2009 Accomplishments

Be sure to check out the accomplishments of Dolores Street's programs in 2009!

Dolores Housing Program
Richard M. Cohen Residence
SF Immigrant Legal & Education Network
Mission SRO Collaborative
Community Planning & Development

The Open Palm Awards

Tuesday, November 17^th, 2009
6 pm - 10 pm
at
The Blue Macaw
2565 Mission Street, San Francisco

Please join us at the newly remodeled Blue Macaw nightclub to honor the work of our awardees and celebrate the accomplishments of Dolores Street Community Services over the past year.  The Open Palm Awards will include an open wine bar and full cash bar, catering from some of the City's top chefs, music, dancing and entertainment by Los Compas, a silent auction, and more!

Honoring

Homeless Services Award
Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, for her unending dedication to standing up for the rights of the homeless and her advocacy work on the City budget

Immigrant Rights Award
Morrison & Foerster LLP for their pro-bono work representing low income clients in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation proceedings

HIV/AIDS Services Award
Father Richard Purcell who founded Marty's Place in 1989 to provide a home for homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS

Sponsorships & Tickets

 Click here to purchase tickets or sponsorships

Super Cool Sponsor - $1,000

• 4 tickets to event plus a private table for you and your guests at event

• Logo in invitation mailed to 1500 contacts (if notified by October 15th)

• Prominent recognition in signage and during event program

• Prominent inclusion of name or logo on our website

Cool Sponsor - $500

• 2 tickets to event

• Logo in invitation mailed to 1500 contacts (if notified by October 15th)

• Recognition in signage and during program at event

• Inclusion of name or logo on our website

Sponsor - $250

• 1 ticket to event

• Name in invitation mailed to 1500 contacts (if notified by October 15^th)

• Recognition in signage at event

• Inclusion of name on our website

 Event Tickets - $100, $50 (Nonprofit Rate), or $35 (Community Member Rate)

 Click here to purchase tickets or sponsorships

Dolores Street Acquires The Dolores Hotel

Dolores Street Community Services recently acquired a 59 until Single Room Occupancy Hotel - coincidentally called The Dolores Hotel - which will provide a next step for our shelter guests in moving into more stable housing.  We'll be beginning rehab of the building in the next few months and hope to have our first residents moving in next Spring.  This will be the first new supportive housing facility to open in the Mission in many years.

CLOTHING DONATIONS NEEDED FOR THE WINTER

Help support the residents of the Dolores Street shelters!

• Jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts, thermals
• Jeans or other sturdy pants
• Shoes: usable, decent soles

Please bring donations to: 938 Valencia St. (between 20^th and 21^st)

When: Monday-Thursday, 9:30am-12:30pm 

If you can't come during these times, please call 415-282-6209 x 27 to arrange a pickup or drop-off time.

Thanks in advance for your donations!

Happy Holidays and New Year!

New Mission & Vision!

As part of our recent strategic plan, Dolores Street updated our Mission Statement to include the scope of all our new programs and created a Vision Statement as well.  

Mission

Dolores Street Community Services works to prevent homelessness, create affordable housing, build community, and empower low-income residents of San Francisco.  We accomplish this through culturally appropriate neighborhood-based services, education, advocacy, and community organizing.

Vision

We envision a vibrant and diverse San Francisco where multiple cultures, life experiences and contributions are honored, and all people live with dignity and hope.  Our vision is of a just and sustainable community where all residents – regardless of income, immigration or health status – have equal rights and access to resources, and are empowered to fully participate in shaping the City’s future.  Our work toward this vision is guided by the belief that the people most affected by poverty, inequity and injustice should be leaders in creating solutions for the problems they face.

We recently received this wonderful letter from students at Saint Ignatius College Prep and wanted to share it with everyone.

ICE RAIDS 

Hello SF city staff and community supporters:

Thanks to our city, labor and community organizations partnership through the Sanctuary City work – attorneys were present and ready to deal with our residents, families were provided support and we sent a clear message about our city’s commitment to being a city for all.  Since Friday, we continue to hear that ICE is driving around our neighborhoods sending panic to Mission residents. 

We want to thank each of you for your role in the Sanctuary City work.  While we can not stop ICE from violating our city, we can provide some relief to the families impacted. While many have been involved in this effort the offices of Tom Ammiano and Chris Daly, MOCD, DPH and the Mayor’s office have been particularly invaluable in providing support on this issue. United Way also stepped up in a big way by providing a hotline people could call for help.  We have been working with the American Lawyers Association, SFOP, BAIRC, the Interfaith Coalition, the SF Labor Council and countless other groups to support families in need.  

Just this morning we got another couple of folks who walked in requesting legal representation because family members were picked up the Embarcadero last night… it is awful!  Unfortunately we expect more raids to come.  The good news is we will be better prepared. Please keep up the goodwill and support to our immigrant families –they need it now more than ever.  

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call us. 

On behalf of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network

Ana C. Perez, Executive Director
Central American Resources Center (CARECEN)

Eric Quezada, Executive Director
Dolores Street Community Services

SF CHRONICLE REACHES NEW LOW
FALSELY BLAMES HOMELESS COALITION FOR FATAL OVERDOSE

- By Jennifer Friedenbach, Coalition on Homelessness

In an outlandish and brazenly dishonest article by Chuck Nevius, columnist for the SF Chronicle, the Coalition on Homelessness citation defense program is blamed for the overdose of James Hill, a man who passed away recently in the San Francisco Library's Main Branch.

Last week I made the mistake of reading one of C.W. Nevius's  columns on homelessness in the Chronicle.  I was so outraged at the column that I made a few calls to other Homeless Service Providers to vent. I was planning to write to the Chronicle but dropped it, however today in the letters to the Editor Someone else wrote a letter that shed some light on the issue.  So I hope it is ok to reprint his letter on our blog. - Eric Quezada