Category Archives: Volume 11/Issue 05

Stay Healthy In Hayes Valley

By Bob Barnwell

We may not have many doctor’s offices or dental clinics in Hayes Valley but we have a large number of complementary and specialized health businesses in our area.  From Good Medicine Consult and Advocacy, one of the newest members of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, to Through the Hayes Optometry, one of the longest business members of HVNA, there are many health professionals in our neighborhood.


From left to right: Lael Duncan, MD, Jennifer Brokaw, MD, Sara Stephens, RN, BSN

Good Medicine Consult and Advocacy has been in Hayes Valley for three years and does what their name says—consult with and advocate for their clients.  Located at 368 Hayes they have an office that includes two doctors, three registered nurses,  a pharmacist and an insurance specialist.  Founded by Doctor Jennifer Brokaw they are there to help patients with current health issues and chronic health concerns.  Good Medicine also works in advanced care planning and in educating their clients before a medical crisis occurs.  They can help you in your end of life wishes. At (415) 865-0300 Good Medicine Consult and Advocacy provides services that improve care, reduce anxiety and enhance communications between all medical providers.


Acupuncture office: Photo courtesy Rose Glavin

Across the street at 379 Hayes is Rose Glavin L.Ac.  A licensed acupuncturist Rose graduated from an American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco.  She has been in Hayes Valley for 7 years.  While many in her profession specialize in pain treatment Rose specializes in women’s health,  specifically fertility.   At (415) 686-2789 the initial consultation is 90 minutes for a complete overview for needs for acupuncture and herbal medicine.  Rose also lives in Hayes Valley with her husband and four young children.

If in need of an ‘emotional tune-up’ for your relationship, or for grief, or other life crisis, one might visit the home/office of Anne M. Pincus, PhD., who is a Clinical Psychologist practicing in our area.  As you climb the stairs of her Victorian home in Hayes Valley you know the office is comfortable and very private.  Practicing for over 25 years and in Hayes Valley for ten years, Anne sees mostly adults and couples’ saving a few of her 25 hours offered weekly for adolescents.  As a client, you might have a chance to visit her special sand play area, which holds many miniatures and a small sandtray—to work with as part of your therapy process.  Anne welcomes your calls anytime at (415) 431-3331 if you are seeking more information about psychotherapy.

Through the Hayes Optometry is celebrating their 10th year in Hayes Valley.  At 529 Hayes, Dr. Therese Langille is welcoming a long time friend as a new partner, Dr. Angela Tam.  With five staff members they see about 40-45 patients a week.   Therese and Angela love giving back and have done volunteer work in Guatemala and elsewhere.  Now concentrating on her own community, Therese has worked at the last five Project Homeless Connects.  At (415) 533-6166 Through the Hayes Optometry provides free exams and glasses for the needy through The Children’s Vision First and California Vision Project.  We are lucky to have Therese and now Angela being so generous in their contributions to the health of our community.

Agesong, an assisted living facility, has two locations in Hayes Valley on Laguna serving 95 patients with 100 employees.  A strong participant in community activities, Agesong sponsors many events in the community including the May 2011 Holistic Health Fair.  This event involved many of the health businesses in Hayes Valley.  They may be reached at (415) 318-8670.

Once you get healthy in Hayes Valley, stay healthy at Live Fit Gym 301 Fell st at Gough.  The gym is open 5:30AM 10 11:00PM and they have at least 11 fitness classes.  They provide chiropractic care MWF and everybody’s favorite health care, massage, 7 days a week.  They have been here 1 ½ years and may be reached at (415) 525-4354.

We  know there are other chiropractors, acupuncturists, psychologists, optometrists and long term care facilities in our area and we encourage you to stay local.  Many are small businesses and employ people who live here.  Remember—to get healthy and stay healthy you do not have to go far from Hayes Valley.

SF Zen Center: The Practice of Perspective

By Jarrod Shappell

If you live in the area, I assume that you have seen the tall classical arches and open atrium of 300 Page St. The beauty of the San Francisco Zen Center, designed by Julia Morgan in 1922, has beckoned me for months, so I recently scheduled a tour.

