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San Francisco Monthly City-Wide Meeting
In-Person and Bilingual
Thursday, December 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Congregation Sha'ar Zahav/
First Mennonite Church of San Francisco
290 Dolores St., San Francisco
(At the corner of 16th and Dolores)
Masks and vaccination are required
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Help us keep building the momentum of the November citywide meeting! On December 2 we will discuss a vision for organizing in the coming months. The specific focus will be on protecting low-income and working people from eviction through the development of housing subsidies. This vision is rooted in conversations Faith in Action Bay Area leaders have had with over 2,000 community members in the last few months. The meeting will be held at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav/First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, 290 Dolores Street.
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A full house at last month's in-person, bilingual citywide meeting at our San Francisco office!
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To recap our November citywide meeting: 35 leaders gathered in Faith in Action's San Francisco office, representing 15 congregations. Ages ranged from late teens to 70s, with nearly an equal number of English- and Spanish-speakers, along with a handful of bilingual people. All monolingual participants wore headsets and our interpreter did an excellent job shifting between languages. Many expressed emotion at finally being together in person again. For Faith in Action Bay Area veterans, it was a moving time of reunion, and for others, it was an energizing new beginning.
During the breakout sessions, leaders shared stories of their pandemic experience--being isolated from friends and families, getting the opportunity to get to know one's self better and to re-examine relationships, becoming ill with COVID-19 or losing loved ones to the disease, or losing work and wages and struggling financially. The group discussed next steps--envisioning a vacancy tax on the 40,000+ vacant units in the city, while many struggle to hold on to their housing and thousands are on the street. One leader offered these closing words: "Salvation is not individual, it's collective. Moses didn't reach the promised land, but the people did. We are on that journey!"
We'll see you and any members of your congregation you wish to invite at next week's meeting!
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