Suitable For Children

People don’t always associate St. Anthony’s with children. Yet over 800 families are part of St. Anthony’s community. They eat in the Dining Room, pack take-out for their children in school, get clothes for school and work at the Free Clothing Program, and bring their children to the pediatrics program in the Free Medical Clinic. Children grow up at St. Anthony’s and most grow into lives very different from those their parents struggled with.

The Dining Room has a special section for women and families with children, who are encouraged to pack extra meals to take home for children in school. The Free Clothing Program helps with school clothes, job interview clothes, and work clothes for families struggling to be self-supporting.

At the Clinic, uninsured families can get the immunizations their children need to get into school. When we had to cut staff time temporarily, our pediatrician, Dr. Katie Broner, worked extra hard four days a week to make sure she’d seen all the children who needed their shots before school started.

The Social Work Center provides families with emergency rental assistance and information on eligibility for CalWorks. They help families get California ID so that they can apply for housing, benefits, and jobs, and get birth certificates for their children so that they go to school.

St. Anthony’s hosts an annual backpack give-away for children entering school. In late August, low-income children receive free backpacks suited to their ages and filled with school supplies, donated by The Giving Tree.

Together, these programs help hundreds of Tenderloin and South of Market children enter school each year by ensuring the required physical check-ups, immunizations, state identification, school clothes, and school supplies. Families are part of our family.