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.

volunteering

Ways to Volunteer Safely This Holiday Season

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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.

Volunteer from Home

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. 

Volunteer in the Community

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.

food delivery covid

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

black lives matter covidJoin 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. 

House in the Inner Sunset Builds Community

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picture of barbecue invite

Sunset residents find out when there’s a party or other event at the “Blue House” when the owners put up a sign.

SENIOR BEAT – Nothing brings a community together more than a neighborhood party where everyone is invited. And none so much as the eclectic and sometimes eccentric gatherings hosted by Inner Sunset residents Barbara and Paul.

No one  was surprised earlier this year to hear that Barbara was throwing another shindig. Barbara and her late husband started hosting backyard happenings in 2007. (Now 60, she prefers for security reasons to keep her last name to herself.) Her invitation to a barbecue was posted on the fence: “Bring finger-sized desserts, drinks and I will supply the meat. Enjoy our friendly guitar-duo.” Anyone who saw the sign was welcome.

The variety of these often impromptu get-togethers tickles the imagination. Everyone remembers the Haunted House, said Martha Etherton, director of the Inner Sunset Park Neighborhood Neighbors association. It “was so scary – someone reached out and grabbed my ankle.”

Magical exterior, mysterious backyard

A passer-by might suspect something or someone special lies behind the big blue house near Sixth and Irving. Signs of this would be the numerous mobiles, chimes and other hanging art, tickling and chiming over lovely flowering plants.

Of all the events she and her husband sponsored, Barbara is most fond of the Book Blast. “We had so many helpers, sorting books every Thursday night for 10 weeks.” She and Paul sought donations on Craigslist, then picked them up in their car. “Sometimes we had so many books in the car, Paul had to walk behind the car on the way home.” That year they collected 10,000 books, which were given away over a weekend’s time.

What makes Barbara’s backyard so great for accommodating events is that it’s really the front yard – with five big doors opening onto the street. So at the last Book Blast in 2016, people could easily pull their car up and offload donations.

All the events are completely free, she said. “Our motto remains ‘Twice a year, your money back if you’re dissatisfied!’ ”

Book blasts and group fix-its

picture ofbbq invite

Sunset neighbors find out when there’s an event at “The Blue House” when the owners put up a sign.

Perhaps their most unique event was the Fix-it Fair. One day, she and Paul were repairing things in their yard with one of the doors open. People looked in, sighed, and wondered – aloud – how they could get what they needed fixed. Barbara took heed.

“I found six women who sew and brought them over with their sewing machines. I rounded up welders, electricians, knife sharpeners, carpenters and others who were willing to fix things for free,” she said.

Other favorite gatherings include the Gazillion Family Flea Market, Dessert and Dancing and Sunday Silent Garden.

Barbara’s skill in pulling off successful events could come from her background in writing and marketing. She wrote copy for major department store catalogs and a financial column for The Examiner when she worked for a tax attorney. Then again, she just seems to be one of those naturally good-natured types who love to bring people together. Happy is a word she uses a lot.

“I had a very happy childhood traveling with my family to many countries when my father was in the State Department,” she said. “I feel very happy to live in the Sunset. I swear there is serotonin in the water. Everyone smiles walking down the street.

Happy is the word

“Hearing laughter makes me so happy.”

Events like the Haunted House that require a lot of construction work are too much for her these days. Her husband died in 2017. But that’s not going to stop the parties. “Spreading joy and happiness while hosting gatherings in the Inner Sunset is in my blood,’’ she said. “I am continuing the tradition.”

There’s lots of demand for another Fix-it Fair,” she added. To find out more or to sign up as a volunteer go to www.BarbarasList.com.

Contact Jan at jrobbins-seniorbeat@sfcommunityliving.org

Healthy Groceries and Human Kindness in the Park Merced / University Park Neighborhood

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Throughout San Francisco, dedicated neighbors 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 will be featuring some of their stories in our newsletter each month.

Carlos, a volunteer in the Park Merced / University Park Food NetworkMichael and his sister Megan have been delivering groceries to seniors and people with disabilities since 2010Michael and his sister Megan have been delivering healthy groceries to participants in CLC’s Park Merced/University Park food network since 2010. Michael enjoys the personal connections he’s made with participants—and adds, “it’s more than a food delivery – we become part of each other’s lives. We share the joys and frustrations of life.”

Megan describes what a big difference the groceries make for the participants. When they delivered a special holiday turkey and fixings from Glide Memorial Church to one resident, “…he gazed upon the food-laden cart we pushed up to his apartment, he clasped his hands together, looked up toward heaven, and mouthed, ‘Thank you, God.’ His countenance changed as he animatedly explained that his family would be eating well for days to come.”

Carlos came to SF as a teenager from Lima, Peru. He has been packing and delivering groceries in the Parkmerced/University Park food network program for the past several years. One of his favorite delivery stops is a special Grandmother who cooks for every member of her family, grand children and great grandchildren—-she’s always cooking. “She feeds everybody,” Carlos shared. “If we ever having anything extra, I’m sure to give it to her.” Carlos’s caring smile along with the pantry goods makes every delivery extra special.

Make 2016 the year you volunteer or get involved in your community. Chances are good you will change someone’s life for the better—starting with your own! For more information about volunteer opportunities, email us at info@sfcommunityliving.org.

Volunteer with CLC and Earn Your Senior or Disability Access “Gold Card”

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Learn Valuable Online Research & Community Organizing Skills While Helping Seniors and People with Disabilities Save Money
shutterstock_118943068San Francisco Gold CardsThe Community Living Campaign is seeking volunteers to join our CLC Gold Card Research and Action Project. Together with the support of our staff, this team will research, develop a plan, and make recommendations about how San Francisco’s Gold Card program can be expanded to provide discount goods, services, and support to older San Franciscans and people with disabilities seeking ways to make ends meet.

This short project is an ideal way to gain valuable skills in researching, organizing, and community building, whether you are looking to enhance your resume or organize support for an issue in your community.  You’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Work together with other leadership volunteers and CLC staff
  • Conduct online research
  • Interview local government and community members
  • Train others how to get the best deals
  • Learn and share your learning
  • See your research results and recommendations published!

Choose your level of involvement, from 2 to 15 hours a month. We will provide training and computer access. Basic computer skills are a plus but not required. Just bring your enthusiasm for inquiry and an interest in improving the lives of seniors and adults with disabilities in San Francisco!

For more information, take at look at the Gold Card Explorers Volunteer Description and if interested, email us at info@sfcommunityliving.org or call (415) 821-1003.

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