Community Living Campaign

Cultivating connections to help seniors and people with disabilities age and thrive at home.

Cultivating connections to help seniors and people with disabilities age and thrive at home.

Deborah Finestone

Connecting More Through Tech: Zoom Training a Success

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After taking our new Zoom training program, Mary Fleming said she’s doing more on the video conference platform. That’s opened up her opportunities for connection, entertainment, and fun education while staying safe at home.

“The class allowed me to learn more about Zoom. “I am able to log in easier and I recently logged into two CLC Zoom art classes, which I enjoyed,” she said.

Community Living Campaign (CLC) co-sponsored the pilot program with the Network For Elders in the Bayview, which was part of the city’s plan to bridge the digital divide — the lack of internet access, devices and digital literacy access among lower-income residents and communities of color.

Many of the participants weren’t regular computer users before the class and were motivated to learn how to video conference since COVID hit.

As the pandemic dragged on, they saw more uses for the technology to stay connected with others even while sheltering at home.

Beverly Taylor, Coordinator of the Network for Elders saw the need growing.

CLC partnered with them to devise a basic Zoom training class to get more beginners up to speed. We also provided a class for people who had used Zoom before and were excited to learn some of the more advanced features.

Staying Connected Digitally

“We know it’s more crucial than ever to learn technology like this so community members can stay connected,” Beverly said. “These skills mean they can see not just our activities, but also keep in touch with their neighbors, family, friends and church communities.” (Read more about Beverly here.)

Partners including Christy Folau at the Bayview Senior Center helped with initial outreach to the Network seniors. She made sure seniors in the area knew about this opportunity and helped people register.

Chester Williams, who works with both CLC and the Network for Elders, led the six-week Zoom Training program. He’s devoted many years to bringing the technology to minority communities. (You can read about Chester here.)

For some participants, this was their introduction to the basics of Zoom. Others had used the video conferencing already and were more interested in slightly more advanced or fun features, like the chat window and virtual backgrounds.

“I learned how to use the chat function,” said Gloria Edwards. “It was fun to use one of the reactions symbols in one of my virtual church meetings. I want to learn about hosting my own Zoom meetings in the future.”

Of the 26 people who started the program, 19 completed it.

What’s next?

We’re reviewing feedback from the program and hope to offer it again in 2021. We’re getting a better understanding of seniors’ skill level and knowledge about technology.

The pilot also helped our organization identify some of the problems of basic access, said Sherri Hayes Sawyer, CLC’s Vision and Hearing accessibility manager, who served as Project Manager. For example, who doesn’t have internet access at home or not a high-enough quality for video.

Even more, we learned who only has a cell phone and needs a computer. We’re working on addressing that, too. Some people even needed an email address or didn’t know the basics of using email.

“We’re taking time to figure out what worked in the pilot,”  Sherri said.  “We want to more clearly target the needs of seniors and reach more who need this kind of training. Stay tuned!”

CLC offers many virtual tech training courses and a Tech Help Desk every week, which you can access by phone. You can find your options here as part of our extensive activity calendar.

5,600 Turkeys: Supersizing an Annual Tradition

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An extraordinary year called for supersizing an annual holiday tradition. Earlier this month, Community Living Campaign was among the partners that helped distribute more than 5,600 turkeys and full Thanksgiving meals.

“We know there’s food scarcity in the City, and that sometimes, life can get hard,” said the Department of Public Health’s Veronica Shepard, Coordinator of the main event.

She admitted that keeping the volunteers safe in this time of COVID was no easy task, but high priority.  For the past six years, San Francisco non-profits and faith leaders have come together to fund and organize this annual effort.

We all demonstrated that “the world is not as awful as it feels right now when we all help one another,” she said.

Volunteers and a coalition of meal program staff gave away the majority of the turkeys at the Cow Palace. Another 600 turkeys and fixings were distributed at the parking lot of Catholic Charities in the OMI with support from Glide.

Deborah Glen, Coordinator of the Community Living Campaign’s OMIHome Grocery Delivery Program, spearheaded the effort in her neighborhood. Chester Williams and crew distributed throughout the Bayview.

“This holiday tradition left volunteers with the knowledge they had brightened the holidays for so many struggling to make ends meet,” said Marie Jobling, CLC’s Executive Director. “A heightened COVID shutdown the day before the scheduled event was a worry. But what else could we do with more than 5,000 turkeys and fixings but find a safe way to deliver them — and we did!”

The San Francisco African-American Faith-Based Coalition and the San Francisco Department of Public Health sponsored the event, with more than 60 diverse collaborating organizations and faith communities delivering to seniors and families in need. Other funders include the Glide Foundation, the Cow Palace, Hellman Foundation, Salesforce, Fivepoint and  15 more donor organizations.


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Christine Brings Family, Young and Old, Into Cayuga Community

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors. They volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Christine as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for Cayuga.

 

Christine Arenas’ last seven years of retirement have been richer and healthier thanks to activities with us and the relationships she’s built here.

She’s participated in the exercise class three days a week and tried chair yoga, dance classes and Tai Chi. She’s made many good friends and even brought her mother-in-law to join so that the whole family could benefit!

Christine loved learning from real authors and poets in the Litquake classes, In addition, she shared stories with friends in the memoir writing class.

She spent most of her life in this neighborhood — 44 years living in the house her grandparents bought in 1936. In recent years, she’s enjoyed seeing the program grow to include arts and crafts classes, holiday and birthday parties, health and safety classes and field trips.

Members of this community inspire Christine and give her many reasons to show gratitude for having it in her life, especially during this pandemic. And she’s proud to introduce her grandchildren to ways to give to their community and see they get so much in return.

Two of her grandchildren — Sofia, 6, and Ella, 4 — often join the Wednesday Wave parade. They too spread a little joy to those staying at home.

