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.

Building Community

Resilient Neighborhoods: Miraloma Park, OMI, and Parkside/Sunset

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This month, we held a roundtable conversation with three of Community Living Campaign’s amazing Community Connectors. We heard from Deb Glen of the Oceanview-Merced-Ingleside (OMI) Food Delivery Network, Margaret Graf of Senior Power in Sunset/Parkside, and Darlene Ramlose of Miraloma Park Community Connectors. These leaders invited us to listen and learn about what Resilient Neighborhoods look like in virtual environment we are living under during this COVID-19 pandemic. The common thread among all our Connectors is their deep roots in their neighborhoods prior to the pandemic.

OMI Food Network Keeps Delivering Groceries Every Week

With the Shelter in Place Order for San Francisco residents, the OMI Food Network faced a number of challenges: most of the neighborhood volunteers are older adults vulnerable COVID-19, and the Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center where they had been packing groceries was needed for childcare for essential workers. And of course, they needed to make sure they could pack and deliver groceries in a way that is safe for staff, volunteers and recipients.

Deb Glen (right) and her son DanteThe intergenerational OMI Food Delivery team, which includes two sets of parents and their adult children, has been working together for years. They adapted quickly to the new reality. They relocated outside to the parking lot of the local Catholic Charities. Deb and her team use a camper to store supplies, set up tables to pack the 80 grocery bags, and organized their weekly Tuesday food delivery to neighborhood seniors and people with disabilities. The dedicated group is continuing an effort started in 2009, delivering groceries, making weekly check-in calls, and creating connections within the larger community: from the volunteers who help pack and deliver groceries to neighborhood activities and other local resources. 

Miraloma Park Community Connectors Works Closely with Organized Neighbors to Help Vulnerable Residents

Darlene (left) with her neighborsMoving a few miles to Miraloma Park, Darlene stated that 32% of the residents have at least one senior in their household.  Darlene brings her background in working with older adults, nutrition, and emergency preparedness to her work in the community. Soon after she moved to the neighborhood, she got involved with Miraloma Park’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT). When the neighborhood organized with District 7 Supervisor Yee’s office to get funding for a Community Connector Network, Darlene joined CLC as  to help lead the network.

During this pandemic, Miraloma Park’s team of Community Connectors, NERT team-Block Champions, Miraloma Park Improvement Club members, and senior volunteers have come together – a combined force in making calls, sending emails, shopping for shut-in neighbors and working with Supervisor Yee in the SOS program to make Wellness Calls to seniors.  In addition, the Miraloma Park Community Connector members join in CLC’s Zoom-based exercise and other activities, and are still gathering (virtually) every week for Ukulele lessons. This month, Darlene will also be facilitating discussions on senior nutrition every other Tuesday. 

Senior Power Transitions from In-Person Meetings to Calls, Virtual Workshops, and Weekly Resource Updates

Margaret Graf (photo by Dr. Anna Chodos)Traveling west near the ocean in the Sunset/Parkside neighborhood, Margaret is one of our newest Connectors. An energetic longtime resident with an impressive career spanning nursing and law,  Margaret founded Senior Power about 18 months ago to address the lack of neighborhood resources for Parkside seniors (with 31% living alone). She has worked closely with People of Parkside Sunset (POPS)–the local merchant’s association– and District 4 Supervisor Mar to support the diverse population of older adults and caregivers in her community.  

With the start of the pandemic, Margaret had to shift from monthly meetings at the Parkside police station to a virtual presence. Her weekly newsletters have become a great source of information for local residents, with a selection of resources, reflections on the current crisis, and suggestions for activities neighbors can join from home. As part of this effort, Margaret investigated the variety of email service providers and taught herself how to send out regular emails to her list of neighbors (with regular mail versions for those who aren’t online). Margaret also sought out a way to connect neighbors to important COVID-19 information by organizing and facilitating a noon Zoom call every Friday with Dr. Anna Chodos, a UCSF geriatrician: Dr. Chodos Chats-Seniors & Coronavirus (Virtual). 

Resilient Neighborhoods Throughout San Francisco Rely on Older Adults

Throughout the City, there are older adults working with their neighbors to support homebound residents and build stronger communities. We invite you to join us for another Resilient Neighborhoods roundtable on Tuesday, June 16th, 3:30-4:30 pm.

