Beginning in 2001 SF Revival was active in helping the homeless in and around San Francisco.  Then in 2006 we began a more vigorous full-time effort with innovative programs like Street Angels and SFHomeless.net, while continuing our non-denominational good deeds to help those who needed help most.

2016 is our final year.  Our board of directors has voted to terminate our corporate identity as of December 2016.  But we will continue to be individually active and maintain the many many connections we have made during our 16 years of homeless outreach. 

Thank you to all of our supporters and friends during our 16 years!  Your support made our work possible.  We were involved in hundreds of lives directly, and countless lives in our other work, such as the wiki, networking, and advice and training given often and freely.  There is no one solution for homelessness, but many people and solutions linked together in a chain.  We were an important link, and our supporters were part of our link to others working on the same noble cause.

One of our most public contributions was the homeless resources wiki SFHomeless.net which was co-founded by SF Revival along with others in the community, and hopefully the community will continue to maintain it.  We will also check in periodically as private citizens to make sure the wiki is kept in the best condition possible, and that the original dream of community managed resource information is kept alive.

One of our side projects that will have an impact after our closure is the Moses documentary.  SF Revival was an active advisor and participant in the documentary in that Moses was an original client of SF Revival, and we stayed active in his life when he decided to be part of the film.  Our relationship with Moses grew in unexpected and miraculous ways, beginning very humbly and now being part of a major film.  We are very proud of our involvement, and feel a bit sad that SF Revival won’t be around when the film comes out in 2017.  But again we will still be involved as individuals.

I encourage everyone to see the Moses documentary when it comes out.  The documentary highlights a lot of the lessons learned during our 16 years.  Most importantly, that the homeless are equally valued and important as every other human on this planet.  The superficial judgments people make when seeing them in their desperate poverty and condition keeps people from seeing this value.  Time and time again I would begin to know someone I met on the street, and learn the details of their lives that reaffirmed this value and truth.  If I had one prayer upon closing SF Revival, it would be that everyone could see the equal value of everyone else, no matter what their condition is, no matter what brought them to that place.  It could easily be you or me if our lives had been different, so who wouldn’t morally do what they can to help?  Who wouldn’t want the same help if it was you on the street, or your family member, or best friend?

The last 10 years has seen unbelievable numbers of people forced to the streets.  And many communities have responded by criminalizing poverty and basic survival.  Please do what you can not only to help people, but awaken others to treat all people with dignity, and end any action that increases their suffering.  It will require a realignment of society’s values and priorities to achieve large numbers of people coming to that realization, but I believe there is significant movement toward that goal.  Let’s pray we might see it in our lifetime!

 

David Beall, Executive Director

Email: david@sfrevival.org