Author: Seth Abrahamson

“PRC has been transformational for me.”

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

At her lowest point, Alana was experiencing major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and a lack of self-esteem. She was feeling suicidal and struggling with a drug addiction, a harmful relationship, and chronic homelessness, all further complicated by being a transgender woman.

Now, Alana is sober, has her depression and anxiety fully under control, and is even looking into going back to school.

What prompted this change? Participating in PRC’s wraparound service model that provides a pathway from crisis to stability.

Alana’s first contact with PRC was the 90-day treatment program at Jo Ruffin Place, a transitional residential treatment program focusing on co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Her experience there was nothing short of life-changing.

Alana went from having no structure while homeless to having daily structured groups within a safe and healthy atmosphere focused on her recovery. Alana had a counselor from the beginning to help her navigate. She was surrounded by others going through the same thing, people she developed a family bond with and continues to stay in touch with many months later.

The Jo Ruffin staff were incredibly supportive, non-judgmental, and encouraging, putting Alana on the right track to recovery and stability. Alana was able to stop using, see a therapist, connect with providers, go to recovery meetings, find medication that worked for her, and get her depression and anxiety under control.

Following her 90-day stay, Alana secured a spot in PRC’s Assisted Independent Living Program (AILP). Established to meet the need for clients desiring continued assistance, this sustained treatment through ongoing support is incredibly successful in preventing relapse. Clients who’ve formed friendships can live together while receiving case management services from PRC staff. Alana checks in with her case manager weekly, and has built healthy social relationships with her roommates. She is in much better health, including getting regular exercise and eating better.

Alana also enrolled in PRC’s new Lifting Up Peers for a Brighter Tomorrow program, or Lift UP SF for short. Part of our Workforce Development program, Lift UP SF was created specifically for people like Alana with what we call “lived experience” – those with a real world understanding of mental health and substance use treatment settings – to train for jobs as peer health professionals in community and public health settings. Over the course of the four-week, 64-hour program, Alana accessed individual coaching and peer group support and worked closely with mentors who have their own lived experience and serve as role models.

Alana also continues to participate in weekly PRC support groups and workshops. She registered for NextStep Computer Training, PRC’s four-week Microsoft Office intensive course. Alana has started volunteering regularly and shares, “It’s given me an opportunity to be productive. It feels good contributing rather than only taking.”

Alana is also looking into going back to school to finish her degree, something that didn’t feel realistic before but after PRC’s offerings, she’s feeling confident in her ability to continue learning, to go back to work, to expand her horizons, and to participate in life in San Francisco without the fear and instability she had before.

Throughout all the PRC programs she’s engaged in, Alana has felt stable, supported, and not judged regarding her recovery, even when she relapsed. As a transgender woman, she’s felt cared for, interacting with staff who value diversity and support the LGBT community.

When asked what she would say to a PRC potential supporter, Alana doesn’t mince words. “I would say that PRC really is life changing. PRC has been transformational for me. It’s taken me from a really hopeless place to become a healthy, stable individual with my mental health and substance use issues managed. I’m happy more than I’m not. PRC does a great job helping the most vulnerable people. I belong to that group. They helped me in a nonjudgmental, caring way. I never felt I had to be ashamed or embarrassed. I’ve always felt fully supported by PRC.”

Alana is a testament to how PRC’s varied services – our integrated service continuum of care – work together to help our most marginalized individuals out of crisis and transform them into happy, healthy, independent individuals.

You can help guide individuals like Alana to do positive in the world. Consider making a donation to support PRC.

“Everything I’m doing is allowing me to be healthier in the future.”

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

Tracy reached a low point last spring with regard to his mental and physical health. Battling depression, anxiety, substance use, and a misdiagnosis for cancer, Tracy felt empty and done. He was treated at the hospital and, after a short stay at another provider, found himself a coveted space at PRC’s Odyssey House.

In this beautiful Victorian home that can accommodate up to ten adults with 24-hour staffing, Tracy has thrived in an unusually short period of time. He arrived struggling with depression and anxiety along with substance use issues. He felt like he was in chaos. Six months into his stay, Tracy shares, “I’ve been able to find a new perspective on things I appreciate about myself. I now have a desire to like myself. I’m able to explore getting to where I want to be, as opposed to where others expect me to be, and how I should live my life. It’s been a great opportunity to rediscover myself.”

