City Hope in San Francisco.

Sam spends a day at the Tenderloin. And helps make the world a better place. While volunteering at City Hope SF(<---Link Here)

Sam will also be submitting a version of this podcast into the NPR Student Podcast Challenge, so wish him luck. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is LB No Bad News. Hello, today we have an especially great tale about hardships in San Francisco. But since this is a good news podcast, we're not only gonna talk about hardship, we're gonna talk about the way to fix it. It's called solution-based journalism, and I learned that two episodes ago. I'm Sam from the San Francisco Day School, this is NBN No Bad News. This episode will be focused on something pretty dope. It's called City Hope and the connection City Hope has with my temple. I talked to Cantor Aric Luck. It all started with a chance meeting at a party.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

I ended up chatting with another dad. I asked him what he does for a living. That he's the founder and CEO of a not-for-profit in the Tenderloin district.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in San Francisco that sadly has a lot of unhoused people.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

That tries to practice a philosophy of radical hospitality and dignified transformation. That was very exciting for me and unexpected, right? Because I'm a clergy person. I asked Paul Trudeau, the founder of City Hope, if I could go over there and check it out. So I got some members of my team from Congregation Emmanuel together. We came to City Hope and we talked about what a partnership might look like. Paul was so open and flexible to new ideas. Or I said, Well, I've got a problem. I said, I'm gonna have about 85 seventh graders next year. I'm gonna have nowhere for them to meet.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

The temple where they would normally meet is under construction. Bum bum bum.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Paul said, Well, I have a problem. He said a lot of the people who volunteer at City Hope are observant Christians who go to church on Sundays. But I've always wanted to do something on Sunday at City Hope, but I can't because my volunteer base is at church. So we thought to ourselves, well, this could really work. Right? So the idea was Congregation Emmanuel, they send their entire seventh grade, would just have Sunday school there. And then at the end of class, 15 of the seventh graders and five parent volunteers will stay and will do some kind of food service. I just loved the idea. I mean, it solved a huge problem, and now it was creating a volunteer opportunity that could be repetitive. What's happening at City Hope is we are building relationships in the community. And this was actually going to provide an opportunity for our seventh graders to build those relationships with our unhoused neighbors.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

On a recent Sunday, I had the opportunity to volunteer. I really enjoyed this experience. I'm not in seventh grade, so this was my first time volunteering at City Hope. And it was really impactful for me because I was waiting tables and I got to meet all the people that came through. Also, part of what made this different is that everybody's so nice. That's what radical hospitality means. The only difference between this and a real restaurant is that everything's free. Here's Paul and my mom talking about the experience in our closing circle.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Sam did a great job. He's first in the sixth grader, and uh we got a compliment from Trish. Uh, really written service.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Right on. Good job stepping up early.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

I love seeing how much of a difference we were making in every person's life. I think a lot of people agreed with me.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

He kind of just went right over there. Like he was so busy and he made time and he sat with her. And I sat with her for a minute too, but it was just it was nice to see people opening up and they could get really heard.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Traditionally, 13 is the age where young Jews reach adulthood in a ceremony called the Bar or Bot Mitzvah. In many communities, this is emphasized by a year of service. Cantor Luck set out to make this service opportunity uniquely Jewish.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Congregation Manuel is a part of the Jewish community. We opened a Jewish deli and we ended up coining it the mitzvah deli.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

A mitzvah literally translates to a commandment, but is often used to mean a good deed. The mitzvah deli is a pop-up restaurant inside City Hope Cafe.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

That was great. So we offer a Reuben sandwich and a turkey sandwich. We serve matzabal soup, and we serve potato latkas and pickles.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

I have to say, those pickles were some of the best pickles I had ever had.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

This is a great opportunity for our seventh graders to talk about their own Jewish culture, their Jewish faith, as it reflects in food, to explain it to people who might not know about it. And what's also really meaningful is that there are Jewish people in the tenderloin who come for food. And for them to actually be served by members of their fellow Jewish community, it is remarkably moving for everybody. There was a woman sitting right here, and she and this happens. She just said that the fact that all of you are here meeting the kids is so it's so helpful for her. I just want you to know, all these kids and what they do for me, it would be my honor to have their back.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

As we were cleaning up the cafe at the end of the day, we heard the numbers being counted up. 158 people were served.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

And this is the end of the month, right? Like this is when the need is at its highest. Uh, if they're making it month to month, they're on snap benefits or cow fresh, uh, as we call them in California. So those usually uh run out by the end of the month. So there's more in food insecurity, more need now at this point. But I'm always asking our guests can you come? Can you come on? This new community provides together.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

I love this experience so much because it both ties to my Jewish identity and it also helps people. It's also so fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Mitsfadeli is their favorite. Okay? They're a set. Obviously I'm biased. But they love Mitsu Deli. Why? It's because of the seventh grade.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I hope this episode of NBN No Bad News inspired you to volunteer in your community. If you want to volunteer at City Hope, you can look for their website at www.cityhope sf.org. Thanks for listening. You don't have to have good news, but you can't have bad news. See ya!