San Francisco, CA. The Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco (IYISF) held its pride panel discussion “Uplifting LGBTQ+ Pride in Yoga” on Friday, June 26 via Zoom. The 60-minute panel featured queer and trans-identifying instructors from the Iyengar community discussing the intersection between their queer/trans identity and their Iyengar yoga practice. A 90-minute donation-based identity affirming practice preceded the event co-taught by panelists Avery Kalapa (they/them) featured above, and Nathan Blum (he/him). The yoga practice followed a theme of heart-openers, acceptance, and self-love with inclusive cueing.
Panelists meet via Zoom to discuss the intersection between their identity and their yoga practice.
The IYISF is an asset of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Northern California (IYANC) officially established in 1976, although under a different name at the time, and located in Lower Pacific Heights. The lineage of Iyengar Yoga finds its origin on the Indian Subcontinent. Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar developed this method when he began teaching in 1936. It rose to prominence in the West after his first book Light on Yoga was published in 1966 and became an international bestseller. The Iyengar style of practice centers primarily on the importance of timing and alignment in āsana, the physical postures. It is well known for its strategic utilization of numerous props including blankets, blocks, straps, bolsters, chairs, sandbags, and more. The understanding is that balance and alignment achieved in the body are reflected in the state of one’s mind.
The sentiment that one’s yoga practice and identity are deeply intertwined presented as a common theme amongst panelists. Most panelists shared the experience of trying to keep their identities as queer separate from their identity as yoga teachers. They learned over time the challenge of keeping these identities separate revealed there is a link between the experience of yoga and the queer experience. Panelist Misia Denéa says her identity as a queer black gender non-conforming femme is an essential part of her yoga practice: “[Our] journey to enlightenment only comes through exploration and understanding of suffering. I bring my queerness with me to my mat and my [meditation] cushion because accepting it offers me the bandwidth to be with my suffering.”
Panelist Misia Denéa, owner of Hatha Hoslistic Integrative Wellness.
From the IYISF:
“The first Pride was a riot – and using the practice of Yoga to shed social conditioning and attachments rooted in avidya can also be a revolutionary act. This yoga includes āsana and philosophy to uplift your wholeness and create inner space to cherish the parts of you that don’t fit into cis-hetero norms. Queer perspectives shine a light on the path for us all on the journey towards inner freedom and collective healing.”
San Francisco, CA. The urgency of the moment in the wake of George Floyd was never lost on Dance Mission Theater. Founded on social change and resistance through dance performance, DMT took swift action in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Staff and board members established a Reparations Program to support dancers and artists of African descent. Krissy Keefer, Executive Director, released a statement outlining the theater’s response to the “gross inequities” laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their Reparations Program includes access to free theater space, free tuition for youth dance classes, reduced rates on rehearsal space, and half-off adult classes.
Krissy Keefer, co-founder of Dance Brigade and Executive Director of DMT. Photo from the San Francisco Examiner.
Dance Mission Theater originated in 1984 as a single feminist dance company, the Dance Brigade. The Dance Brigade spent 14 years establishing its artistic voice and community presence. In 1998 they created Dance Mission Theater, a 140-seat black box theater, and 3 dance studios located at 24th and Mission. To this day, Dance Mission Theater is a cultural hub for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women artists. A flourishing inter-generational community, Dance Mission “connects and empowers [students of diverse backgrounds] through dance”. Classes and productions feature culturally rooted dance forms while exploring complex social justice issues. Dance Mission is dedicated to centering those marginalized by race, poverty, and gender in the arts. Providing accessible classes and spaces to Black students through their Reparations Program is a new step toward forwarding that goal.
Grrrl Bridgade performs to Robbie Robertson’s song “Coyote Dance” at the Brigade’s 15th Anniversary Performance.
From Dance Mission Theater:
Dance Mission Theater operates from the understanding that the United States was founded on the genocide of Native peoples and the enslavement of African people and has neither apologized nor rectified this original wound. We are committed to programming that reflects the best efforts of who we are – BIPOC, LBGTQ+, and Children – to transform the culture of white supremacy, police brutality, and patriarchy to build a more equitable and peaceful world.
Author’s note: Ericka Hart, M.Ed. and anti-racist educator, calls attention to the fact that while Dance Mission Theater decided to term this program “Reparations” it is not actually reparations. Reparations are owed to Black people by the State because of the generations of wealth denied to the enslaved Black persons who produced them. Individual and community action separate from the State does not diminish nor replace that responsibility.