Odyssey residents set personal goals upon arrival. Tracy’s goals included developing and building healthy relationships. The social setting of the house provides lots of learning opportunities, including interacting with others you wouldn’t have otherwise and contributing in ways that work for both yourself and others. Residents engage in group sessions and take turns with household duties such as cooking meals. This has helped Tracy to be more conscientious with others and also to step outside his comfort zone.

Odyssey House was created 30 years ago as a truly unique permanent housing residential facility focusing on African-American adults who were formerly institutionalized for extensive periods of time, or who lived on the street for many years. Its goal is to assist clients in developing independent living skills. It is the only such program in the City of San Francisco.

The program’s supportive services are personalized to allow residents to take on more responsibility and make progress toward their goals as their condition improves. Tracy is getting better at managing his physical health concerns and other symptoms. This includes some very specific actions like obtaining glasses and some less so, like Tracy feeling more comfortable in his own skin, an accomplishment aided by being surrounded by faces that reflect his own.

Something we hear again and again from our residential program participants is that the programs give residents the room to explore next steps without the constant pressure of seeking a safe place to stay. Tracy has had the space to deal with past trauma and think about his future: housing, going back to work, and continuing to work on his mental and physical health. “It’s allowed me to be kind to my future self. Everything I’m doing is allowing me to be healthier in the future: emotionally, physically. I’d like to do art therapy. That’s my dream job.”

Tracy has been able to take up art making again after a six-year hiatus. His art studio consists of a small desk in the corner of the house’s common living room. He shows off some of his most recent creations, assemblages inspired by Odyssey’s modest garden.

Odyssey House managing director Lisa Gayles shares that Tracy has been a good influence on others in the house. “He’s been able to develop some really good relationships with his peers and bring them out of their shells. He’s always positive. The spirit he brings is awesome.” Taking stock of Tracy’s progress, Lisa shares, “He’s a stronger advocate for himself now. He’s better at setting boundaries with others.”

Odyssey House and PRC’s other social rehabilitation programs are about providing an opportunity for people who feel like everyone else has given up on them. And to discover how to live their best life.

If you would like to invest in programs that help individuals like Tracy to live their best life, please consider making a donation to support PRC.

“PRC helped me get my life back.”

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

That’s no understatement. Meet Jessie. Jessie first came to San Francisco for a vacation, fell in love, and never looked back. Then she found herself living in a tent, and subsequently in legal trouble that had her back and forth between homelessness and incarceration for 28 years.

When Jessie found herself back in San Francisco with no shoes, the clothes on her back, and a borrowed tent, she received a flyer from a social worker about PRC’s legal services. She was told the lawyers there might be able to help her with her legal troubles and accessing social security disability. That’s when she met Ron.

Ron Kurlaender, Jessie’s PRC lawyer and advocate, and his legal assistant at the time, Anna, welcomed Jessie with open arms. Over the course of three years and with infinite patience, they worked with Jessie to secure the necessary medical and other documents to appeal her very complicated case. And they won.

“If it weren’t for Ron and PRC, I don’t know where I’d be right now, and that’s the truth. I’d probably be back in jail or dead.” Jessie shared. “Ron single-handedly saved my life with PRC backing him. He worked so hard for me. He really did save my life. I will always remember Ron as family. He’s like the only family I have right now.”

Now Jessie is off the streets. She has a home. She has responsibilities. She pays her bills. She’s built up her credit, sharing that it was 3 when she first came to PRC but is now in the 800’s. She even recently got a dog, Ricky.

“They gave me a life, a life that I yearned for but couldn’t reach. I was used to being put down. It’s so hard on the streets. You can’t trust anyone. My depression got so bad I couldn’t leave my tent. Ron and Anna were the only people I wanted to talk to. Ron has patience I’ve never seen in anyone. He cares from his heart. I have a way of being alive now and that’s all because of Ron and PRC.”

Jessie is one of thousands of vulnerable adults who take advantage of PRC’s Legal Advocacy program to gain access to income and healthcare necessary for stable housing and improved health outcomes. This program was the forerunner for all other PRC services, formed in 1987 as AIDS Benefits Counselors in direct response to the AIDS epidemic to help those affected by HIV to navigate their way through a purposely cumbersome process to get the disability benefits they deserved. The program has grown tremendously over the years but maintains its commitment to providing legal services, using a harm reduction model, to the most vulnerable populations in the community, including homeless, non-English speaking, active drug-using, and other marginalized individuals.