Making Pen Pals

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For the past three years, Spring has ushered in the pen pal project at the San Francisco Friends School. It’s the time when 5th graders write letters to seniors attending CLCs community connectors programs. The students share tales of their travels, hobbies, favorite books (some surprisingly sophisticated) and families (pesky younger siblings are common). Then, like all good letter writers they ask questions.

Barbara Fugate from the Cayuga Community Connectors eagerly anticipates the childrens’ letters. She’s so eager, she usually answers letters from three or four students. “I write them back immediately. You never know when you might influence someone, and it’s good to hear what the kids are thinking. Anything that gets kids to read makes me happy.”

Later, we visit the school to tell their stories. Then, sometime in May, we return to see the short skits the students developed from our stories. “I told them about the ghost that lived in a house I rented. That made a good skit – sound effects and all,” Barbara said.

This year, of course, the coronavirus disrupted those plans. The visiting part of the program never happened. Nonetheless, many of us still made new friends. A young woman turned me on to “The Giver” by Lois Lowery; another shared that she had been reading “Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl” and I remembered how I felt when I finished that book.

Jono Gay, who turns 11 in June, and I talked for this story. Jono is an experienced pen pal, having participated in a pen pal program at his other school and occasionally writing his grandfather in Orange County. Jono decided to challenge himself by using an online translation program to write his letter in Chinese and English. Barbara hasn’t received his letter yet, but she’s excited to reply.

This year, knowing that seniors would be home for a very long time and wanting to cheer them up, Caren Andrews, the art teacher for the younger students asked the students in grades kindergarten – 4th to send a drawing to a senior. They had been “studying maps at school before SIP…that is why so many maps arrived with your mailing,” she explained.

For us, said Guybe Slangen, the SFFS Director of Community Engagement, it’s all about “care, connection, and community. They are opportunities for connections where we can show care to learn more about and share with others.”

Those values also hold true for their senior pals.


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Jimmye Bynum, Inveterate Socializer, St. Francis Square

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Jimmye Bynum was such a talkative, sociable person that one of her employers told her she should have been a lawyer. Her natural gift to engage with others led to choices that always seemed to benefit others, as well as herself.

“I always loved to talk and help people and maybe that’s why my life has been so beautiful,” said Bynum.

From dancing with pal Maya Angelou in the heyday of the ’40s jazz and blues scene in the Fillmore, to forming social and philanthropic clubs in the early days of her marriage, to joining every committee in her housing cooperative, Bynum is still talking, organizing and giving to others.

St. Francis Square Celebrates!
Earlier this year, the 92-year-old Bynum is busy co-chairing the celebration of a decade of organized community activities at St. Francis Square. Bynum and her husband bought an apartment in 1963, the year it was built – 299 units in 12 buildings around shared courtyards. Construction was sponsored by two unions with the aim of providing affordable home ownership, particularly for African Americans, who faced housing discrimination in many quarters.

CLC Supports Coffee and Conversation
The community activities were initiated 10 years ago by several residents, with the support of the Community Living Campaign (CLC). This nonprofit was created in 2007 to support grass-roots efforts to link formal health and social services with informal support networks for seniors and persons with disabilities.

“Ten years ago, Marcia Peterzell, a resident and friend of CLC’s director, Marie Jobling, approached me and said we have to do something for seniors and shut-ins here at St. Francis Square,” Bynum recalled. She and Peterzell started making telephone calls then gathered a group of 18 for monthly meetings they called Coffee and Conversation.

Neighbor to Neighbor
Bynum later started a weekly walking group. And, the committee organized a “Neighbor to Neighbor” program, soliciting volunteer residents who could be called on to give a hand: a drive to the grocery store or medical appointment, move a couch, walk a dog.

“Jimmye Bynum’s friendships, flyers, wisdom and steadfast commitment have provided the CLC program at St. Francis Square the foundation and on-going support it needed to grow,” said Marie Jobling.

Hosting Lecture Programs
The CLC committee at St. Francis hosts guest speakers, such as doctors, therapists and firemen, in the St. Francis Square social hall. “We even had a speaker talk to us about how to accept death more easily.” One of the favorite group sessions is when massage therapists volunteer their services to members.

