Cultivating connections to help seniors and people with disabilities age and thrive at home.
It has been a good summer so far and we are delighted each time we see old friends and new acquaintances in person. We have been walking, excercising, practicing yoga, doing improv, celebrating birthdays, visiting friends in hospitals and assisted living, honoring those that have passed, standing strong for justice and so much more.
Here a some snapshots of summer activities on their way to an album. Stay tuned, more to come.
Resiliency is buoyancy. It’s like those buoys you see off the coast, battered by powerful waves in storms, but they just don’t sink. They stay afloat. And they signal to others the line between safety and danger.
Resiliency is one of the qualities we’ve come to admire and appreciate so acutely in the last year. As May is Older Americans Month, we’re spotlighting a couple of Community Living Campaign staff members who have done a great job of demonstrating strength and resilience and what that means.
Nicky Trasvina, one of our Community Connectors, felt that some of the best examples of resiliency are the often unseen, underappreciated essential workers. They continued to step up and keep San Francisco running while most of us were able to shelter in place.
Another great example of resiliency are community leaders, like the handful in the Mission who provided food to about 3,000 families each week.
“This continues as an amazing, tremendous undertaking by local leaders in that community, including Roberto Hernandez, Valerie Tolier, Tracy Brown, Ray Ponce and others,” Nicky said. “They created the space and tapped all their resources to get hundreds of pounds of food donated each week. It was such an abundance of food that would have otherwise gone to waste.”
She’s grateful for the opportunity to play a part in the operation, picking up leftover food supplies from donors to be distributed by other volunteers.
Nicky also sought ways to help neighbors and friends in small ways, like bringing them things they needed.
Acting generously also relieved some of the feelings of helplessness so many of us felt. So she also gave financially to some organizations she cares about, following the old adage to “put your money where your mouth is!”
And through it all, one of her primary sources of strength has been prayer.
“Depending on prayer gives me a lot of strength,” Nicky said. “And I think this helps others. I think people appreciate it when they know someone is praying for them. So when I say I’m going to pray for you, I just stop and say the prayer right then.”
She’s also found more connection by reaching out to old friends, neighbors and former students since she was a college adviser. And not just by phone and text.
“It’s not unusual to find me standing out in my front yard talking to people who go by,” Nicky said. “I feel it’s part of my role in getting our neighbors connected. And it’s fun! I’m like the stereotypical old lady looking out through her blinds watching everything, but people like it!”
Read another profile of our Community Connector Laura Atkins.
Books transport us to another world — another time or locale, real or imagined.
And reading keeps minds sharp and help young minds get stronger.
Jim and Kathryn Rato
So what better way to build community, provide some escape while sheltering in place, and entertain and teach than sharing books?
Those are the goals behind the growing number of little libraries that Community Living Campaign has helped neighbors put up in their front yards around San Francisco. There are now 14 of these little libraries, where people can borrow books for free or donate books they no longer need — new or used — for others to enjoy.
Glenda Hope, in Cayuga, first read about the idea online and then began noticing them here and there but not in her neighborhood.
“I thought it would be a great way both to share books but also to disseminate information about Cayuga Community Connectors,” she said. It’s proven to be both on her street, which sees a lot of foot traffic near the BART station.
One of our Community Connectors, Patti Spaniak, asked some other neighbors if they’d like to host a little library in front of their homes, and CLC and the San Francisco Public Library provided the libraries. Then, we bought art kits from Etsy and made it a neighborhood project to decorate the boxes before installing them.
Kiki DeKat and Tyler Davidson
For the box in front of Spaniak’s house, installed in 2018, they hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It included a community reading of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
“It was so much fun for all of us!” she said. “We had children and older adults. We also read some funny pieces and kids read from children’s books.”
As the number of little libraries grew, the donations poured in by the boxful. Our participants also picked up books from the library. Donations are not only in English but also in Chinese, Tagalog and other languages.
“We received such wonderful donations, including current best sellers and books in mint condition,” Spaniak said.
Besides swapping books, the libraries have proven to bring joy to those who witness visitors. A few senior neighbors near the little libraries said they love looking out the window and seeing the action. They like seeing someone timidly looking at what books are available or dropping off new choices for others to enjoy.
Besides books, some people leave flyers about other activities or news in the neighborhood, Hope said. She even found some “thank you for this library” notes left in the box.
One said, “I have so enjoyed seeing what treasures I might find in this little library. I am moving away and will miss those finds. Maybe I will be able to put up my own box. Thank you for doing this.”
Thank you to everyone who installed little libraries in front of their homes for the neighborhood to enjoy:
Bob CappaOne of the beautiful aspects of the pandemic has been seeing people’s creativity come out. In finding solutions and new ways to do things. Creativity in art and using our personal abilities to help others get through in so many small ways.
Community Living Campaign has continued beautifying neighborhoods while keeping everyone involved safe and healthy. One of those projects has been brightening up the stairway in Cayuga that extends Naglee Street.
Many neighbors have, over time, painted fun designs on the risers and most recently installed mosaics.
“During shelter in place, working on the stairway mosaic has been a bright light during dark times and an emblem of our resilience,” said Chris Dillon, a longtime neighborhood resident and president of the Cayuga Improvement Association.