Our team of attorneys and legal assistants don’t just provide legal consultation and representation. They’re often called upon to act as social workers and hunt down documents that are elusive to those in crisis and without a home. They’re caring when no one else is. And they fight. And win. In 2019/20, they secured 207 notices of award, resulting in more than $6 million in income for vulnerable San Francisco adults and their families.

You can help guide individuals like Jessie to do positive in the world. Consider making a donation to support PRC.

Announcing our dollar-for-dollar match to support clients like Joseph, whose story will inspire you

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

We’re thrilled to announce our Spring Match Challenge Campaign, a dollar-for-dollar match up to $15,000 now through May 31 thanks to the generosity of our Board Directors. Campaigns like this and our wonderful supporters who participate in them make a huge difference in the lives of our clients who PRC works with every day. People like Joseph, pictured above, and captured in video below. In December 2017, Joseph came to Ferguson Place, our residential treatment program that was the first of its kind to work with individuals living with HIV/AIDS and co-occurring substance use and mental health issues.

Joseph was homeless, using drugs, and malnourished – alternating between shelters and other people’s homes. He was being treated at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Ward 86 when a social worker referred him to PRC.

Unsure whether to take a chance, Joseph spoke to Bridgette Washington, Ferguson’s Program Director, who sensed the urgency in Joseph’s voice and said, “Please come over.” They already had a bed ready for him. Joseph shared, “I laid down and cried, it felt so good to have my own bed.”

Over the 90-day program, Joseph learned things that you and I may take for granted, but helped him to get off drugs and create a life plan for himself. Individualized treatment planning and counseling, group sessions, and structure gave Joseph the tools he could take with him after his stay. The social rehabilitation approach helped Joseph to open up and trust people again and make friendships he maintains to this day.

Today Joseph works an incredibly rewarding job as a caretaker to the elderly and adults with developmental disabilities and will soon begin a vocational nursing program. He received help with his school application from PRC as well.

He shares, “I was inspired because I was taken care of. I saw that in all my counselors. I want to do that too. I don’t know how to repay them. This is how I can pay them back. Any help I can give, I’ll do it.”

We are inspired by each and every one of our clients who walks in our doors in need of help in some way, and walks out transformed. This is what PRC does.

When Joseph left Ferguson House, he wanted to do something to thank them. So he drew the house, found a wooden frame at a second hand store, and gave it to Bridgette. It still hangs in the house today. It’s a testament to the success that can come out of this challenging, complicated, and often thankless work.

Joseph shares, “PRC been a big help in turning my life around. Without PRC, I wouldn’t have a life.”

You can help guide individuals like Joseph to do positive in the world. Please consider making a donation to support PRC.

Hummingbird Valencia Prepares to Open its Doors in Spring 2021

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

PRC Baker Places will soon open the Hummingbird Valencia behavioral health respite center for adults experiencing homelessness, behavioral health and substance use disorders. Hummingbird Valencia is a partnership between PRC, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), Tipping Point Community, and the Salvation Army. The facility will serve adult residents of San Francisco, particularly in the Mission District, who are frequent users of crisis and inpatient services and typically the hardest to engage in stabilizing treatment.

The stand-alone Hummingbird Valencia location is scheduled for a soft opening in May.  Short term overnight services will become available once all required renovations are complete. The facility will include up to a 26 beds and will include a separate day guest component offering services for up to an additional 20 adults daily

“PRC is pleased to be partnering with the Mayor’s Office and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to launch the first free-standing Hummingbird Navigation Center in the City,” said Brett Andrews, PRC Chief Executive Officer. “Building on the successful partnership we began together in establishing and growing the Hummingbird program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, we look forward to the opportunity to provide this unique model of evidence-based care to our most vulnerable residents living in the Mission neighborhood and beyond. We thank Mayor Breed for her leadership and her commitment to expand the capacity of mental health beds for San Francisco residents living in the most desperate of circumstances.”

