Every so often, your sense of reality is turned on its head – – well, that happened to us this past week upon our first visit to the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco. Situated in the heart of the revitalized Embarcadero waterfront is a massive 400,00 sq. foot facility (pictured above), with a restaurant, cafe, housing, community rooms, courtyards, movie theater, event facility – all completely self sufficient, run by the residents of the Delancey Street Foundation. Thanks to Michael DeLane (pictured above with Jay and Jacob), a Captain in the SF Fire Department and part of the leadership of Delancey Street. With facilities in a number of cities now we will let their own words tell the story:
“Delancey is considered the country’s leading residential self-help organization for substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom. Our average resident has been a hard-core drug addict for sixteen years, abusing alcohol and multiple drugs and has dropped out of school at the 7th grade and has been institutionalized several times. Many have been gang members; most have been trapped in poverty for several generations. Rather than hire experts to help the people with problems, we decided to run Delancey Street with no staff and no funding. Like a large family, our residents must learn to develop their strengths and help each other. It’s an approach to changing lives that is “against all odds”.
We said we were going to take ex-convicts and ex-addicts and teach them to be teachers, general contractors, and truck drivers. They said it couldn’t be done. We said we were going to take 250 people who had never worked and had no skills and teach them to build a 400,000 square foot complex as our new home on the waterfront. They said it couldn’t be done. We said we were going to partner with colleges and get people who started out functionally illiterate to achieve bachelor of arts degrees. They said it couldn’t be done. We said we were going to run successful restaurants, moving companies, furniture making, and cafés and bookstores without any professional help. They said it couldn’t be done. We said we were going to do all this with no staff, no government funding, and no professionals. They laughed and said it couldn’t be done.
We struggle a lot but we’ve been doing it. For over 35 years we’ve been developing a model of social entrepreneurship, of education, of rehabilitation and change that is exciting and full of hope. If you need help, or want to help, please contact us. Most of all, we hope you can feel as inspired by ordinary people’s abilities to achieve extraordinary accomplishments as we’ve been.”
For more information on the Miracle on Delancey Street: www.delanceystreetfoundation.org
Matt, Jay and Jacob
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