Bynum and her pals, mostly women now, are looking forward to the CLC anniversary party on Dec. 6. This party will be particularly festive – with two kinds of eggnog, one spiked with Hennessey. “Those old ladies can drink,” said Bynum. The event will also celebrate this month’s birthdays.

Dancing with Maya Angelou
Festivity has always been a big part of Bynum’s life since her father moved the family from Oklahoma to the Fillmore District in 1943. A niece who had opened a restaurant on Sutter Street told him about jobs at Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyards that were open to blacks. Once he was hired, Bynum’s family settled into life in the Fillmore.

“At that time Fillmore Street was alive with music and dance,” Bynum said. “My sister and I met Maya Angelou and became general friends. She could jitterbug!” Angelou and Bynum would meet for soda pop or ice cream and “talk, talk and laugh.”

Meeting Duke, Sharing Their Passion
At 18, Bynum met Warren “Duke” Bynum, eight years her senior, at the Brown Bomber Dance Hall in Marin County. “He was out of Chicago and most of his friends were boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Lewis.” They soon married.

Besides the love of dance, Bynum and Duke shared a passion for organizing social clubs that raised money for good causes. “With many friends, we went on trips and we held formal dances.”

For every trip or dance, the social club would tack on an extra charge that went into a pool. “One thing we did was raise money for a yearly $1,000 scholarship for a deserving youngster with high grades.” The scholarships were administered through local churches.

Finding St. Francis Square
When Bynum married, she and her husband moved to an apartment on Central Street. Every day, driving to work, they passed by the newly built St. Francis Square. It was affordable, it was in the neighborhood they loved and African Americans were welcomed. Her husband suggested they apply.

Once they moved in, they embraced their new community. They both represented their building on the co-op’s board. “The only time I left the committee work was when my grandson died when he was 42,” she said. He was one of two children of her only son, born in Oklahoma when she was 16. “I couldn’t cope.”

A Time of Good Jobs and Pensions
During her marriage, Bynum worked first in the garment industry and later in retail sales. “I was making the side seams of men’s jackets and coats, and then I had to hang the sleeves with no fullness. It was very hard.” Bynum was proud of her salary and loved her job and the working environment.

In the mid-’60s, when the clothing manufacturers closed, she found a sales job at the National Dollar Store in the Fillmore. “A Chinese woman taught me everything and advised me to work the required hours, so I’d get a full pension.” Bynum was there for 17 years and retired at 74.

With the Navy shipyard deactivated in 1974, Duke Bynum took some of the only jobs open to blacks at that time. “First he detailed cars, then worked as a doorman at the Mark Hopkins and finally as a Skycap for American Airlines, where he retired with a good pension,” Bynum said.

Her husband died in 2009. “We had 57 years of marriage and 40 beautiful years spent in St. Francis Square.”

Bynum had moved to San Francisco with six siblings, who have also passed away. Her son, Charles, and his son live out of the city, as do her two great-grandchildren, now in college.

“I’m all alone in the City now,” she said.

Well, not exactly.

She’s surrounded by all her friends in St. Francis Square. “I know everyone’s name,” she said. Having been on every committee in the co-op, she’s ready to slow down.
But not completely. “Now, I’m just going to stick with CLC.”

For original article, please follow this link.

Inner Sunset Community Fosters Holiday Connections

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The Inner Sunset Community Connector Networks gathered on December 23rd to share food, conversation and a lively raffle.  Community Connector Marina Lazzara with her daughter and friends as a back-up crew, help make for a lovely party after the regular Always Active Exercise class.   Special thanks to Judy Goddess and other leaders in this community for make this past year such a success.  This includes local leaders who have offered to provide a 100% match to donations up to $10,000.  You can help by visiting this link and making a donation.  

And enjoy some of the pictures from the party!


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Holiday Turkeys and Fixings Head for Good Homes

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The most recent San Francisco Food Security Report found that one of every three San Franciscans is food insecure. If you are food insecure, you sometimes run out money before you can buy the nutritious food you and your family need. This makes for hard choices between food and other necessities. San Francisco’s high cost of living is pushing more and more people on fixed incomes into food insecurity.  