David Boosts Emergency Preparedness for Seniors, People with Disabilities

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors. They volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor David as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for the Vision & Hearing Program.

 

David Munoz Ventura is the Program Supervisor of the Seismic Safety Outreach Program (SSOP). This program of the Community Youth Center educates San Franciscans in emergency preparedness and response.

For the past four years, David has contributed to SSOP. He developed a new curriculum and works within all of the Community Living Campaign neighborhoods.

With his help, we’ve increased emergency readiness participation for seniors and people with disabilities. He helps people at our neighborhood sites (virtually as well) and community events. In addition, David provides free emergency supplies and information.

Faye Leads the Welcome Train in Midtown Terrace

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors. They volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Faye as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for Midtown Terrace.

 

Faye Vickroy embraces her leadership skills and always steps up to lead, assist and organize projects. The Midtown Terrace Always Active exercise group knows her well. She helps set up and host a much-appreciated break time every week.

Her enthusiasm and energy are genuine and reflect her kindness and generosity. Faye’s dedication to making Midtown Terrace a welcoming space shows up in many ways. Mostly,  being a good neighbor is the little things: bringing flowers or lemons to some neighbors or taking dinners to sick individuals.

Her involvement in her community includes many years as a school administrator for SFUSD.  In addition, she served as an officer of the Saint Emydius Fil-Am Club — all while raising four children as military wife.

Jim Keeps Delivering in Potrero Hill

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors who volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Jim as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for Potrero Hill. 

 

Jim Wachob stepped right up when we started our new Connector Network in Potrero Hill at the beginning of this year. He eagerly joined our Advisory Committee and volunteered to help in any way he could.

Then the pandemic hit, which stopped our program in its tracks. But that didn’t stop Jim. He’s been our main volunteer on the ground during the pandemic, delivering frozen meals to Potrero Hill seniors whose lunch site at the Neighborhood House was closed down.

We know we can rely on Jim to coordinate with the residents, pick up the food and take care of all the details. We are lucky to have him as a volunteer, and the Potrero community is lucky to have him as a neighbor.

Jasper is Neighborhood Tech Connection Bilingual Wizard

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of our most dedicated neighbors. They volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Jasper as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for Neighborhood Tech Connection. 

 

Jasper Chen is the grandson many seniors need around: the tech wizard.

For more than a year, this high-school student has volunteered at the computer class at Excelsior Community Center on Saturday afternoons. He taught seniors how to use a computer and cellphones and solve their technical problems.

He’s very patient with seniors, and he is bilingual in English and Chinese. He can even speak the dialect which some seniors speak, which they really appreciate.

On top of that, Jasper also helps Wansa when she encounters some problems that she couldn’t solve herself. He teaches her some valuable skills, which she can pass on to seniors.

Carol, Gwen Bag Groceries for Bayview Grocery Network

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors. They volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Carol and Gwen as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honorees for the Bayview Grocery Network.

Carol Nolan started volunteering for the Bayview-Hunters Point Food Delivery program back in the fall of 2016. She exhibits her caring and concern for the community by volunteering to compile more than 120 bags of groceries each week.

She also regularly delivers those groceries to homebound seniors in her neighborhood. As a result, they have nourishing food to eat.

Carol’s love of community stems from her love of family. She gives a great deal of support to her children and grandchildren.

You can rely on Gwen Thomas to get things done.

For the past four years, she has faithfully and consistently volunteered in the Home Delivered Grocery Program in the Bayview-Hunters Point community. Each Monday, rain or shine, Gwen takes the bus to oversee the bagging process so food can be delivered consistently.

Gwen shows her dedication to the community in many ways. She also volunteers at the Asian Pacific American Community Center on Raymond Street and the San Francisco Marin Foodbank. On top of that, she shares her activism with other community-based groups.

Friends of St. Francis Childcare Center Partner with SF ReServe

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors who volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Friends of St. Francis Childcare Center as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for  SF ReServe.

Friends of St. Francis Childcare Center is one of SF ReServe’s longest-running partners.

They provide high-quality early childhood education services to a culturally and economically diverse urban population. They use a model that calls for building a community of learners and participants, including parents and the community.

The center serves children ages two through five from all of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. This includes a substantial number of low-income families.

In addition, our ReServist, Judith Baker, works with the center to deliver colorful and cheerful cards and messages.

Juliet ‘Quacks’ Open the Sidewalk Search Party

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Each year, our Good Neighbor Awards honor some of the dedicated neighbors who volunteer their time to help seniors and people with disabilities get the resources and support they need to age and thrive in their own homes and neighborhoods. We are delighted to honor Juliet as our 2020 Good Neighbor Honoree for the Sidewalk Search Party. 

Juliet Rothman got interested in the sidewalk search party in November because she did some work with sidewalk issues for DAAS.

In April, she answered a call to action to join the Duck Squad! At first, she was hesitant about participating because she couldn’t print the duck and wasn’t on Facebook. But after we got over the technology issues, Juliet became energized about the project and sought to learn how the city fixes sidewalks.

She reached out to 311 to determine what makes a broken sidewalk. She was appalled that the city only inspects sidewalks every 25 years! So she just started taking pictures of “quacked” sidewalks on her own walks.

She wanted to have a bigger impact, so she sought more community involvement. She shared suggestions of how to take the pictures, her supplies and how to report them to the city. That led right into the “Broken sidewalks quack me up” contest. She even won second place for The Most Bumpiest Walkways.

Now, she’s getting the community involved in getting sidewalks fixed. She wants people who talk with their community groups in their neighbors to take “quacked” sidewalk pictures. You may hear from her soon!

All of this comes as Juliet had many life challenges during the year, which limited her ability to go on walks. But she never stopped working on this project because of how it will benefit so many others.