A Closer Look into St. Anthony’s Mission Statement

The mission of St. Anthony’s is to feed, heal, shelter, and clothe those in need. But how does this mission come alive in our work? As a newcomer to St. Anthony’s I set out to discover how each of these goals is fulfilled by spending time in several programs.

The Dining Room is without a doubt St. Anthony’s most popular program. Three-hundred and sixty-five days a year the dining room is open to feed thousands of people. One of my favorite moments was witnessing the joy that filled the Dining Room on Thanksgiving Day. The dining room provides a safe place, a shelter, a feeling of home for many that crave a little companionship and a place to go. Guest Services Intern, Bethany, says “Our biggest goal in the Dining Room is to make sure that [the guests] feel like they are served with dignity and respect… we hope to feed them daily, not just with food but with friendship.”

The Social Work Center provides individual case management to over 3,000 people a year. A Friday afternoon in St. Anthony’s Social Work Center during drop-in hours is no ordinary afternoon.  When the elevators open up at 1 o’clock people pour out of them. Twenty plus people wait to be seen, all in dire need. Each personal case is different; they span from housing needs, applying for California ID’s, seeking employment options, and many other needed benefits. I got to sit in on some meetings with social worker, Sarah, and her drop-in clients. I heard only the reader’s digest version of each person’s life, but each story managed to be shocking and heartbreaking. I met one man who came here from Istanbul with his family as a child hoping for a better life, one man who graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, and one man who even went to law school and passed the Bar Exam. How is it that these people, so similar to you and me, are living on the streets of the Tenderloin?

In this economy many people end up jobless and in some cases even homeless. We see the Occupy movement mentioned in the news daily, but the bottom 1% of the 99% that we see every day in the Tenderloin often still goes unnoticed.

At St. Anthony’s we don’t forget these people. We spend time working to heal them and the issues that others would rather overlook. In the Social Work Center (SWC) on that same Friday afternoon, a man soiled himself in the waiting area. The staff who work in the SWC handled this situation with delicacy in order to uphold the dignity and respect of the guest. The SWC staff is trained to handle any unexpected problems that arise; new clothes from the Free Clothing Program were given to him and in doing so we remember our guests’ needs are important. Working at St. Anthony’s is often not glamorous and things tend to get messy, but when working for the greater good of all, things usually do get messy.

It’s easy to overlook how much work goes into each specific program on a daily basis at St. Anthony’s. I spent time in each program and after being with St. Anthony’s for just about 4 months, I can truthfully say that St. Anthony’s goes above and beyond in all areas of our work, not only because it is their job, but because they care about serving each individual person who comes through our doors.