Tag Archives: Homelessness

RTC: Community Field Work

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Last Thursday, Grade 7 girls left campus to work at Alemany Farm and volunteer with the nonprofits Glide and City Hope. At the end of the day each group participated in reflective work, which allowed students to process their profound experiences.

The day was designed to help our students inquire as they prepare for their Rise to the Challenge (RTC) capstone project work (taking place in May). For RTC, girls will strive to identify challenges they feel passionate about, then develop action plans to address those challenges, using their knowledge, resources, and collaborative talents. Students will have the opportunity to choose their own topics, do in-depth research, then share their findings, providing short and long-term solutions to various local and global problems.

These excursions allowed our girls to investigate issues facing our environment and learn more about the intricacies of urban poverty.

Supporting Homeless Families: Harvest 2020

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For many, many years, The Hamlin School has worked to support families experiencing homelessness in San Francisco through a profound partnership with Hamilton Families.

Hamlin’s connection to Hamilton dates back to the late 1990s when Hamlin’s Lend-A-Hand started partnering with the center. Lend-A-Hand is Hamlin’s dynamic Parents Association service learning program. It is open to all families and offers service opportunities with San Francisco organizations that focus on hunger, homelessness, and literacy.

Hamilton Families’ mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our pioneering homelessness prevention and housing subsidy programs are nationally recognized. In addition, we provide shelter and stability, and support the well-being of children experiencing homelessness.

Our largest event connected to Hamilton is our annual Harvest. This year numerous Hamlin students, parents, and faculty members prepared food for families currently experiencing homelessness. On Saturday (February 1), we made vegetable lasagnas, salads, garlic bread, and apple crisps. The following day a group of Hamlin Grade 8 students served the food at Hamilton Families. Altogether, Harvest provided nourishment for about 300 people.

The Saturday event took place between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. and consisted of two work shifts. As part of the morning Rachel Kenemore (from Hamilton Families) addressed our volunteers.

Special thanks to faculty member Sheena Tart-Zelvin, and Hamlin parents Daisy Downs, Rachel Euretig, and Jennifer Lindh for helping to organize this wonderful event.

To learn more about Hamilton Families please visit: https://www.hamiltonfamilies.org/

Lava Mae Partnership 2020

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We are in our 5th year partnering with Lava Mae, a compassionate and altruistic nonprofit working to alleviate the suffering of individuals experiencing homelessness.

Lava Mae believes:

It’s about treating those who often feel invisible and dehumanized with an extraordinary level of respect and care to restore dignity, and unlock the opportunities that come with being clean.

All Grade 7 students will be volunteering with Lava Mae this year. Yesterday our first group of Hamlin girls worked at Lava Mae’s monthly Pop-Up Care Village near the Civic Center.

The event provides a one-stop-shop for employment services for people experiencing homelessness, from free job preparedness advice, to hygiene kits, adult education opportunities, clothes, health services, food, books, and haircuts.

Our students served food and distributed donated clothing at the “Street Store.” Two more student groups will be volunteering with Lava Mae in the coming months.

To learn more about Lava Mae, please visit: https://lavamaex.org/

RTC Field Experience with Grade 7

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On Tuesday, Grade 7 girls left campus to explore the California Academy of Sciences and volunteer with the nonprofits Glide and City Hope. At the end of the day each group participated in reflective work, which allowed students to process their profound experiences.

The day was designed to help our students inquire as they prepare for their Rise to the Challenge (RTC) capstone project work (taking place in May). For RTC, girls will strive to identify challenges they feel passionate about, then develop action plans to address those challenges, using their knowledge, resources, and collaborative talents. Students will have the opportunity to choose their own topics, do in-depth research, then share their findings, providing short and long-term solutions to various local and global problems.

These excursions allowed our girls to investigate issues facing our environment and learn more about the intricacies of urban poverty.

-Special thanks to Hamlin parent, Bart Shepherd (Senior Director of the California Academy of Sciences) for speaking with our students about the inner workings of the Academy.

Grade 7 Serves the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

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Last Friday, Grade 7 students set out to address urban poverty on the streets of San Francisco. Our girls spent the first part of the morning in five different groups distributing toiletries, feminine hygiene products, clothing, 175 lunches, and listening to the stories of Tenderloin residents. Members of the Tenderloin-based nonprofit Faithful Fools facilitated intention setting and accompanied our students during this altruistic experience.

After an hour on the streets, students gathered at a nearby Unitarian church to reflect on their experience. They engaged in recreating street scenes through theater, sharing emotions and thoughts about the morning. The day was both powerful and life-enhancing, as girls had the opportunity to better understand the common humanity that connects all people.

To learn more about Faithful Fools, please visit: https://www.faithfulfools.org/

Hamlin Harvest 2019

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For many, many years, The Hamlin School has worked to support families experiencing homelessness in San Francisco through a profound partnership with Hamilton Families.