San Francisco, CA. Sunset Youth Services‘ central philosophy is that cultivating healthy attachments with stable and caring adults is the best way to support youth and young adults on the precipice of the criminal justice system. SYS works with young people aged 14 to 24 – as well as their families – in a multitude of different capacities: providing digital arts resources, workforce development, justice and mental health services, and family support. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced SYS to close its Youth Center and adapt many services to an online format, staffers continue to center their efforts on relationship-based support for the community.
Youth perform at Sunset Festival prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the early weeks of California’s shelter-in-place order, SYS began weekly ‘Love Parades.’ Employees made signs bearing encouraging messages, piled into their cars, and drove by the houses of families they serve, honking and shouting, “We love you!” and “We’re in this together!” SYS’s commitment to the mental wellbeing of the families served is palpable in the video below of a ‘Love Parade.’
In addition to these weekly shows of support, Sunset Youth Services, in partnership with the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, Dine11, and World Central Kitchen, delivered over 2,000 meals a week to program families during the beginning stages of shelter-in-place. According to Development and Communications Associate Melissa Laureta, SYS “continues to distribute food boxes,” although staffers and volunteers have reduced the number of meals they deliver. This initiative is made possible because of food donations from Trader Joes and the SF-Marin Food Bank.
SYS employees prepare to deliver meals to families in need.
Sunset Youth Services’ Digital Arts program is a cornerstone of the nonprofit’s efforts to cultivate community with SF youth both inside and outside prison. Young people come to SYS’ Youth Center to produce music and videos, write songs, and learn similar marketable skills from industry professionals. SYS began bringing its Digital Arts program into juvenile hall and jails so that in the process of creating music, incarcerated youth form relationships with Sunset Youth employees. Once out of jail, those connections facilitate their reentry into society by connecting them to the wealth of services that SYS provides, such as a highly successful Workforce Development program. Almost 90% of the youth who graduate from this program land a job. At the junction between Digital Arts and Workforce Development is Upstar Records: a youth-led record label that cultivates young hip-hop enthusiasts into digital technology professionals.
A singer performs with a group associated with Upstar Records during pre-COVID-19 times.
SYS’s programs are structured around the research-driven concept of attachment communities: groups that provide connectedness and foster healthy, trusting relationships between volunteers and youth. Many young people lack stable relationships in their lives, which is believed to be a root cause of issues like depression, anxiety, and mental illness. Even before research released by The Commission on Children at Risk in 2005 identified attachment communities as the definitive response to myriad behavioral and mental health issues in youth, SYS had already formed its own relationship-based community in San Francisco. Instead of compartmentalizing the services they offer, SYS ensures a teen can walk into the building and have access to any of five programs. At the Youth Center, youth and young adults can make music or beats, meet with mental health professionals, case managers, and receive support caring for a young child. Laureta explains, “Youth can come into our center and hit all five of our programs and still maintain community within our family.” This idea of ‘family’ is at the core of all Sunset Youth Services programs.
Sunset Youth Services at the Playland BBQ in 2019.
Anyone interested in volunteering with Sunset Youth Services should contact Melissa Laureta at [email protected] for more information. Keep in mind, however, that Sunset Youth Services’ dedication to forging enduring relationships between volunteers and youth make getting involved more complicated than some might think. Laureta says, “We are pretty tight gatekeepers of our youth community because there’s a lot of abandonment stuff and mental health stuff with our kids. When we have volunteers who parachute in and out, abandonment issues arise rally fast. So we need dedicated volunteers to stick with a kid or a cohort of kids for weeks and months and be committed and show relationships are stable because they don’t get that from other places in their lives.”
From Sunset Youth Services: The mission of Sunset Youth Services is to foster long-term stability and growth in in-risk* youth, young adults, and families through caring relationships and supportive services. This goal is based on the simple belief that youth are inherently worthy of dignity and respect and have the potential to positively contribute to their communities when their real needs are met.
San Francisco, CA. Despite periods of increased demand, and the nonprofit being understaffed, Groceries for Elders continues to serve the community during the pandemic. The team of organizers and volunteers are pictured above packing bags of groceries recently for needy seniors.
Program Director, Tom Beaver, said that the nonprofit was born out of adversity and that the service provided has been uninterrupted during the health crisis.