Upon arriving for my tour I was met by a Zen Priest wearing her robes. She told me that she was on her way to the OccupySF rally and that someone else would have to show me around. She apologized profusely and quickly left. A Zen Priest canceled on me for a protest – not what I expected. Throughout my day I would discover that most of my Zen expectations were misguided and that the beauty of the Zen Center was in its awareness to the needs and activities of neighbor and city.

The San Francisco Zen Center was founded in 1969 by Shunryu Suzuki and practices what they call “engaged Buddhism.” This hospitable posture towards the community began when Suzuki, a small man (as depicted by the life-size art piece in the Zen Center today), invited English-speaking young American students, with no previous Zen training, to sit with him and the Japanese community in a Japanese temple on Bush Street. Suzuki’s practice attracted the spiritually curious beatniks and together they formed one of America’s first zen communities. His hope for this group, or “sangha,” was that their practice would open them up to the diverse and changing world.

My tour with Myoki, my very inviting and informative guide, began with an experience and explanation of zazen meditation. Zazen is a way of “just sitting” that is an invitation to both rest and center, and is central to the Soto Zen school of practice. Taking off my shoes, I walked into the Buddha room. Just being in the dark room peppered with floor pillows lowered
my heart rate. The Zen Center offers free meditation instruction every Saturday morning at 8:30 am, and according to Myoki, each week is different so you can go back more than once and get a different perspective.

After several moments in the Buddha room, we moved to the ornate and tranquil patio garden. Central to the garden is a solar powered fountain. On this sunny October day the water was flowing steadily. The wind spun around the trees, each planted to honor a new abbot as they joined the Zen Center. At the foot of the trees are newly planted edibles that the staff uses for meals (which are available for under $10 for class or meditation participants). The space is both an invitation to peace and an embodiment of their love for the
earth.

After begrudgingly exiting the sunny patio, I made my way downstairs and nearly ran into a marching band size set of instruments. These beautiful bells and drums are essential to setting the rhythms of their practice. The slow rumble of the “han drum” was a call to meditation. The ringing “densho bell” an invitation to zazen. As these instruments resonated I couldn’t help
but feel like the Zen Center has been keeping rhythm for Hayes Valley all along, and most of us just don’t know it.

At the Zen Center you get the sense that they really want their space, classes, and practice to invite the neighborhood into this spiritual rhythm. This is seen in all of their current offerings, which include classes, tours, an the very popular Dharma Talks (Saturday, 10:15 a.m.). They have offerings for specific demographics such as the Young Urban Zen group and the Queer Dharma group, and classes such as Meditation in Recovery.

After a trip past the kitchen and through a classroom, Myoki and I walked the stairs to the roof. What a view! Living in a valley you forget the views offered to you by our city’s hills. Sitting in my chair, looking past solar panels and their very own bee colony, I could see all of Hayes Valley. As I sat thinking about all that the Zen Center offers to our community, I was struck by the view. There are few, if any, places with a view of Hayes Valley like the Zen Center. And for me, this is the unique gift that the Zen Center offers our community: perspective.

Bringing New Life to our Hayes Valley Streets

By Lauren Daley

I met long time Hayes Valley resident Elyze Stewart a couple of months ago while she was watering her sidewalk garden at Haight and Laguna. I have long admired the beautiful green space in front of her home and was able to speak with Elyze about her garden in more depth.

Elyze is a Somatic Therapist and moved to the neighborhood from Sante Fe in 1982. She is originally from Canada. The house she moved into was built in 1886 and was originally a commune connected to the SF Zen Center. But like the surrounding community, it underwent some changes over time and Elyze was able to buy into the building in the 90’s. She has always been a strong proponent of designated community open space. Once she purchased her home, she worked with Friends of the Urban Forrest (FUF) as a Community Liaison and organized a street tree planting along Laguna between Waller Street and Haight Street. All of the kumquat trees along the East 100 block of Laguna are thanks to Elyze’s, FUF’s, and the community’s efforts.

When the sidewalk in front of her home was cited for minor cracks in 2008, she and the other co-owners of the building decided to take the opportunity to replace parts of the sidewalk with gardens. The City of San Francisco encourages this because it diverts stormwater out of the city’s system by allowing more rainwater to be retained in the soil. Often sidewalk cracks are caused by growing tree roots. Thus, taking out concrete and replacing it with planted soft ground is the best long-term solution to fixing the problem. Elyze worked with the other owners of the building Guy and Trey (who also have a sidewalk garden), friend and garden designer Michelle Schaal, and a landscape architect, Jane Martin, at Shift Design, to get the gardens done.

