James anderson by Freestyle Academy

A Different Center Written and Designed by James Anderson

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone from the LAUMC, the Waller Center, and the Haight Ashbury Food Bank for letting me document the events that took place in this book.

Table of Contents Foreword..................6 Introduction..............8 Chapter 1................10 Chapter 2................16 Chapter 3................20 Conclusion...............27

Foreword

have spent a large amount of time serving in San Francisco and when my project partner Niamh came to me with the idea to do our project on a place that served homeless and families in the city I agreed that it would be a great project. By doing this project I hoped to learn about the untold story of the community that meets at the Waller Center. I wanted to get to know how the people interact and how they are able to grow through each other. This center is different than any other center in the area and offers things to the less fortunate that they would not get anywhere else. The community bonding between food bank visitors and volunteers is very strong. This book was written to share the story behind the Waller Center and the food bank with others. Most shelters just give handouts, but I learned that this center offered so much more through a supporting community. At first my main challenge in writing this book

was choosing what part of the center to focus on, but after spending some time with the people at the center I knew that I wanted to write about the community and how everyone grew together. Hopefully this book will be an inspiration for others to go out and volunteer. I organized this book this way

because I wanted to give the history first so that the reader could feel that they know about the place, then I went into some of the characteristics and programs of the center. My interviews were the most helpful forms of research that I did. I was very interested by the community aspect of a the center.

Introduction

.6% of people in San Francisco are unemployed. These people cannot always afford food. Some wonder how do the homeless and unemployed survive? The Waller Center is a new urban retreat and community center nestled in the neighborhood of Cole Valley and adjacent to Haight Ashbury, that offers spiritual guidance, weekly food handouts, and a community to grow and recover in. The center was re-opened by the Los Altos United Methodist Church on October 13, 2012. The Waller center hosts many people looking to go on urban ministry retreats in San Francisco. The Waller center has been around for over a century, but has served as many different parts of a church and has not

always been known as the Waller Center. The center has gone through tough times and success, but there have always been people looking out for it and making sure that the building can be used to help those in need. Today the number of homeless people in San Francisco is rising and it is important that there is a place that can help them get back on their feet. “There are more people with mental illnesses, substance-abuse problems and physical disabilities on San Francisco’s streets than there were two years ago, according to new city data” (San Francisco homeless). Unlike many other centers in the San Francisco area, the Waller center doesn’t just hand out food and say goodbye to the people

in need, a community is built around the food program that lets the members help each other succeed in life.

Chapter 1

learned from Harold Caudle that in the early 1900’s John William Hamilton was the bishop of the San Francisco area. Bishop Hamilton was known to the people in that area as the Phoenix bishop, because he was bishop in that area during the 1906 earthquake and he was the one that raised the people’s spirits from the ashes. A church was founded in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco and it was named after Bishop Hamilton, the Hamilton Church. Unfortunately the new church that was built after the earthquake caught fire just months after its opening. A new church was built on the site and it was named as the Hamilton United Methodist Church. (Caudle) The church is located one block off of Haight Street and about three blocks north of Ashbury, right in the epicenter of the 70’s movement, the free thinking, drugs music, and everything else that was associated with hippies. The congregation of that church, an active congregation, noticed that

the shelters around San Francisco were only for men. There weren’t any women or family shelters in the area so the Hamilton United Methodist Church reached out and said that they wanted to build a shelter for women and families. At that time, it became known as the the Hamilton family shelter and it was the first family shelter in San Francisco. (Caudle) During the time of the family center, the Haight Ashbury Food Program came into existence. This was a program where homeless people and low income families were able to come in to a shopping type environment and choose the food they need for the week. The HAFP, with the help of the congregation, purchased a professional teaching kitchen and dining area for the center. Eventually the Government stopped supporting the food shelter and it became hard for the center to help the families in the area. In 2005 the congregation at HUMC was barely hanging on and the Methodist Conference was not sure what to do.

In 2010 the Los Altos United Methodist Church took over the Hamilton Church. The LAUMC set up an urban retreat center in the building where people who are coming to the area to serve can stay and help out. When the LAUMC took over they re-named the center the Waller center to symbolize a new beginning. The Haight Ashbury food program still took place at the center and every Saturday morning people from all over the area come to a store type environment and choose the foods they need for the week. The Waller center has been through alot in its century of existence and is an example of what the center stands for. It is possible to come back from ashes, the people who now visit the waller center for the food bank are supported and guided to get back on their feet.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Center is a compassionate communityâ&#x20AC;? -Jim Serrano