The original Hummingbird Place located at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, opened in the summer of 2017 when PRC Baker Places joined forces with the San Francisco’s Navigation Center system. The facility made use of an empty hospital ward and transformed it into a 15- overnight bed, 24-hour facility. This partnership allowed the center to offer a blending of peer and professional staff counseling, respite, hot meals, showers, and overnight accommodations to help clients regroup and find their footing after a crisis. The facility has since grown to provide overnight accommodations and services for up to 29 people, while also supporting up to 25 additional people through its day drop-in program. The services provided at the original Hummingbird Place have undoubtedly assisted thousands of individuals on the road to recovery and growth since its opening, but many more services of this kind are needed in order to serve the roughly 8,000 individuals that experience homelessness nightly in SF.

Melida Solorzano – Project Director at the original Hummingbird place stands outside the facility at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where clients can rest while accessing services.

The average stay of Hummingbird Place clients is 24 days. Client demographics:

  • 64 % are people of color, the majority of whom are African American.
  • 16 % identify as LGBT;
  • 7% veterans;
  • 62 % male,
  • 33 % female and
  • 2% transgender.

44 percent – or nearly one in two – of overnight clients’ transition out of Hummingbird Place to more stable housing or into a continued treatment program.

A bed at the original Hummingbird Place | Photo Credit: theSFnews.com

Once at the facility, clients will have access to a multitude of professionally staffed recovery-based programs including:

  • Personal and group counseling,
  • Motivational interviewing engagement,
  • Harm-reduction strategies,
  • Trauma-informed care,
  • Assistance with accessing social services,
  • Longer-term treatment,
  • Peer support,
  • Daily living skills training
  • Medication monitoring,
  • Transportation to social services appointments, and
  • Help reuniting individuals with their families.

The facility provides individuals with access to:

  • Showers, including hygiene supplies
  • Laundry services,
  • Three nutritious meals each day
  • Clothing if needed
  • Referrals to primary medical and psychiatric community providers
  • Connection to shelter and housing
  • Referrals to vocational services for assessment of job skills, training, and employment opportunities
  • Information about medical, mental health care, and social services
  • Assistance with obtaining photo identification cards, Medi-Cal, Social Security benefits, CAAP application, and enrollment in any other benefits for which they qualify
  • A safe place to sleep.

***PRESS RELEASE *** SAN FRANCISCO AWARDS DEDICATED FUNDING FOR BLACK TRANS-EQUITY AS PART OF DREAM KEEPER INITIATIVE

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

Thursday, March 11th, 2021 : Photo Credit: Time Magazine

$2.2 million over the next two years to five Black trans-serving organizations will address historic inequities for Black transgender people.


San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and San Francisco Human Rights Commission Executive Director Sheryl Evans Davis today announced $2.2 million over the next two years to serve San Francisco’s Black and African-American transgender community. This is the first City funding dedicated to providing services to the Black trans community, and is part of the newly announced Dream Keeper Initiative.


The Dream Keeper Initiative, announced by Mayor Breed, is a citywide initiative that reinvests $120 million over two years in redirected funding from law enforcement into San Francisco’s Black and African-American community. As part of this initiative, the City has awarded Black trans-serving organizations funding for technical assistance to build their capacity so they can offer services and programs to address historic inequities and improve outcomes for Black transgender people.


“With the Dream Keeper’s significant investment in the Black community, we knew that it was critical to provide dedicated funding to address the unique needs in the Black transgender community,” said Mayor London Breed. “I am committed to ensuring Black trans people can thrive and reach their dreams in San Francisco, which is why we are investing in the services the community needs and organizations that have been doing this work for years.”


The organizations that have received funding are The Transgender District, TGI Justice Project, TAJA’s Coalition, LYRIC, and PRC. The $2.2 million over the next two years will go towards technical assistance and capacity building for nonprofit organizations serving this community, so that they can be better-positioned to work with the City in developing and implementing programs within the Dream Keeper Initiative and other City programs. This investment will provide a critical boost for these organizations at a dire time, from building up the next generation of leaders, to solving for organizational hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to spurring community-based collaboration to seamlessly serve the Black-trans community. The grant activities are set to begin later this month.


“From the beginning of the pandemic, the Human Rights Commission partnered with the Black transgender community to prioritize their voices in our extensive engagement process for the Dream Keeper Initiative,” said Sheryl Evans Davis, Executive Director of the San Francisco
Human Rights Commission. “Equity, intersectionality, and TLGBQI+ justice go beyond theory — these are community-led practices that provide solutions for the most marginalized people, especially Black transgender women. This is the beginning of a long-term investment.”