Elyze did all the planting for her gardens and continues to learn as she goes. She mentioned that it is important to choose plants that are hearty, safe to the touch, and plants that are not too expensive, to avoid possible theft. If you plant in pots, use ones that are very durable and put something heavy like a large stone or concrete on the bottom under the soil. Elyze prefers drought tolerant, mostly native plants. She has found succulents to be a little tender and plants mainly perennials. She has also planted some irises, daffodils, narcissus, and sparaxis. An interesting feature of the gardens is the bricks. They are from an original 1886 chimney that was removed from the house and are now repurposed as pavers.

What Elyze values most about her sidewalk gardens is the creativity she gets to express through them, the birds and butterflies attracted to them, and that they change everyday with different things blooming. She has nurtured a bit of natural habitat on a bustling urban street that everyone gets to benefit from. The next time you are walking on Laguna, take note of Elyze’s gardens and allow yourself to get inspired. And don’t hesitate to ask her any questions if you happen to run into her watering her garden. She’s happy to offer advice and you’ll be glad you did.

President’s Column


By Karen Mauney-Brodek

As an urban planner and architect by training, my vacations are always research projects. I recently had the opportunity to take a trip to some undeniably great cities: Paris, Bordeaux, Rome, Florence, and some other smaller towns in France and Italy. As I visit other cities, I find myself wanting to learn what makes each city unique, work, and thrive. I’m always asking myself, what makes people like me want to visit this place? Every time a local in these great cities asked where I was visiting from, and I replied that I lived in San Francisco, everyone – I think EVERYONE – said something like “OH I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO, I COULD LIVE THERE, I VISITED ONCE, AND IT IS SO GREAT….” It was really quite something to hear people say this about my city as I was having these conversations while standing in other amazing cities.

This holiday season I will be celebrating and giving thanks for what makes our city great, our neighborhood great and trying to build on those wonderful things. The Hayes Street Block Party is the evening of Friday, December 2nd, and I hope to see everyone there. Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) sets up booths with other community organizations like Community Partners United and we’ll have free hot chocolate, cider and cookies, to enjoy with the live music on Patricia’s Green. Please come out and say hi to us and enjoy what makes our city the envy of Parisians and Romans and other proud urban dwellers around the world.

Public Safety Recap

By Bob Barnwell

On October 3rd we had a good Public Safety that included nine panelists from city departments and city wide non-profit groups discussing crimes against businesses and non-profit groups.  From the notes of the meeting a team that included Maria McDonald, Jay Werber and Larry Cronander designed a flyer that was passed out around the neighborhood.  To see the flyer check our blog public safety bulletin ‎ or e-mail Bob Barnwell at safety@hayesvalleysf.org for a copy.  Our next meeting is Monday, January 8, 2012.

Share your knowledge

By Brooke Agee

We need your experience! Experience Corps, an award-winning tutoring and mentoring program, is currently seeking volunteers ages 55 and older to share their life experience to support students in literacy in grades K-3. This intergenerational exchange has has been proven to not only boost students’ academic performance, but also to improve the health and well-being of older adults and build stronger communities in the process. Volunteers are asked to commit for one full school year for a minimum of four hours per week. The unique experience and talent of older adults is the foundation of Experience Corps, so no prior tutoring experience is necessary, and training is provided. Volunteers are currently needed at John Muir Elementary and other San Francisco public schools. If you are interested in this fun and rewarding volunteer opportunity, email ecba.today@gmail.com or call (415) 759-4223.

After School Programs – Fun For All

By Xavier Serrato

Vision Academy offer services to children from all walks of life with an educational philosophy to guide students to empower themselves. We provide students with an opportunity to learn and enhance their skills in an academically challenging, creative and fun environment so that they can enjoy a bright and successful future.

The Vision Academy is excited to bring our after school program to The Greater Gethsemane Church in Hayes Valley! This beautiful San Francisco church has been a pillar of the community and together we provide a safe and encouraging environment where children will excel.

