History

The St Francis Living Room was started in 1987 as a program of the St Anthony Foundation specifically targeting homeless and low-income males in the Tenderloin. There was a need to fight the loneliness experienced by this population, and meeting other seniors living in the Tenderloin to socializing away from the insecurity of the street was, and remains the goal of the St. Francis Living Room.

Part I – The Beginning

(Story by Donna Cahill - left on picture)

  • Year 1983-1986: Three elements happened that inspired in the creation of the St Francis Living Room.

  1. On Donna’s first day on the job at St. Anthony Foundation, a review of the census showed that there were about 8000 male seniors living and 75% lived alone in the Tenderloin. The rate of suicide was very high among this population. So, Fr. Alfred Boeddeker started the Adult Benevolent Association (ABA) that included a Milk Program. St Anthony Foundation had acquired where addicts could go and work away from drug & liquor temptations. They were growing crops and had cows for the milk. The milk was then bottled at the Clover Plant, trucked to San Francisco and distributed to the residences of seniors in the Tenderloin. This was socialization without fear. However, loneliness persist in the older male population and suicides continued.

  2. At St. Anthony, the work always was demanded lots of paperwork to report to the funders. So too much paperwork and not enough work for the ones that needed services. After a conversation with Fr. Boeddeker, there was a realization to focus on this older population as they could not be forgotten. That was one of the reasons of the creation of the ABA.  Fr. Boeddeker explained that Love Is A Motion…you give love, and love come back to you…over and over. There was a need to listen to the people in need and find a way to give them this love.

  3. After a 3-1/2 months maternity leave, Donna came back to an office where everyone was really agitated. There was a serious search to find a solution to the loneliness among seniors. This older population mostly included members of the Merchant Marine and then widows. There was a need to find a medium between Justice and Love. With the help of 3 nuns, St. Anthony started the Madonna Residences for the older ladies. Then, for the men, the St Francis Living Room was started in a simple room where seniors were coming to socialize and have a little to eat. This was their safe place in the Tenderloin. This was their spot where Justice and Love met and was discussed. The St Francis Living Room program was created thanks to God's Eternal Most Benevolent Love - Aeternus Beneficentisimus Amor.

  • The St. Francis Living Room moved a little later to a empty store front on Turk Street as St Anthony Foundation was building new headquarters. In 2001, it was moved to a newly built location at 350 Golden Gate Avenue with the Madonna Residences. This is still here today.

  • In 2002, St Anthony Foundation hired Doug Barnett as the Executive Director - picture on the right  

 

Part II: An Independent organization

(Story by Doug & Leonor Barnett, and Jonathan Lowell)

  • In 2005, St. Anthony made the decision to end the program. A group of the Secular Franciscans Order decided to take over the St Francis Living Room as they saw a serious need to keep this haven for seniors in the Tenderloin. The Living Room was then open to all seniors, males, and females. The organization became a separate non-profit with a 501(c)(3) status.

  • In 2016, the St. Francis Living Room was once more threaten to be closed due to a lack of funding. At that time, Jonathan Lowell decided to become the new Executive Director as a volunteer. The staff was reduced to 2 PT employees and volunteers became so essential to the continuation of the program.

  • In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the Living Room and meals in a bag were handed out through a window to seniors on the street.

  • In 2021, the board searched for ideas on remodeling the St Francis Living Room. Funding came from different sources and construction started in 2022.

  • In January 2023, the board approved the hiring of Pierre Smit as the new Executive Director thanks to a generous donor. End of January, the remodeled St Francis Living Room was open to all seniors 60 y.o and over, no matter who they were. The Living Room only expects everyone to respect the special place as this is their haven for socialization in the Tenderloin, their place where justice and love still meet.

  • St. Francis called people back into the peace and harmony of a world into which God had created the human family and which was as fragile in Francis' day as it is in our own. Peace is a gift from God. Human actions that cooperate with God's grace promote peace in the world. This is the message we hold each day at the St. Francis Living Room.

The St Francis Living Room is a program that is very well alive thanks to a group of dedicated donors and volunteers that understood the message started by St Anthony to fight loneliness, poverty and sufferance of a senior population in the Tenderloin.

It simply is Aeternus Beneficentisimus Amor - God's Eternal Most Benevolent Love.

The St Francis Living Room is a 501(c)(3) non-profit status organization.