The Taylor Street Center in San Francisco, CA, is proud of what they do for and in their community. Taylor Street Center believes it is an important part of any program for participants to be involved in community activities and giving back by volunteering.
The events range from helping the City of San Francisco monthly with the City Clean program, planting trees, and cleaning neighborhoods, to feeding the homeless at St. Anthony’s dining hall. Other events have included coordinating with the local police department in setting up for The National Night Out, participants volunteering to hand out water for the San Francisco Marathon, and helping the GLIDE Memorial Foundation with its harm reduction program. Our volunteer program is not mandatory, but we get a great turn out every time. Not only do they participate in group volunteering events, but many participants choose to volunteer on their own. Some enjoy volunteering at City Impact, where they deliver meals and participate with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition by providing input on the effects of imprisonment.
Of all the programs, there is one program that garners participant pride above the others, and that is the work being done in collaboration with the United Playaz (UP). UP is an organization started by an exoffender who was born and raised in San Francisco. The organization does a variety of things for the children in the inner city of San Francisco. The participants, especially the long term offenders, are really committed to volunteering in the UP program.
Some examples of the volunteer activities participants are the most proud of are escorting the children from their school to the UP headquarters where the participants assist the children with their homework, mentor them, escort them to play basketball, being a chaperon on field trips, and fostering them with values and morals the children may be lacking. The founder of the UP program has seen and commented on the wide range of notable differences in the behavior of the children and continues to foster the relationship between the Taylor Street Center and his program. It’s clear that the Taylor Street Center participants believe in restorative justice, and community involvement is paramount to them; by virtue and by value. By volunteering their time and giving back to the community, they are proud of the work they continue to do on a daily basis.
Pictured: Participants and staff volunteer in a park for a community clean event in San Francisco. Jason Carpenter, Program Manager is pictured centered in the front row, and to his right is CDCR Parole Agent Dina Aguilar with Parolee Service Center volunteers.
