Blog 1A: Community Interests

Labor Day was not the most beneficial day for me to venture off into the Western Addition, conducting interviews and researching community centers on barren streets with the sun pounding against me. 

After taking my feelings out on a chocolate milkshake somewhere on Fillmore between O'Farrel and Geary, I headed back out, scoured the streets of my beat for community bulletins and meeting grounds hidden amongst the residential developments and manicured parks. 

(A group of regulars gathering behind the KIPP: San Francisco Bay Academy on Geary Blvd.)

With Geary Boulevard's influx of homeless people in and around recreational centers, I came about the Jones Memorial United Methodist Church, which hosts a food pantry at its 1975 Post St. location for those who are less fortunate in a community that has gone through decades of gentrification. 

For other issues at hand, the SFPD's Northern Station hosts a monthly community forum the second Thursday of every month in order to bridge current community concerns and the officials who regulate our safety. 

In addition to district concerns, there are over 10 active neighborhood watch programs in the Western Addition, according to San Francisco SAFE.