe suffering are as much in need of divine intervention and guidance as those who suffer directly: ‘Given them peace. Give us peace.’”

Street Requiem is a 40-minute multi-movement cantata scored for choirs, soloists, and chamber orchestras. It aims to bring a sense of peace, remembrance, and hope to communities struggling with homelessness, poverty, war, hate-crime and street violence. The work is neither secular nor religious, but is intended to be spiritual and includes English and African lyrics, as well as traditional Latin texts. While at times deeply moving, the work is optimistic and uplifting, and employs Gospel, Celtic, neo-Romantic, neo-Baroque, and contemporary compositional styles and instrumentation to reflect the multicultural and multi-faith traditions of modern city living.

McGuire said, “Street Requiem provides an opportunity to mourn those we’ve lost—often ‘nameless’ on our streets—and to protest the tragic injustices we witness every day. These are global issues, but we can each make a difference, one by one. Ms. von Stade’s generous participation is a testament to the importance of this project and the wider cause.”

Ms. von Stade will be joined on stage by a mass choir including singers from The Choral Project (San Jose), the Chancel Choir of the Congregational Church of San Mateo, singers from CREDO (Dallas, Texas, who performed the U.S. premiere in January), and Singers of the Street (San Francisco). Accompaniment will be provided by members of the Community Women’s Orchestra, and Carl Pantle will play piano.

Rehearsals led by Stephanie Lynne Smith, Grace Renaud, Daniel Hughes, Dana Sadava, Dr. Jonathan Palant and Carl Pantle are currently underway in San Francisco and San Mateo; singers wishing to participate should visit: trybooking.com/IEJK

Tickets for Street Requiem range from $15–$50 and are available online at http://streetrequiem.blogspot.com/p/tickets.html or by calling (415) 731-1305. All proceeds benefit Singers of the Street.

Press Release:

Holiday Event Provides Glasses for Homeless San Franciscans

SF CARES and Project Homeless Connect (PHC) are hosting an event on December 19^th from 12-4pm at Old First Presbyterian Church (1751 Sacramento St near Van Ness) to provide prescription eye glasses and other health opportunities for low income and homeless individuals.   Additional monthly Health and Vision Events will be hosted at Lutheran congregations throughout San Francisco with the goal of giving away 1,200 pairs of prescription glasses by December of 2014. 

"Glasses make it possible for individuals to fill out job and health forms, read for pleasure and tangibly improve their lives," Pastor Megan Rohrer, of SF CARES, remarked, "We hope our event will help people build with a relationship PHC’s Every Day Connect Resource Specialists, who will follow up with participants after the event to help them continue to improve their quality of life."

“Collaborating with like minded partners in caring those who are vulnerable is the common sense means of being effective.  As for us, loving the neighbor in the best way possible is our goal,” said Pastor Daniel Solberg, of SF CARES.  “We are excited to partner with the city, local businesses and other San Franciscans to do our part to help those who are homeless and in need.”

Services expected to be provided include: eye exams and prescription glasses, portraits, free lunch, books and toiletries, flu shots for individuals with Medicare (provided by Walgreen’s), nurses for asking questions and other health related services.

"We hope this project will inspire others to do what they can to help people experiencing homelessness and hunger  in San Francisco," said Emily Cohen, Director of Programs and Project Homeless Connect.

SF CARES is a collaboration of St. Paulus Lutheran Church, The Night Ministry, Welcome and the Faithful Fools Street Ministry; all faithful organization who are working together in order to increase our ability to help the underserved in San Francisco.  We are particularly passionate about providing opportunities, resources and support for individual who are poor, homeless, formerly homeless and experiencing mental health or brain disorder issues.  

Project Homeless Connect’s mission is to connect homeless San Franciscans 
with the care they need to move forward. PHC’s Every Day Connect  works directly with those seeking services, seven days week, 365 days a year. The purpose is to connect those in need with the appropriate providers and hard-to-access resources they need to move forward toward their goals.

Contact Information:
Pastor Daniel Solberg, 415-673-8088, Solberg@saintpaulus.org
Pastor Megan Rohrer, 415-827-2587, megan@welcomeministry.org

Emily Cohen,  855-588-7968, Emily.Cohen@sfdph.org

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Press Release: SF CARES Thanks the City of San Francisco for Hosting LGBTQ Connect

SF CARES thanks the City of San Francisco, Bevan Dufty's Housing, Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement (HOPE) Office and Project Homeless Connect (PHC) for hosting the LGBTQ Connect on October 7, 2013 at the LGBT Center.  LGBTQ Connect will both help LGBTQ individuals continue connecting to services that can help them find more stable housing and provide an opportunities for the organizations who serve the LGBTQ community to work with the Department of Public Health's programs and help expand the continuum of care.

"Many LGBTQ individuals come to San Francisco believing it will be safer and more welcoming than their hometown or families" said Pastor Daniel Solberg, of SF CARES. "Projects like LGBTQ Connect will help to stabilize individuals who underestimate the cost of housing or the costs of their health care and medications, and how long it will take to find a job."

Pastor Megan Rohrer, a transgender member of SF CARES, remarked, "The LGBTQ homeless are undercounted and underserved in San Francisco and we are delighted that this particularly vulnerable population is getting some much needed care and attention."  

Services expected to be provided at LGBTQ Connect include: vision, dental, legal, DMV reduced fee vouchers, STI testing, housing services, employment, youth services, senior services.

"With all the negativity about the homelessness in San Francisco, we want to make sure that people pay attention when something inspiring and hopeful is happening," said Solberg.

SF CARES is a collaboration of St. Paulus Lutheran Church, The Night Ministry, Welcome and the Faithful Fools Street Ministry; all faithful organization who are working together in order to increase our ability to help the underserved in San Francisco.  We are particularly passionate about providing opportunities, resources and support for individual who are poor, homeless, formerly homeless and experiencing mental health or brain disorder issues.  
Related News Links:

• S.F. To Host 1st LGBTQ Connect For Homeless, SF Gate, September 22, 2013.

Contact Information:
Pastor Daniel Solberg, 415-673-8088, Solberg@saintpaulus.org
Pastor Megan Rohrer, 415-827-2587, megan@welcomeministry.org

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