Hamilton Families’ mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Our largest event connected to Hamilton is our annual Harvest. This year numerous Hamlin students, parents, and faculty members prepared food for families currently experiencing homelessness. On Saturday (January 26), we made vegetable lasagnas, salads, garlic bread, and apple crisps. The following day a group of Hamlin Grade 8 students served the food at Hamilton Families. Altogether, Harvest provided nourishment for about 300 people.

The Saturday event took place between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. and consisted of two work shifts. Between the shifts, Tomiquia Moss (Executive Director of Hamilton Families), Wanda M. Holland Greene (Head of The Hamlin School), and Sheena Tart-Zelvin (Hamlin’s Service Learning Coordinator), addressed the volunteers. Ms. Moss spoke about having a generosity of spirit: “Generosity is not just showing up and doing this event, it is who you are every day.”

Special thanks to Hamlin parents Daisy Downs and Rachel Euretig for helping to organize this wonderful event.

Hamlin Donates Dust Masks to Lava Mae

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Just before Thanksgiving, California suffered catastrophic damage from fires that raged in multiple locations throughout the state. Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area closed because of poor air quality, forcing children to stay indoors for several days.

Concerned about our unhoused neighbors living on the streets, our community came together and collected 430 masks to be donated to Lava Mae (a nonprofit that supports people experiencing homelessness).

The air quality has improved, but unfortunately fires in California are likely to continue in the coming months. Thanks to this donation, Lava Mae will be prepared to help people breath easier when the next fire hits.

If you have extra masks to donate, please feel free to bring them to Ms. Sheena Tart-Zelvin on a rolling basis.

To learn more about Lava Mae, please visit: https://lavamae.org/

 

Day of Service with Grade 7

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On Tuesday, Grade 7 students left campus to volunteer and visit with the nonprofits Glide, St. Anthony’s, Faithful Fools, Lava Mae (in Oakland), and Matter of Trust. 

The objectives for the day were to: foster community, team build, cultivate empathy, and learn how service can impact the world.

Highlights of the day included the following:

-Dancing to ABBA while serving and cleaning up breakfast at Glide

-Eating at St. Anthony’s Dining Room

-Quietly reflecting on time spent in the Tenderloin

-Meeting members of the Faithful Fools

-Helping out with a Lava Mae Pop Up Care Village

-Matting hair (for beach clean ups) and sorting eco products at Matter of Trust

During the reflection time, one student shared the following about her experience at Glide:

We are all humans with the same wants and needs. We should all help each other because that is what we are supposed to do. 

Below are links to the various organizations:

https://lavamae.org/

https://www.glide.org/

https://www.stanthonysf.org/

https://matteroftrust.org/

https://www.faithfulfools.org/

 

Hamlin Students Read Books at Hamilton Families

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Wednesday evening, seven (Emma C. is not in the photo) altruistic Hamlin students went to the nonprofit Hamilton Families to read books to children experiencing homelessness. This was our first Read With Me visit of the school year. The girls read to the Hamilton kids, colored with them and even played blocks with a baby.

Hamilton Families’ mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hamilton Families is nationally recognized for pioneering homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programs.

For many, many years, the Hamlin School has worked to support homeless families in San Francisco through a profound partnership with the nonprofit Hamilton Families. Hamlin students promote literacy through this Read With Me program. Multiple times a year Hamlin students visit Hamilton and read to younger children in the center. Both Hamlin students and Hamilton children alike, treasure this very human exchange.

To learn more about Hamilton Families, please visit: https://hamiltonfamilies.org/

 

Glide Minister Speaks at Hamlin

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Wednesday afternoon, we welcomed Reverend Harry Louis Williams II. Reverend Williams has worked at Glide Memorial Church for the past 13 years. He spoke with Grade 7 students about his outreach ministry with people experiencing poverty on the streets of East Oakland and the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

Reverend Harry Louis Williams II, is a minister and social activist hailing from Oakland, CA. He is the author or co-author of eight books, ranging in genre from Black History to Urban Fiction. In 2015, the Oakland City Council awarded Williams a proclamation for his work in healing street-level violence in the Oakland, CA inner city, as well as his efforts to bring awareness to the epidemic of commercial sexual exploitation of children and comfort to its victims.

Reverend Williams spoke to students about the difficulties faced by children born into poverty. He asked audience members to visualize a recent excursion he took to East Oakland’s “Village Homeless Encampment.” He described a 4-year boy named Michael who lived in the encampment without parents, electricity, daily hygiene, and a regular source of food. He asked our Hamlin students how Michael would be treated when he started elementary school. Students responded with empathetic sentiments, expressing how alone and alienated Michael would likely feel.

Reverend Williams told our students, “you are fantastic, the future is yours, you are someone’s answer.” He closed by encouraging our girls to give back and volunteer to help others who are not as fortunate as they are.