It’s been quite the transformation from an unsightly, unsafe-feeling stairway , said Patti Spaniak, our Community Connector for the neighborhood. Older adults avoided using it even though it’s a great shortcut to Pacific Super.
Working closely with the Cayuga Improvement Association, we secured grants from Excelsior Collaborative Community Grants to paint a few murals. We got local seniors’ input on all the themes and installations. We scheduled community cleaning, hand-rail painting and weeding projects, often with the help of San Francisco Public Works. The Supervisor’s office also supported the project.
Seniors also painted the 30-stair risers, including some with scenes from Sponge Bob and Nemo that children like to try to find.
More recently, the artist of the Kenney Alley project nearby, Kim Jensen, completed the mosaic project. The designs also reflect Demi Braceros, the artist who carved many statues in Cayuga Playground.
What’s more, other similar neighborhood art projects are being considered.
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.
Volunteering our time and talents not only helps our community, it help us too! Research has shown that having purpose and volunteering can help us stay mentally active, reduce stress, increase happiness, and even live longer.
If you’re looking for ways to give back to your community, here are some of the many options. Many are virtual, so you can volunteer from the safety of your own home. And others are taking special precautions so that everyone volunteering out in the world stays safe and healthy.
Be a Tech Buddy to to a Senior or Person with a Disability who’s just getting started for Community Living Campaign’s Neighborhood Tech Connect program. We’re looking for patient, friendly volunteers – you don’t need to be an expert! Check in with your buddy to see how it’s going, help on things like making sure the charger is plugged in and letting CLC computer trainers know when your buddy needs more assistance. We’ll provide an orientation and can handle any in-person visits if needed. Contact peter@sfcommunityliving.org to learn more.
Brighten a child’s holiday with a new toy by December 16th. Donate unwrapped toys and books to children of essential workers through the 6th annual “All in SF” Miracle in the Mission Toy Drive, which takes place on December 19th at House of Brakes in the Mission. Toys needed for boys and girls of all ages. To have one of our Connectors pick up the toys, contact Nicky at nicky@sfcommunityliving.org or 415-269-9511 or Olivia at olivia@sfcommunityliving.org or 415-240-5160. Or call Juan Gallardo with the San Francisco Latino Task Force at 415-724-7612.
Call or make cards isolated older adults and people with disabilities for Meals on Wheels San Francisco. Volunteer safely from your home with Meals on Wheels’s Friendly Social Call. Find out more at mowsf.org/volunteer. Contact: 415-343-1286 or volunteer@mowsf.org.
Call or make cards for older adults throughout the United States with Covia Social Call. Find current volunteer opportunities on the Covia Volunteer Match page.
Help staff the Institute on Aging Friendship Line: This service is both warmline for non-emergency social support calls and a suicide prevention/crisis intervention hotline. Volunteers receive a comprehensive on-going training program and are asked to make a long-term commitment. Find out more at ioaging.org/services/all-inclusive-health-care/friendship-line. Contact : 415-750-4111.
Tutor struggling early readers (grades 1 to 4) through the SF Public Library’s FOG program. The new FOG Readers program uses a highly structured program based on the Orton-Gillingham methodology. Volunteers will receive training and meet virtually with a student every week. There is currently a wait list of students who need a tutor. Find out more and apply to be a tutor on the library’s FOG readers page.
Help with no-contact food shopping and emergency kit delivery at Meals on Wheels: Help with or no-contact food shopping and emergency kit delivery. Find out more at mowsf.org/volunteer. Contact: 415-343-1286 or volunteer@mowsf.org.
Help sort and bag food on Wednesdays at Potrero Hill Neighborhood House: They need volunteers to sort and bag food during their Wednesday food pantry, 10:00 am to 12 noon. Volunteers need a clean COVID test to start volunteering. Contact: 415-826-8080.
Help shop and deliver food and other essentials through Shanti: Volunteers shop and deliver for adults with life-threatening diseases or disabilities. Find more information at https://www.shanti.org/volunteer. Contact: 415-674-4751 or volunteerservices@shanti.org.
Pack and help distribute meals for older adults at Self-Help for the Elderly: Pack food and help distribute meals for seniors. Find more information at selfhelpelderly.org. Contact: alext@selfhelpelderly.org.
Pack meals St. Anthony’s Dining Room: pack to-go meals for people in need. Find more information at stanthonysf.org/shifts/
Deliver food with Food Runners: Pick up extra food from restaurants and cafeterias and deliver it to local programs. Find more information at foodrunners.org/donate-time
Run errands and call older adults with Mon Ami: Volunteers support seniors through regular friendly phone calls or errand runs for essentials like groceries and prescriptions. Find more information at https://www.monami.io/be-a-volunteer. Contact: 650-267-247
Join a protest, vigil, or rally: SF Fun Cheap maintains a list of protests, rallies, vigils, clean-up events that is updated every week or so.
Pitch in at a beach cleanup with the Surfrider Foundation: This group protects oceans and beaches. There are a few beach cleanups scheduled in December. More info at sf.surfrider.org/calendar. Contact: info@sf.surfrider.org.
Find more volunteer opportunities for the holiday season on the SF Mayor’s Office Help Your Neighbors in Need page and on Volunteer Match, which allows you to filter opportunities by interest, on-site or virtual, location, and more.
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.
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.
The 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.
Moving 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.
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).
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.
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.
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.”
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