Anyone who has ever tried to get in shape knows that one workout does not yield a six-pack. It takes both hard work and consistency to really move the needle. Daily choices are the building blocks of our lives. Making a real impact in our cities is no different. Roger Huang, founder of San Francisco City Impact, is a shining example of what consistent, daily action can do to transform a neighborhood. Life in the Tenderloin The Tenderloin is a 224 square acre district within 1 mile of San Francisco City Hall. Despite its proximity to local government leadership, it was largely ignored for decades. Over 60% of San Francisco’s homeless population lives in this tiny neighborhood. And the majority of the 1,360 drug overdoses in the city of San Francisco over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic took place in the Tenderloin (outmatching COVID deaths in the city by a wide margin). How does a city reckon with such concentrated inequity? How does a neighborhood sitting in city hall’s backyard get overlooked? Huang has been asking these questions and doing something about them for nearly four decades. Huang moved to the Tenderloin as a young man to work in a large hotel. The owner of the hotel made a tremendous amount of money developing and selling cheap real estate — money that would never make its way back into the local community. While working there, Huang witnessed kids on the streets living in abject poverty and neglect. “[I was] taken by what I saw…I felt like God wanted me to go do something.” Huang saw something of himself in these children. He had grown up with a physically abusive father. After 17 years of abuse, Huang ran away from home with no money, no relatives, and no prospects. He was homeless, living life on the streets, bouncing from one restaurant job to another. He felt a depth of loneliness and abandonment that so many in homelessness feel every day. “I became a loner. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I didn’t really open up to anybody until I was 27.” After experiencing a faith conversion, however, Huang’s whole life was reoriented. The walls of isolation started falling. He wanted to tell other people about his experience of God, but he knew practical demonstrations of love would pave the way to those conversations. Armed with bags of homemade sandwiches, he and his wife went to the streets, meeting the people’s immediate needs as best they could. Their makeshift outreach would eventually turn into a robust organization with scores of volunteers and innovative approaches in the fight for their neighborhood. 33 Days of Hunger, 36 Years of Service San Francisco City Impact started with those sandwich bags and continues as the result of abiding commitment. The Huangs didn’t get into the nonprofit sector to make a name for themselves or build a successful organization and then disappear. They aren’t “doing it for the ‘gram.” They have spent a lifetime demonstrating how long-term service can change the face of a city. “I always say, ‘Don’t prostitute the tenderloin.’ You take a few pictures, you do some good deeds — you can make quite a bit of money. That’s not why we’re here.” Just one example of Hunag’s radical commitment was a 33 day hunger strike outside City Hall. His demands were a protected park for children, bi-weekly cleaned streets, public toilet monitoring to guard against drug abuse, reduction of liquor licenses to the regional legal limit, and the closing of illicit establishments near churches and schools. After a public outcry to help the starving protestor, the mayor finally caved. Every single demand was met, and on live television at that. Ensuring the Future San Francisco City Impact now owns multiple buildings in the Tenderloin, each one purposed for specific community outreaches. They offer shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, academic support and programs for impoverished youth, and much more. They are cultivating new generations of young volunteers. These people are innovating new ways to help their city. After years in this work, Huang is not leaving the future of the Tenderloin to chance. By staying open and stoking the fires of creativity in young people, he hopes to see the mission of San Francisco City Impact thrive long after he is gone. The power of longevity, showing up day after day for what really matters–that’s a lesson we can all take from Roger Huang’s work. His unwavering commitment has laid a strong foundation on which his community can keep building. He is constructing a legacy by building up others, one brick at a time.
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