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. During our 7th Annual Good Neighbor Celebration, we honored an impressive group of dedicated San Franciscans. Please join us in thanking them for the impact they’ve had in their communities. Read on to learn about some of the ways they’ve made a difference.
Connie Baker-Cohn, Bayview Grocery Network
Connie Baker-Cohn volunteers every Thursday with the Bayview Home Delivered Grocery Program. She says, “I am very grateful to be here today and I take each day as a blessing. I have had my ups and downs in my life and I’m very fortunate now to be able to be in a position to help others. I’ve always tried to do that in whatever ways I could. Now I’m able to do more and I really truly feel called to do so. I’m grateful for the experiences that I’ve had and look forward to working with others, as much as possible, to take care of each other as best we can in this world.” And we at CLC are grateful for all that Connie does to help her neighbors.
Carol Brownson, Sidewalk Search Party
The Sidewalk Search Party honors Carol for her endless commitment to ensuring safely accessible sidewalks throughout San Francisco. Carol was reporting dangerous sidewalks long before joining the Sidewalk Search Party. She introduced us to 311 on Twitter and is a co-presenter in our 311 trainings. Carol comes to every meeting and neighborhood waddle to hang ducks on trees to inform neighbors how to report treacherous sidewalks to 311. Carol is willing to help.
Rosario Cervantes, Latino Cultural Events (Virtual Community Connectors)
Rosario Cervantes has participated in many of Latino cultural events hosted by CLC coordinators Olivia Franco and Nicky Trasviña. She worked with Nicky to bring on a “heavy hitter” to Dr. Anna Chodos’ 80/80 Project and the related 80/80 Latino-Style virtual program. Rosario reached out to her friend Orlando Cepeda to request that he join in. With kindness, persistence, diligence Rosario called and visited in person to set up an interview with this remarkable North American and Latin American baseball hero, retired SF Giant and 7-time All Star. She sets the standard for communicating and bringing people together.
Rosario is very committed to making her community a better place by serving as Board President to Coleman Advocates and her position as VP in the SF District 11 Democratic Club. She has walked miles on behalf of campaigns that impact her neighborhood and city. Rosario not only talks the talk, she walks the walk! We are happy to honor Rosario for all that she does.
Kate Clements, Miraloma Park Community Connectors
Kate is an integral part of the goings on in Miraloma Park. An MPIC board committee member for Publicity and Advertising, Kate is a long-time editor of our Miraloma Life Newsletter. She makes sure our Miraloma Community Page is updated before it goes to press. Kate has volunteered for many events around our neighborhood and we are glad to have her on board with our Connector program. Miraloma Park Connectors Coordinator Darlene Ramlose recounts that she’s not sure what we could have done without her at the Miraloma Park Tea Party.
Susheela Farrell , St. Francis Square Co-Op
Susheela has lived at St. Francis Square Co-op in the Western Addition with her daughter for just six and a half years. She’s been an active member of the community from the beginning. Susheela is co-coordinator of St. Francis Square’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor program, where she finds volunteers from the co-op community to help seniors and others with shopping, going to doctor’s appointments, gardening, dog walking, and whatever other help is needed. She is also a member of one of the senior choirs in San Francisco. Susheela plays guitar and leads us in folk songs for many of our parties at the Square. This election season she also coordinated the Square’s Get-Out-the-Vote campaign. Susheela is such an activist and loving person whom we cherish here at St. Francis Square.
Veronica Harlin, OMI Grocery Network
It’s our pleasure to introduce Veronica Harlin as our good neighbor of 2022. Veronica has grown up in the OMI Lakeview community and is extremely familiar with our neighbors, working in the community and volunteering with several neighborhood groups. Veronica has been showing up each Tuesday asking how she could assist and has become a valuable asset to our community. It’s a great blessing to have individuals like Veronica that offer to assist as a volunteer. The OMI CLC program is blessed to have Veronica volunteering with our Home Delivery Grocery Program
Anne Herbst, Senior Power
Anne Herbst supports her neighborhood through Far Out Gallery, an art gallery that she owns and operates in the Outer Sunset. She is truly a good neighbor. Over the past year, she has hosted two Senior Power meetings at her gallery–a good and warm experience for all! It’s given another perspective to neighbors who come to Senior Power meetings. In addition to that, over the summer she opened her flower-themed show to the community. Anyone could bring their art. She had an enormous response. The oldest contributor was a 94-year-old woman who brought a beautiful floral painting. As Senior Power founder and connector Margaret Graf says, “This was such a generous gift to the community to open her doors and truly welcome everyone who had something to contribute…and she did it with grace and love of art.”
Martha Joseph, Neighborhood Tech Connect Computers & Access
Martha Joseph is dedicated Good Neighbor. When she talks about older adults, Martha says “They are one of our greatest assets holding a wealth of knowledge and experience. ” She initially approached CLC to get a tablet to keep her mother more connected to family and friends. Martha’s mom lives in a long-term care facility. When other residents there saw her tablet, they realized they could be less isolated if they had devices of their own. Martha didn’t think twice. She jumped in to refer these neighbors to CLC, and then took on the extra step of picking up and delivering tablets and welcome packets to 10 residents. As Martha says, she loves seniors and works, assists, and protects them to the best of her ability. And when we talk with her “peeps” they tell us they love her too.
