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Dignity/San Francisco Raises Money for City's Homeless Charities

Dignity/San Francisco has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for four San Francisco charities that each work with the city's homeless population, including one group that works with homeless LGBT youth.

Donations to the GoFundMe page will benefit:

  • Larkin Street Youth Services, which provides housing, education and health services to clients ages 12 to 24
  • St. Martin House of Hospitality, which has history with the Catholic Worker Movement
  • Coalition on Homelessness, which is pushing the Housing Authority to turn the city's vacant lots over to the homeless, among other projects
  • Project Homeless Connect, which provides essential basics, such as hygiene supplies, dentures, haircuts, and medical services.

The campaign is Dignity/San Francisco's response to news that St. Mary's Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, had an illegal sprinkler system that drenched homeless people sleeping in the church's doorways. According to local news sources, the sprinkler system automatically ran showers every 30 to 60 minutes, and anyone unfortunate enough to seek shelter in the doorways would get wet. Hypothermia was a major risk for people who had few clothes and possessions, and may not have been in the best of health to begin with.

Once investigative journalists broke the story mid-March, the city ordered the two-year-old system to be removed because of building code violations. As to the community of San Francisco, the shock and disgust were palpable.

"At best, this shows disregard for drought-stricken California," Dignity/San Francisco co-chair Emmanuel Romero said. "At worst, this shows disregard for human life. What happened to the love and compassion of Jesus? What happened to the message of Matthew 25, when Jesus spoke about helping 'the least of these'"?

To step up where the archdiocese failed, Dignity San/Francisco set up the GoFundMe page, which has an initial goal of raising $2,500, but will run indefinitely. Visit our GoFundMe page to donate.