“The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is honored to partner with Black-trans serving organizations to improve outcomes in housing, employment, and economic opportunities for Black transgender people in San Francisco, said LGBTQI+ Advisor, Tuquan Harrison. “In many ways, queer history, culture, and the queer liberation movement in San Francisco—and the world—has been defined by and owes much of its richness to Black LGBQ, Trans and Non-binary people, especially Black trans women. We must continue to prioritize an equitable future for Black transgender and LGBQI+ people in San Francisco by investing resources to this vital community.”


“Thank you Mayor Breed and SF Human Rights Commission Director Davis for this historic re-investment into Black trans communities,” said Clair Farley, Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives. “This critical expansion in funding and services in San Francisco will support Black trans-serving organizations continued efforts to develop community led solutions and address systemic inequities.”


Since March 2020, Black trans people across this country have experienced the dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside an epidemic of violence, in particular against Black transgender women. At least 44 transgender people were murdered in 2020, and Black transgender women accounted for over half of the cases. According to the National Transgender survey report, 42% of Black transgender people have experienced homelessness at least once in their lifetime compared to 30% in the general transgender community. Black transgender people are incarcerated more than four times the rate the general population and 47% of Black transgender women have attempted suicide at least once in their lifetime.


“Mayor London Breed, Director Sheryl Evans Davis and the Human Rights Commission staff have been amazing supporters and allies to TGIJP and the Black Trans community for many years, even before many other city agencies,” said Janetta Johnson, Executive Director of Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP). “TGIJP is deeply grateful for this incredible new financial support we will be receiving with the Dream Keeper Initiative. It will allow us to continue to provide critical support to the Black Trans community.”


The awarding of the funding and identification of priority funding areas follows months of strategic planning, outreach, and stakeholder engagement with San Francisco’s diverse trans and LGBTQ community. Since June 2020, HRC convened more than 60 community-driven input sessions, each including an LGBTQ space, to gather input on how to prioritize investments to create more services for Black transgender people.


“PRC is thrilled to partner with the Human Rights Commission of San Francisco to provide direct support to the Black Transgender and gender nonconforming communities of color that are so often overlooked and underrepresented,” said Brett Andrews, Chief Executive Officer of PRC. “This initiative reflects the City’s focus on all segments of the Black community, and the Mayor’s deep commitment to full inclusion. Drawing upon PRC’s deep experience in serving the most vulnerable populations within the LGBTQI community, we are honored to further efforts to provide targeted programs, healthcare and direct assistance to our Black Trans community members to move them forward on the path to social and economic stability.”


“The Dream Keeper Initiative is a necessary pivot towards equity for San Francisco’s Black community. The Transgender District is incredibly honored to help create high impact solutions towards the disparity that Black transgender people face in San Francisco,” said Aria Sa’id, Executive Director of the Transgender District. “While San Francisco is a premiere city for the acceptance of queer and transgender people, the data has not shifted over the last 30 years in regards to what we face including increased rate of homelessness, abject poverty and marginalization. We have a multi-pronged strategy to make immediate changes for our community that promote the empowerment of Black and Brown transgender people and include creation of innovative solutions to advance housing, economic advancement and cultural enrichment for and by our community. Thank you to Mayor Breed, Board President Shamann Walton, Director Sheryl Evans Davis and her team of advocates at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, LGBTQI+ Advisor, Tuquan Harrison, and the coalition of Black leaders across San Francisco who advocated for the inclusion of Black transgender leadership and peer led programs.”

“LYRIC is honored to be part of the City’s investment in African-Americans and is proud to be a strong collaborator in advancing the health, happiness, and sustainability of the Black transgender community,” said Toni Newman, LYRIC Interim Executive Director. “LYRIC is a long-time service provider for LGBTQQ+ youth of color in San Francisco, in particular for young trans and gender non-conforming individuals who make up nearly half of our participants. We look forward to working with a new generation of young people to access the resources and opportunities they need to thrive and to build a more just world for all of us.”

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR LONDON N. BREED
SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR
1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, ROOM 200
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102-4681
TELEPHONE: (415) 554-6141