Mobilize Love Summer Teen Volunteers (Cassatt Boatwright, Paneah Chea, Carolina Irizarry & Alan Uczib), Park Merced/University Park Grocery Network
During the 2022 year as the world went back to “normal,” our Park Merced Food Network adult volunteers went back into the office. This left Food Network Coordinator Elaine with little to no volunteers to help. She reached out to Mobilize Love, which has faithfully shared volunteer opportunities on their platform. Our Food Network started to receive a wave of teen helpers!
While the current generation of teens may be technology-driven, these young people (Alan, Cassat, Carolina, and Paneah) are people-driven. They were punctual, ready to work, and compassionate. The teens waited patiently for disabled seniors to get to the door. They were careful to address each participant by name with reverence. Even after the teens unloaded a pallet of heavy boxes of produce & food, assembled the grocery bags, cleaned up and delivered door-to-door, they were hungry for more! A big shout out and Thank You to the Mobilize Love teens for your service to the seniors of CLC Park Merced.
Miguel Portilla, Sunnyside Community Connectors
Miguel Portilla has been living in San Francisco for more than 20 years, and has spent the last 15 helping and supporting seniors in his community. During Covid, Miguel helped in deliver groceries and Covid tests to Sunnyside neighbors. He cares for seniors’ wellness. Every week he comes to Sunnyside to help set up the space for exercise and to cut fresh fruit for our neighbors. When we hold donation campaigns, he drives around and picks them up from people’s homes. For all of these reasons, we are happy to choose Miguel as a Good Neighbor.
Barbara Prato, Midtown Terrace Community Connectors
Midtown Terrace has become a close-knit group of consistent and caring senior exercisers. They look out for each other with love and care. Barbara Prato exemplifies this commitment. She is a retired SFUSD educator who has lived in Midtown Terrace since McGovern ran for President. Despite the loss of her close friend and exercise buddy, Barb remains a constant presence at exercise and other activities. She has shown her generosity by donating many times to the various charity collections that CLC has held for Casa de las Madres. We really appreciate Barbara and her kind and sweet energy.
Traci Ramos, Inner Sunset Community Connectors
Traci is one of those neighbors who works behind the scenes – a “neighborhood angel,” according to one of her neighbors: Traci “…has been consistent since you matched us well over a year ago. When she is out-of-town, she emails me to say ‘hello,’ and to let me know when she will return. Since going blind as an older adult, I often experience feelings of frustration, loneliness, and social isolation, exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Traci is a genuinely warm, compassionate , and kind-hearted person. I often forget an item or two when placing my grocery orders, or may get a hankering for a special treat, or want to splurge and get take-out but cannot afford the Uber or Door Dash service fees, and Traci is willing to pick these up and deliver them to me. I appreciate that she always stays a few minutes for a neighborly chat about what she observes in our neighborhood. She has been a lifeline through this challenging time that we are all experiencing. I am very grateful to be on the receiving end of her generous spirit.”
Diane Sampson, Drama with Friends (Virtual Community Connectors)
Every third Monday night for the past two years, Drama with Friends has produced three to four short, 10-minute plays by a local playwright. Diane Sampson finds those playwrights; she is our play wrangler. We could not have gotten started and we could not continue without Diane. She flips through what Community Connector Judy Goddess imagines “…is a huge rolodex to find the playwrights and then contacts them. Some months her volunteer assignment seems easy, other months take more time. But she always comes through.
“Because of Diane, new people have learned about CLC and our troupe of over ten actors, a director, two acting coaches, and a stage manager.” We are thankful that Diane has enabled us to present a steady program of delightful entertainment for our crew and the 40 or so members of the audience who tune in each month.
Claire Sanchez, Merced Extension Triangle Community Connectors
Claire has joyfully and energetically participated in neighborhood walks, supported the connector efforts and helped to bring in new students to the exercise/social hour. And importantly, she showed up. She does with her husband Dennis who has now taken up teaching some of the exercises at METCC. We are thankful for all that Claire brings to our community.
Dennis Sanchez, Crocker Amazon Community Connectors
As we began opening our Connector programs in person, Dennis stepped up in a big way. He has been leading exercise when needed for the Crocker-Amazon, Merced-Extension Triangle, and Cayuga Community Connectors. A San Francisco native, Dennis brings humor and dedication to our time together. Dennis brings out the best out in our Connectors and wonderful neighbors. We are so grateful for all you do.
Mary Wan, Cayuga Community Connectors
During the pandemic, Mary began bringing a little cheer to her neighbors, visiting them in the hospital, in nursing homes, and at their homes. Starting with a list of neighbors’ birthdays, she travels around bringing flowers, treats, and cards to help them celebrate. She really extends herself to care for those around her. We have a lot of gratitude for the way that Mary helps strengthen connections in our community.
Brenda Washington, SF ReServe
Brenda is a ReServist in the SF ReServe program at San Francisco Community Living. She currently is working in the infant program of Frandelja Enrichment Center located in the Bayview neighborhood. She also lives at the Dr. George Davis Senior Residences in Bayview, where she is good neighbor to many fellow participants and neighbors. Brenda is always motivated to acquire new technology skills and has become a lifeline to others in her apartment complex to teach, troubleshoot and impart her computer knowledge to others.
When Brenda learned of the SF ReServe program she reached out with great eagerness and excitement. She quickly became a staff favorite at Frandelja and took it upon herself to become an ambassador for SF ReServe, others in her neighborhood. She most recently assisted a neighbor in become a ReServist at the same childcare center where she works. Brenda is a kind, patient, and caring woman who is much deserving of being called a good neighbor.