Everett Middle School combined empathy with education last night as underresourced, predominately Latino families from the Mission came together to share their concerns and traumas over San Francisco’s continuing housing crisis. Held by the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN), this was the second such event of 2014. The first “Housing Town Hall” was held at Bryant […]

On a nondescript stretch of Mission Street—straddling the trendier Mission, Castro and SoMa districts—is the location of the offices of Support for Families of Children with Disabilities (SFF). While this area showcases little of the historic charm for which San Francisco is renowned, inside 1663 Mission, an elevator ride away on the seventh floor, some history of […]

Dolores Terrazas speaks with pride of her dedicated staff of 90 that has made Mission Head Start a mainstay for San Francisco’s Latino community for over 40 years, myriad young lives positively affected over that time. “I enjoy the wonder of experiences of children who have a voice,” profoundly exclaims the Mission native, whose career […]

When I consider how the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink (PNI) does its work with the 50+ communities in our network, I think about how we have developed the national infrastructure for improving the educational and development outcomes for the poorest children in America. PNI has developed a disciplined approach to thinking and moving from talk […]

A sweet eight-year-old approached a volunteer from Target, the awaiting youngster being handed the first of 2,000 free backpacks the company had generously donated to Mission District schoolchildren. The child’s face was aglow as she rifled through the supplies in the backpack–her backpack. “Gracias. Thank you,” the grateful child sheepishly stated, cognizant that she was now […]

It’s always great when synchronicity occurs. This was definitely the case recently for MEDA Job Developer Orrian Willis. How so? Willis had attended a job fair, where he met two recruiters for UCSF, with their niche being temp to perm administration positions in the medical field. Willis nurtured this relationship so that MEDA Workforce Development […]

The definition of a mentor is an “experienced and trusted advisor.” The definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Put these two terms together and a powerful San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) program called Mentoring for Success means that there are currently 620 schoolchildren in the city being afforded a […]

You wouldn’t think seafood paella and backpacks have much in common, right? Well, it’s time to think again! On Tuesday, July 29th, renowned San Francisco eatery Cha Cha Cha is hosting a “Mission Backpack Giveaway Fundraiser & Happy Hour.” The Mission District restaurant has generously offered to donate a portion of the night’s revenue to […]

The “Second City” announced a first-rate move this week: starting September 2nd, each of the approximately 400,000 children enrolled in 652 Chicago public schools will get a free meal each school day. It doesn’t matter if you live at a tony address on the North Side or in an underserved community in the south or […]

Being a family success coach for the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) team is an exciting, impactful job, with its goal of guiding kids on a cradle-to-college-to-career continuum. This federal program is based on the successful Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, now replicated by MEDA and 26 community partners at a quartet of poor-performing schools in San […]