teaching vs. giving

I know....could I be any more literal? But it's such a pretty picture...

I know….could I be any more literal? but it’s such a pretty picture…

Before we say good-bye to 2015, here’s a final share. But really it’s not me sharing, it’s them. Delancey Street Foundation and Tender Greens both work to teach people who need support to find it within. They teach people in need the skills to take their lives in new directions.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. ~Maimonides

photo courtesy sfsu.edu

photo courtesy sfsu.edu

Delancey Street Foundation: I worked around the corner from the Delancey Street Foundation when it was being constructed on San Francisco’s waterfront. It was one of the early developments in the South Beach area and a lot nicer looking than much of what was going up at that time. I wanted to move in. They told me I’d have to go to jail first. Dang. Delancey Street began in 1971 in an apartment run by an ex-felon and served as the beginning of what would become a much larger community of people who had messed up and didn’t want to anymore. Delancey Street provides business training in a myriad of businesses: Christmas tree lots, moving companies, restaurant, catering, advertising, transit, printing and more to ex-cons, prostitutes, drug addicts and others who have hit rock bottom. Through training and community they are able to re-build their lives. According to some this is the most effective rehabilitation program in the world. Based in San Francisco, Delancey Street now also has locations in New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Los Angeles and soon Massachusetts. Run by the amazing Mimi Silbert, who has been involved from the beginning, Delancey Street continues to change the lives of so many by teaching.

tender greens

photo courtesy tenders greens

Tender Greens: Based out of LA, Tender Greens has a number of restaurant locations throughout California. They focus on local, sustainable products from farms with whom they’ve built strong relationships, and they serve food that is simple and healthful. In addition to their restaurants, Tender Greens began a program in 2009 called the Sustainable Life Project which aids (mostly) kids aging out of the foster care system. When foster kids turn 18, the foster system no longer supports them (although some states, including California, have programs that some kids can apply to which extend their support another two years) and they are left to find their way on their own. As a parent I am aware of how much support my own kids need as they approach and pass this age. At this point, the support net for these foster kids is minimal at best and many end up struggling to survive. Tender Greens provides a 6 month internship and teaches them about work ethic, food, cooking, managing a budget and other life skills. Once the internship is over, the kids have an opportunity to apply for a job at Tender Greens or receive support to find work elsewhere. The statistics on foster kids who ‘age-out’ are dismal. Tender Greens is changing the statistics, one child at a time.

On a personal note, if you have an organization that would like to begin a program like Tender Greens’, call me. I’d like to help.

So that’s it folks….2015 is a wrap.

I hope you find ways to see the good and be the good through the holidays and in 2016 Click To Tweet

Keep in touch,
Leslie