Come on in...

"Come on in..."  

Those were the words that greeted our guests on June 16th, as we reopened the City Hope Center. It was a joyful event. We were finally able to offer our guests a seat at a table that was adorned with flowers and candles. Our volunteers offered our guests a menu and presented a delicious meal on a plate! Reopening the City Hope Center has been terrific. Since that evening, I’ve been reflecting on what we’ve learned about our organization and our community:

• Reopening has been easier than expected! Over the past 15 months we served thousands and thousands of meals as to-go orders. We drastically increased the amount of food we served and often offered multiple meals to the larger community. We became the organization that our community needed at that time. As we reopened we were somewhat anxious. After all, this was a massive transition from to-go service back to a sit down restaurant service. We didn’t know if this might confuse or even disappoint our guests as we put a hard stop to grab-and-go meals. Instead, the transition was incredibly smooth. Our volunteers have been amazing and our guests have been equally as wonderful. Thank you to everyone who has joined us once again, to provide the dignity of a meal that welcomes everyone, respects our guests, and celebrates who they are!

• We cannot forget what we learned during the pandemic. The sacred space that is held by City Hope combats many of the issues that residents of the Tenderloin struggled with prior to the pandemic. Our guests struggle with isolation and marginalization, which is devastating to anyone’s mental health. During the pandemic we, as a society, grappled with this challenge, along social and economic divides. Many people, myself included, had to address the state of their mental health with more intentionality than before. As the restrictions that caused us all to struggle with isolation and disconnection, are being lifted, my hope is that we will remember that we must continue to hold sacred space together! My hope is that we continue to prioritize spaces and services that build healthy community in San Francisco. We rejoice in reopening, but let us not forget what we learned during the lockdown. 

• Let’s reopen, better than before! City Hope is not simply committed to reopening as we were, we are committed to expanding. The expansion of the City Hope Cafe space at 750 Ellis Street, is scheduled to open this September. At that time, we anticipate offering a quieter space in which our guests can enjoy a cup of coffee and simple breakfast, with even more resources. We are now hosting wonderful organizations such as Trans Thrive, once a week, and an AA meeting now meets at City Hope twice a week.  We’re also working on strategic partnerships with other non-profits. We’re excited to expand our services as we build more partnerships like these. 

Though this work can be overwhelming at times, there isn’t a day that I am not extremely grateful for reopening City Hope. Thank you for being a part of what we do. And if you are willing to join us in volunteering, “Come on in” to volunteer…or give.

Peace,
Co-Director Rev. Paul Trudeau

---