CLC has weekly grocery delivery programs that brings nutritious food to  seniors and adults with disabilities in the Bayview, OMI and other southern neighborhoods. Once a year,  we are proud to help organize a special delivery of turkeys and fixings to  1550 household. It comes with happy greetings from their neighbors.  This is possible, first and foremost, with generous support from Glide Memorial, the S.F. Department of Public Health, and A. Phillip Randolph Institute.  

In the OMI, CLC Community Connector Deb Glen and her team along with Patty Clement-Cihak help organized distribution in the OMI and Cayuga.  In the Bayview, Veronica Shepard and her colleagues in the SF Department of Health, CLC Grocery Delivery Coordinators Chester Williams and Vernice Ross and members of HPUNITI for helping bring this special holiday gift to those in need.   Chester is also a member of the San Francisco Food Security Task Force, co-chaired by Paula Jones, DPH Director of Food Security.  This Task Force works to address food inequities by helping to strengthen the food safety net and expand access to food programs. Take a look at their most recent report here.

Take a few minutes to see the hard work of the people and organizations who are tackling food insecurity during the holidays and all year long.


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St. Francis Square Community Celebrates

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St. Francis Square Co-op was the first neighborhood network, inaugurated with the support of CLC and the Board of St. Francis Square Co-op.  The Community Living Campaign Committee of the Board and network members celebrated their first ten years with a special event on December 8th.   Early founders greeted many new neighbors and remembered those who have passed on who helped create the community ties.  Music, poetry and a visit from Supervisor Valli Brown highlighted the afternoon.  A photo collage brought back memories of activities over the past 10 years that helped weave community.    Take a look below…


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Cayuga Community Celebrates the Holiday in Style

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Cayuga Holiday Potluck is an annual community gathering rich with food, fun raffle prizes, music and of course, Santa.   Thanks to Patti Spaniak and all the leaders and neighbors who pitched in to make this a grand gesture of community living.   Enjoy the pics!


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Inner Sunset Community Connectors Reflect on a Successful Year

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group photo of Inner Sunset participants

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Neighbors and Always Active Instructors celebrate one year of Inner Sunset Community Connectors

Before we opened the doors last October 22nd at St. Anne of the Sunset, we had hoped 15 people might attend our our Monday and Thursday afternoon exercise/community building program.  Instead 35 appeared, ready to enjoy the Always Active exercise program. Though most of us lived in the neighborhood, few of us knew one another. The number of participants, and our friendships have only grown from those early days. 

 
One day last summer, when 53 people tried to fit into our summer space at St. John of God, we were in the awkward position of turning away people at the same time we were committed to building community. After several weeks of this, the Community Living Campaign convinced the SF Department of Aging and Adult Services (the city agency that provides the primary funding for this program), to send a second Always Active instructor, allowing us to serve up to 60 people a session.   More recently, CLC convinced DAAS to earmark extra funding for a third day of classes.  On Tuesdays, beginning November 5, we will offer chair yoga and creative dance on alternative weeks.
 
Note from a participant

MAKING FRIENDS: “I feel healthier which is great but I feel most excited about meeting my neighbors. I don’t feel like a stranger out here anymore.” (Note from a participant)

But we don’t only exercise when we come together. About a month into the program, Marina Lazarra, the community connector from the Community Living Campaign, began offering after-exercises activities. The first classes were on gardening and healthy herbs – Marina’s interests – an ongoing memoir writing class, classes on “finding your style,” earthquake safety, how to get most out of your cell phone, a three-session series on Stroke Awareness, and an evening meeting on Loneliness and Social Isolation engaged participants and brought in new members. More than 10 of us participated in a letter exchange with the fifth graders at the SF Friends School, and were thrilled to attend the children’s dramatization of our life stories.

 
It’s all coming together, the way we had hoped. The Always Active exercise program and the after-class workshops have led to the development of new friendships. People arrive before class and stay after to exchange gossip. The more able-bodied members look out for those of us who move slower or are less steady on our feet. We are no longer strangers working out, we’re becoming friends. Thanks to this program, retirement and aging are taking on new meaning in the Inner Sunset.  
 
Want to help? Right now, we have a matching gift of up to $10,000. Please donate now to double your impact!
 
(Enjoy a few pictures from the November 4th Anniversary Celebration and Thank You Event)