Western Addition | Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Making Space to Create

This week, Yessenia Gomez, STEAM Coordinator at Rosa Parks Elementary School, talks about the new makerspace — a collaboration with the McCarthy Center’s Engage San Francisco and Good Tidings Foundation. My name is Yessenia Gomez, I am the STEAM Coordinator at Rosa Parks Elementary. This past August our school’s makerspace was renovated by a collaboration…

Community Partnership Innovation Fund Recipients

Celebrating Innovative Partnerships

The McCarthy Center and Engage San Francisco will be celebrating the 2019 Community Partnership Innovation Fund (CPIF) recipients on April 4, 5:30 -7:30 p.m. at the African American Art & Culture Complex! Members of the wider McCarthy Center Community are invited to join us in commemoration. This evening will be an opportunity for USF faculty, staff,…

Congrats to our 2017-18 Award-Winners!

As the end of the school year draws nearer, we reflect on all the people who have helped to advance our mission. Our 2017-18 awards recognize emerging leaders and influential community partners that value public service and the common good. Please join us in congratulating them! Crystal Vega, ’18 2018 Leo T. McCarthy Award for Public Service This award…

Join our April Day of Action

Tamara Walker is the Outreach Manager for the Buchanan Mall Initiative at Citizen Film, a non-profit documentary media organization and an Engage San Francisco community partner, based in the Western Addition. On Saturday, April 14th, Citizen Film, Community Grows, the Rosa Parks Senior Center and a team of neighborhood volunteers will be rolling up our…

“Success” in the Western Addition

Michael Anderson, Campus-Community Liaison / Engage San Francisco At any given moment we suffer the curse of being banished to the present. The totality of human beings on the planet right now are given no option other than right now. At no points in one’s life is an individual least cognizant of this fact than…

Planting Seeds of Change Together

Melissa Tang, Director of Programs, CommunityGrows As San Francisco is dealing with the consequences of unequal economic growth and gentrification, there is a greater need for communities to band together in solidarity. I work for CommunityGrows, a small grassroots youth development organization grown out of the needs of residents from the Western Addition. Twenty-three…

Students in front of community center mural

Building Community Through Engage SF

For several years now, my Engage San Francisco colleagues and I have taken students, staff, faculty, supporters, and administrators on walks in the Western Addition. We intentionally don’t call them tours, as this is the neighborhood we work with, and community partners and community members join us on the walks. Most importantly, the word ‘tour’ rings of…

Engage San Francisco’s Mind, Body and Soul

Dr. Lisa De La Rue is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling Psychology Department, where she also serves as the fieldwork coordinator for the Marriage and Family Therapy program. Eat fruits and vegetables, get enough sleep and exercise regularly. We are all familiar with the common pieces of advice to promote wellness, and to fight…