Faces of the Tenderloin Technology Lab: Stephen

Stephen stumbled upon the Tenderloin Technology Lab (TTL) by chance. It was during the summer of 2012 and Stephen was looking for volunteer work. He was in remission, something that just a short time ago was unthinkable. His doctors had told him he only had four months, but here he was months later still alive and feeling blessed to have been given more time. He looked into working at a couple of places and ultimately decided to volunteer with St. Anthony Foundation because he loved the idea of a place where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. “Falling into a bad situation is something that can happen to anyone and it is easy for people to forget that,” Stephen said. “The people at St. Anthony’s were helpful at moving me in the next direction.”

He began volunteering in St. Anthony’s Dining Room on Sundays and became close with the core group of volunteers who work his shift. When they learned he did not have email or even a phone they encouraged him to go to the TTL, a partnership between St. Anthony’s and San Francisco Network Ministries, and begin taking some classes. He took their advice. After taking his first class in August–Intro to Email–he soon became a regular. “The last couple of months, (coming to the tech lab) has been an integral part of my morning,” Stephen said.

Most weekdays Stephen comes in to check his email and get on the TaskRabbit website. TaskRabbit is an online portal for finding small odd jobs. Stephen learned about the service and other similar programs through our Intro to MicroLabor class. At the time, he wasn’t expecting anything to come of it, but the income he earned through the site ended up being the thing that carried him through some more difficult months. Stephen explained that one of the most rewarding aspects of becoming a TaskRabbit was that he got to meet a few very kind individuals. In our conversation, Stephen told me about helping one couple move into their new house. He spent an hour helping unload their moving truck and talking with the two of them. Afterwards they asked if they could tip him through the website. He told them not to worry about it. They did it anyway, which he learned as he got a message about the extra funds being transferred to his PayPal account.

Without the TTL, Stephen says, getting jobs through TaskRabbit would not have been possible for him. Without access to a smartphone or personal computer, he relies on shared computers to get onto the TaskRabbit website and bid on jobs. The San Francisco Public Library only allows clients to use a computer for an hour a day, and that, for Stephen, is not nearly enough time. “I come in everyday to check my emails or send messages then get on TaskRabbit and see the status of what I can bid on. Sometimes you get a counter offer and need to get back on so I save my hour on the library for the afternoon.”

A couple months ago, Stephen was walking down Mission Street and saw an add for a free 60 hour preparatory course for the IRS Tax Exam. Stephen enrolled. The class was basically a two month interview. His teachers and the other staff members at Liberty Tax Service got to know him. They saw how hard he worked. They watched him help other students and realized that he was someone they could work with. At the end of January, Stephen will begin working part time for them. “I never even had to submit a resume.” If he had needed too, Stephen does not think he would have gotten the job. He worked for a long time as a banker, but his last job was many years ago. Given that, it is not likely an employer in his chosen field would be willing to hire him. Now, when he applies for his next job, he will have something current to put down.

Stephen says that none of this would have been possible without taking our Basic Computer Skills Course (which he took in September) and our Intermediate Computer Skills Course (that he took in October). Those classes helped him become more comfortable with computers. Without them, he doesn’t feel like he would be in a position to excel in his upcoming tax job.

Perhaps, more important though, Stephen feels like coming here allowed him to make connections–to establish new relationships and reconnect to old ones. When he comes to the TTL, he talks to Eric and Ray at the front desk, as well as, Megan, Program Manager at the TTL, and myself (his teachers). He feels welcomed here. Additionally, he hadn’t talked to some of his brothers in years, but after setting up his email account he has started communicating with them more regularly through his morning sessions at the TTL. Email has also given Stephen an easier avenue to communicate with his cancer support group. This whole process he feels has been somewhat organic. Every step, every contact just flowed very naturally into the next.

Stephen was kind enough to allow me to interview him because he feels that the Tenderloin Technology Lab and everyone who works here has been really crucial to him. He wanted to share his story with me in the hopes that others would be inspired to not give up hope even when they feel they are in a very bad place. It can and it does, he says, get better.

Anya Kramer is a Jesuit Volunteer at the Tenderloin Technology Lab.