Dear Friends:

It’s been a busy summer here in the Tenderloin, with so much going on, and I wanted to pause for a few moments to share some of the highlights with TNDC’s best friends and most loyal supporters.

In June, we were proud beyond words to learn that TNDC’s After School Program, since 1993 a refuge for Tenderloin children and a truly outstanding program, was one of only 12 groups out of 3,000 to be recognized with a major grant from Starbucks. The recognition is well-deserved – the TASP staff does an incredible job, and it’s one of the Tenderloin’s hidden treasures.  The people at Starbucks aren’t simply granting us money either, they are inviting us to join in a real partnership where their employees find ways to volunteer their time and marshal Starbucks’ resources into our work with children.

Over the last 3 months TASP staff organized the program’s usual summer madness, with numerous field trips, a new bike club for teens, a new Summer Reading Club, and participation in the week-long Sgt. Sugrue Mini Olympics. TASP and other TNDC staff are also putting together a new College Grant Program so that more Tenderloin children will have a real opportunity to continue their educations beyond high school. 

Our 14th Annual Celebrity Pool Toss, on October 17, is shaping up to be a real gas once again, with people like SF Film Festival Executive Director Graham Leggat, Fine Arts Museum Director John Buchanan, long-time TNDC publicist Cynthia Bowman and Lennar’s Bay Area Urban Division President (and former Cleveland Brown’s executive) Kofi Bonner. The TNDC staff and Pool Toss Committee always come up with a surprise, so reading about the scheduled guests alone doesn’t tell the whole story – you can’t really know what will happen unless you’re there to see it. The proceeds will of course benefit the families and children of the Tenderloin.

TNDC is fulfilling a long-held vision with the announcement that it will soon be hiring a community organizer. We want to develop resident leadership and collaborate with others on quality-of-life issues so that their voices are heard by the people who make decisions affecting their lives – which is part-and-parcel of being a community development group, and core to our mission of making the Tenderloin better. 

Through all of this exciting activity, our core work of developing affordable housing for low income people continues to expand. Managing the 23 properties – home to 2,400 low-income residents – we’ve developed through our 25 years keeps us busy, but not too busy to have begun two major new developments this summer. Plans are well underway to acquire and preserve 82 units of affordable senior housing at risk of converting to market-rate. Located at 165 Turk and 249 Eddy Streets, TNDC expects to secure the financing necessary to acquire the properties by the end of the winter. 

In addition, we are on the verge of acquiring a parking lot at 1036 Mission Street that will one day be home to 78 families, including 16 who are formerly homeless. Together with our many great partners, we now are working on ten affordable housing developments, comprising nearly a thousand homes for low-income individuals and families, including over 250 for formerly homeless households.

While our staff grapples with these challenging projects, we continue to build our Board of Directors as long-time members rotate off. Since May we have welcomed two new members. Jane Hatch is Associate Director in the Office of Development of Stanford University, and Deborah Stuart-Middleton is the Human Resources Officer for On-Lok Senior Health. We likewise bid farewell to Directors Jodi Schwartz, Ana Bolton-Arguello and, later this month, Cort Gross. The Board now stands at 20, an eclectic mix of volunteers who share an exceptional commitment to improving the Tenderloin and the lives of its residents.

Please let me take this opportunity to invite you to be our guest at a special “Meet the Leadership Team” reception at the Tenderloin neighborhood’s newest restaurant, farmerbrown:

Wednesday, September 27, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM

farmerbrown

25 Mason Street at Turk (near Market)
www.farmerbrownsf.com

Offering farm-fresh soul food in a chic hand-crafted setting, farmerbrown's unique philosophy revolves around providing the freshest possible organic ingredients for their wholesome southern American classics. Additional information and a sample menu are enclosed, along with excerpts from a recent SF Chronicle review. There is no cost to attend; we simply ask that you RSVP if you plan to attend by contacting Julie Doherty at (415) 358-3965 or via email: jdoherty@tndc.org. Space is limited, so please call today.

This informal gathering of friends and colleagues is intended to give you and others an opportunity to meet me, Chief Financial Officer Paul Sussman, and the newest addition to our executive management team, Chief Operating Officer Liz Orlin, and to celebrate together all that we have and continue to accomplish on behalf of those in need. It is our way of extending our appreciation to you and the larger community for what you do to support TNDC’s mission.

None of TNDC’s work is possible without help from people who care about San Francisco, the Tenderloin and its diverse residents – seniors, children, veterans, families, the working poor, people with mental and physical disabilities, single parents, and people of every ethnic background. I hope you see your own contributions through the years reflected in our work, and thank you sincerely for your continued partnership.

Sincerely,

Donald S. Falk
Executive Director