“Groceries for Seniors is a 501c3 non-profit that has been operating since1999,” Beaver said. “It was founded by John Meehan who had an impoverished upbringing and at one point was in prison for minor theft infractions during a period when he was drug dependent. He transcended those circumstances and went on to found the Haight Ashbury Soup Kitchen in 1983. In 1999, the program became Groceries for Seniors. Every week, we home deliver over 1000 overflowing, wholesome free bags of groceries to low-income senior apartment dwellers throughout San Francisco, CA.”
Seniors are at high risk for having complications if they contract COVID-19, and for those who rely on this service for groceries, their financial situation and their health can be jeopardized if they shop for their own groceries.
According to Beaver, the nonprofit had a dramatic drop in volunteers during the early months of the pandemic. For an organization that relies heavily on its volunteer base, this can dramatically affect the community in which they serve. Many buildings have also asked for additional bags at this time, going from 1000 to 1300 bags.
Groceries for Seniors provides bags of food for elders in San Francisco.
When asked how others are able to help Groceries for Elders, Beaver said this:
We are a very land organization. We have only four part-time employees and their salaries equal less than 10% of our overhead. In fact, for every $1 donated to us we are able to assemble and deliver 8 huge bags of groceries to our recipients. We are supported by in-kind donations from Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral who provides their auditorium where we do our work as well as donations from three Grocery Stores which adds to the food we are able to deliver. However, we do have overhead costs that we can’t avoid: our one delivery van, the bags we pack the groceries in, van and worker’s comp insurance, etc. and we do need help with those expenditures.
From Groceries for Elders:
Groceries for Elders accepts Tax Deductible donations in the following manner:
1). Checks, money orders, etc. can be sent directly to the nonprofit at the following address:
Groceries for Seniors
c/o Old Saint Mary’s
660 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
2). You can donate through the NETWORK FOR GOOD – a national organization that processes donations for non-profits. There are access points on our website: www.groceriesforseniors.org
NOTE: for a good look at what groceries for elders does, please see the FACEBOOK page at:
San Francisco, CA. The Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC) continues to fight against the impact that COVID-19 has on those who pay rent. The nonprofit’s office is currently closed to clients but is still available online and by phone. Those who have received a Summons & Complaint or have been served a notice may contact the assistance line at (415) 659-9184 or email EDC here.
The pandemic has caused many Americans to have financial issues, but for those who can no longer rely on a steady paycheck to pay their rent can be in immense danger. Problems associated with evictions in San Francisco have increased, and if people are forced out of their homes, this can aggravate the already deadly health crisis.
According to the EDC Right to Counsel Coordinator at the time of the interview, Michael Chen, many in the community are being asked to choose between buying groceries or paying rent, and have had their financial situation worsened by the pandemic. Chen elaborates on the purpose of the organization.
“We provide free legal services for people facing eviction in San Francisco (just ranked one of the most gentrifying cities in the US!),” Chen said. “Almost all landlords have attorneys when they begin eviction proceedings but almost no tenants have their own attorneys, and many cannot afford them. Our services fill the gap between this obvious power imbalance and essentially help provide a voice for tenants who are getting evicted. The easiest way to think of this is like public defenders, but for evictions.”
Chen said that some of the services have seen increased demand.
“Because of San Francisco’s relatively strong tenant protections during COVID, our legal clinic which helps tenants file answers and find attorneys has been less busy,” Chen said. “However, our rental assistance department has been extremely busy as many, many more tenants face income insecurity and are being harassed by their landlords to pay rent, despite the Mayor’s Moratorium.”
Most of those who utilize the EDC’s services are low-income and work in the service or gig industry, which can mean that their finances are not consistent.
According to Chen, to help the EDC you can: “Call legislators and advocate for stronger tenant protections – not just delaying payment but significantly reducing payment burden. We also accept donations through our website and funds go directly towards saving housing of the most vulnerable populations in San Francisco, preventing either homelessness or mass exodus of low-income folks from San Francisco.”
If you believe the office may be able to help with financial assistance (RADCo) for the payment of rent, please call (415) 470-5211 or email us here
The EDC provides legal assistance to people who are in legal proceedings for eviction in San Francisco. Learn more here.
If you are behind on rent, you may be able to avoid having an eviction filed against you. Learn more here.
The Shelter Client Advocates work with residents of homeless shelters funded by the City and County of San Francisco to monitor shelter conditions and the application of shelter rules. Learn more here.
EDC is the Lead Agency to design and implement San Francisco Right to Counsel. Universal right to counsel in eviction is a proven and cost-effective way of keeping people housed. Learn more here.
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