After successfully running two summer camps this year, Vision Academy is now offering three after school programs in Bay View, Hayes Valley and the Mission District. Each program provides another set of exciting tools and activities that will teach students to learn and enhance their skills in a variety of subjects such as math and will allow them to adapt and communicate with other children and enjoy a large selection of games. Participants have access to the latest technology, such as iPads, which will serve as positive reinforcements for learning. The iPads offer math games, and the kids enjoy using the new technology to learn.

The summer camps opened in June 2011 and offered an excellent learning opportunity for underserved children in the San Francisco area. The summer camp costs $10 for a three hours day.

Vision Academy does not deny services to any family due to the lack of funds, which enables all participants to have access to volunteer instructors that worked with the children for up to 10 hours per day teaching chess, music and art in addition to organizing field trips and sporting events.   Community churches and other local organizations have offered their facilities for the programs to ensure that the after school programs are held in a safe environment.

Visit Vision Academy today at 2867 22nd Street San Francisco CA or call them at (415) 886-7951 to learn more about the programs. Youth can still join the program for this school year. Visit:  www.thevisionacademy.org/ to learn more about the academy and activity updates.

Come Together

By Richard Johnson

Even a decade ago our neighborhood was quite different.  Our community was a neighborhood in transition. We had a long history of being neglected by city hall, were ground zero for drug dealers, prostitutes, crime and violence.  Safety concerns forced many residents to seek refuge in their homes.  This caused isolation and led to a fragmented community. A wave of newcomers seeking affordable rents relocated to the Western Addition and compounded the negative effects of previous gentrification.  Rent prices spiked forcing more neighbors out.  Fear and discontent bubbled up and grew.

In a move to build community, Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA), under the leadership of Patricia Walkup, assumed the first role of community builder in Hayes Valley in the early nineties.  Patricia’s success in outreaching to key community stakeholders convinced many to join HVNA as partners to advocate for a safe community.  A simple vision based on safety laid the early groundwork for the resiliency of present day Hayes Valley.  Along the way we came to realize addiction, redevelopment, broken homes, few supportive services, low or no education and the need to earn a living are the prime causes that drive the cycle of crime and violence.  To reverse this cycle, HVNA partnered with Safety Network to co-found Hayes Valley Community Partners (HVCP) in 2002.  HVCP initial goal was to reach out to key community stakeholders and convince them to become founding partners in a collaboration whose number one priority was to reverse and break the cycle of crime and violence rampant throughout the Western Addition.  We choose the simple mission to foster a safe and caring community as our founding principal.  The belief in a just and equitable society, where everyone is given the opportunity to access ample resources to achieve their greatest potential, motivates us to advocate for the betterment of all segments of our community.  Since our inception we have added new partners, expanded our area of advocacy to include Lower Haight/Hayes Valley/Western Addition and changed our name, in 2007, to Community Partners United (CPU).

CPU hosts community gatherings, throughout the year, to bolster our neighborhood connections.  Since our first season, we still rely on food, entertainment and conversation to bring community together.  Positive interaction among diverse communities helps to breakdown barriers, reduce turf wars, create new friendships and to bridge the intergenerational gap between youth and seniors.  Each year, for the last nine years, we end each year with our “Fostering a Safe and Caring Holiday Season”, which now goes from Halloween to late December.  We gather to celebrate community while supporting one another and help to reduce the stress and strain associated with the holidays.

In keeping with our tradition of community building, I extend an invitation to all to attend and participate in our 10th Annual Fostering a Safe and Caring Holiday Season 2011.  What could be more important during these uncertain times than to come together and support each other?

You and your family are cordially invited to attend the following events;

Thanksgiving Dinner: Saturday, November 19th

Giving Voice to the Season “Music in Patricia’s Green and Community Mixer”: Friday, December 2nd 

Hayes Valley Merchants Block Party: Friday, December 2nd

Wreath and Card Making Event: Saturday, December 10th

Food Give Away to over 250 families: December 15th and 16th  

Community Luncheon: Saturday, December 17th

Community Partners United provides free food, fun, entertainment and venue.  All you have to do is show up and have a great time.  Please refer to the back page of the Voice to see the calendar for times and location of all scheduled functions.  I look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming community events!