Chapter 2

nce the people leave the program and how their life is better. The program offers volunteer jobs. People can use the skills they learn to get a job in the real world and start their careers. The Waller Center offers opportunities for people who are struggling and on the streets to get back on their feet. Once people are down on their luck it is hard for them to get back on their feet. Giving handouts is a great thing to do for the homeless and unemployed population, but it is not what they need the most. When skills are taught to the people in need they will end up being better off. Instead of receiving handouts, the people in need can go out and get a job to become self sufficient. Jim Serrano, a long time member of the food bank, is an example of someone that was able to get back on his feet. Jim was sick for many years and was unable to work. When he was not working it was

hard for him to get food for his family. He got the food for his kids through the food bank at waller center. After using the service for seven years Jim was able to get back on his feet. Since the program helped Jim out so much he knew that he wanted to go back and help out with the people that helped him. Jim is now volunteering at

the Waller center every weekend helping with the food handouts and creating a community for the people who visit. The Haight Ashbury Food Bank strives to maintain the commu-

nity feel of the program. Many of the people that come have been coming for a long time all know each other. Caroline Jones, a user of the food bank, tells us that the program is the only way a lot of people get to communicate with each other. Through the food bank people tell each other about upcoming jobs and opportunities to become self sufficient. People are able to grow through the community that the food bank offers.

Chapter 3 21

hen people think about a food bank in an urban area homeless people come to mind. The Waller Center actually attracts a different kind of people. The Haight Ashbury Food Program serves all, but is mainly visited by families and elderly people who are not able to work. Jim Serrano, who is a father himself, says that “We mainly see families and elderly people, and the occasional homeless sometimes trickle in.” The fact that the program is able to serve these people is significant. Some parents do not have jobs due to medical issues and the kids still need to eat. The Waller center offers good, healthy food for families that could not afford a normal meal. Since the center is very welcoming

to families, some people that come to the food bank have children that need to be fed. These children do not have a chance to feed themselves, so they rely highly on the food program giving their families food. “For the first time, the city last

have homes or are barely making it by rely on the food from the Haight Ashbury Food Program. Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom feels that San Francisco is not doing much to help the homeless,” The fact is, San Francisco is failing,” said Newsom, the city supervisor. “San Francisco is not that compassionate city, as it leads itself to be, in terms of our approach in dealing with panhandling and drug addiction and mental illness” (Jennings Peter). Since the city is not doing much to help the homeless, the programs that year conducted a separate daytime are offered at the waller center are count of youth and found 914” (SF very appreciated. homeless youth). Almost one thou- The environment that the center ofsand kids are homeless in San Fran- fers is that to a grocery store. It is set cisco and need a way to be fed. Some up this way so that people can feel of these kids whose families do not comfortable in the food bank. Some-

times people are ashamed taking handouts, but with the center set up so that the people are able to earn the stuff they need, and choose what they want gives the shoppers comfort. Those who need food show up at the Waller Center parking lot in the morning and received a number from a volunteer. They then wait in chairs that are set up in the parking lot. Here the food bank visitors are able to socialize and learn about opportunities in the area. People get to know each other in the parking lot and for some people it is the only place that they get to interact with others. Once their number is called, the visitors go into a room that is set up to resemble the produce area of a grocery store and they are able to walk around the room and choose what they want to eat for the week. The shoppers and the volunteers that run the food program get to know each other and become comfortable with each other. Because the center is set up this way it adds to the community of the food bank. Jim Serrano talked about how when new volunteers come to the program, the shoppers notice the difference and are not always happy, so the center works hard to have all

of the volunteers interact with the shoppers. The community and the consistency are what separate the Haight Ashbury food program from other programs in the area. The shoppers get so much more from the program then if they were just receiving generic handouts.

Conclusion

he Waller Center is unlike any other center in San Francisco. In the center a community is based where people are able to come, get food, and interact with others the way they want to. The center offers opportunities for people who are struggling to get back on their feet and live a successful life. Without the Waller Center and the Haight Ashbury Food Program many Haight Ashbury residents would still be homeless and hungry on the streets of San Francisco. The opportunities that are given by the Haight Ashbury Food Bank, through the Waller Center, are something that all shelters, centers, and food banks should try to offer. I very much enjoyed doing my project here and it taught me alot. The center has an amazing community that I wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never learned about if I had not done the project.

Works Cited Caudle, Harold. Personal Interview, February 2014 Jennings, Peter. “San Francisco Confronts Homeless Problem.” ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/ story?id=129683>. Jones, Caroline. Personal Interview, February 2014 Serrano. Jim. Personal Interview, February 2014 “S.F. Homeless Numbers Flat but More Living on Streets .” The San Francisco Examiner. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. <http://www.sfexaminer.com/san francisco/sf-homeless-numbers-flat-but-more-living-on-streets/Content?oid=2477218>. “S.F. Homeless Youth Count Nears 1,000 despite Spending.” SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. <http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-homeless-youth-count-nears-1-000-de spite-5307431.php>.Serrano, Jim. Personal Interview, February 2014

A Different Center

James Anderson is a fun, creative student that enjoys many things. He enjoys filmmaking, skateboarding, and hanging out with his friends. He integrates all three of these by making skate videos with his friends. He is fascinated by the open water and spends time scuba diving. James is modern and loves to do things on computers. He has just started graphic design and enjoys playing with art in technology.

A Different Center Written and Designed by James Anderson

James Anderson