Follow Those Greens!

By Booka Alon and Project Open Hand

Our number one question at the farm is, “where does your food go?” We are proud to share this story by Project Open Hand, that gives a little insight about the distribution of what we are growing at Hayes Valley Farm.

Project Open Hand is a local non-profit organization providing nutritional support to people living with HIV, serious illness and the elderly. Our goal at POH is to feed the body, mind and soul, through healthy meals, groceries and nutritional information, all delivered with love by our dedicated staff and volunteers. Project Open Hand is a huge fan of the Hayes Valley Farm. We are not only inspired by the urban organic and sustainable permaculture but incredibly grateful for the 25-pound donation of delicious produce that is collected from the farm each week to help support our Breast Cancer program. We strive to provide every client with the most nutritious & quality products, for which Hayes Valley Farm is among the most excellent of sources!

Project Open Hand started receiving produce from the farm in April, 2011, and it has quickly become a weekly favorite among our clients. When the delivery from Hayes Valley Farm is received, opening each produce box feels like uncovering hidden treasure! The produce is an array of varying delights: arugula flowers, different squashes, campari tomatoes, russian kale – you name it. No matter how varied the harvest may be, every single item is guaranteed to be delicious. Our staff and volunteers bag a medley of the fruit and vegetables in individual portions where it is then offered in our Grocery Center. The Grocery Center is a program developed for our clients to select from a menu of choices from each food group consisting of produce, proteins, dairy, grains, legumes and beverages. The selected items in a grocery bag at POH total 1/3 of one’s nutritional requirements for the week. Good nutrition can help an individual stay stronger and lead a healthier life and farm-fresh produce, free of chemicals and grown with love, is excellent nourishment.

Music for Democracy

By Murrey Nelson

The late 1970’s in San Francisco saw a flourishing of smaller performing arts groups, among them, Chanticleer. Founded in 1978 by Louis A. Botto, Chanticleer, was established to read the music of the Renaissance, just as the early music wave was sweeping over the Bay Area. Early choral music was always sung by men, thus Chanticleer is comprised of twelve male voices, six of them counter-tenors, which is one of the distinguishing features of the group.

As Chanticleer gained local recognition, they were encouraged to go on the road, which led to them developing repertoire beyond early music, such as jazz gospel. The early 1980’s saw the group really come into its own, establishing its own recording label and going fully professional. For the last twenty years Chanticleer has been a full-time employer of its musicians, allowing them to focus on their singing. Chanticleer has won two Grammys and was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

I recently sat down with Christine Bullen, Executive Director of Chanticleer, to learn more about them. A Chanticleer Christmas, is the centerpiece of their performance schedule. This year’s show, which opens on December 10th, will feature music of the Spanish Renaissance, older English carols, and a gospel medley.

Image by Lisa Kohler, Courtesy Chanticleer

Following their Christmas shows here in the Bay Area, they will be touring some of the major halls in Europe, then heading back home to test new music for their next tour, and collaborate with Brent Michael David on his score for DW Griffith’s silent film “Leatherstocking.” In June, they will reprise their popular Mission Road tour, performing in six missions between San Francisco and Santa Barbara. The group does some 100 performances a year, approximately 50 of which are in the U.S.

Chanticleer has been based in Hayes Valley for the last 4 ½ years, at 44 Page Street. The location gives them the advantage of office and rehearsal space in the same building, a luxury for any performance group. Their Bay Area performances are in churches and cathedrals, as well as in non-religious performance spaces. Bullen acknowledged that some audiences just don’t feel comfortable in a house of worship.

In 1986, Chanticleer launched an education program, taking their singing into the public schools. They now employ a full-time education director, who used to be in the ensemble. Chanticleer recently constructed a Bay Area mixed Youth Chorus – singers aged 14-20 to promote high-level, small ensemble training for the area’s top young singers and to provide community service through free performances. They view their educational work as building social capital, because choral music is highly democratic. Choral music has the biggest grass roots base of any art form, and a recent impact study showed that choral singers have the highest level of civic engagement of any other performing artists: they vote, volunteer, and contribute philanthropically to their communities. Today’s world needs more choral singers.

For tickets and program schedules: www.chanticleer.org/concerts-and-tickets