Special Project: City Budget Cuts
Seniors and people with disabilities fight down to the wire to save programs that serve them
As Yogi Berra once said, "it ain't over till it's over." The baseball legend was referring to sports, of course, but the adage...
Life in the Later Lane
Following in the footsteps of heroes: My visit to the cradles of Civil Rights
SF SENIORBEAT COLUMN – March 17, 1886. A date you probably never considered. Carroll County, Mississippi. A...
Nonprofit director is happy to bug you, whether you’re 2 or 92, about saving the wild
If you grow up in Los Angeles, where do you find the wild? Norm Gershenz is not...
Bass playing lawyer takes on the landlords when seniors call for help
During the day, you’ll find Thomas Drohan in court or at his law office on Mission Street....
Former SFSU teacher shifts to helping union workers build leadership abilities
Like some people need coffee, Joan Wong needs to walk – and talk. Mornings, she puts in...
Joe Edley, a three-time national champion, has been racking up great Scrabble scores for decades
Joe Edley tucks his co-authored book, “Everything Scrabble,” under his arm and surveys the room. Around him,...
Robert Wachter, the doctor who is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to treat patients
Robert Wachter is the doctor who oversees all the other doctors at the University of California, San...
Couple beat ‘fast furniture,’ pandemic and other challenges to keep upholstery shop going for nearly 50 years
J & G Upholstery stretches back farther than it looks from the sidewalk on Balboa Street. Stacks...
As the city’s older population swells, seniors who can no longer live at home face high costs, limited choices
EDITOR'S NOTE: See full profiles of the seniors interviewed by clicking links within the story. A panoply...
Stephanie Ernst-Scott runs the last tackle shop in San Francisco. It’s been in her family for 60 years.
Walk through the doors of Gus’ Discount Fishing Tackle, and you’ll likely be greeted before you even...
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Early Catholic roots returns nurse who joined the corporate world to her ideal job: hospital chaplain
Louise DiMattio spent 20 years in the business world, working for Dow Chemical and PacBell. She capped off her working life as a chaplain at the California Pacific Medical Center. That might seem an abrupt switch, but it was a natural conclusion for someone who spent 12 years in Catholic schools, she said. Personal service ...
Historic center keeping records and creating community for the Irish-born, Irish-Americans and the Irish-at-heart for last 45 years
In her latest YouTube video, Jennifer Drennan, wearing protective gloves, holds up an original program from the 1898 Irish Fair, held at the Mechanic’s Pavilion at the San Francisco Civic Center. This is the kind of memorabilia and Irish history found in the J. Patrick Dowling Library at the “United Irish Cultural Center of California” ...
Child of Jim Crow era finds opportunities, advancement, protection ‘from the outside world’ in the U.S. Army
Hunger is something Lavern Simon is familiar with. Not for food but for learning. Born into a segregated Washington D.C., her education was less than inspiring. Her school had few resources. You had to bring your own pencil to school or pay for one, she said. Children went home for lunch each day. Reading lessons ...
From the jungles of Bolivia to On Lok Senior Center, social justice advocate promotes nutritious meals and healthy programs
The knowledge was hard-won, but over the years Valorie Villela discovered the link between nutrition, health and survival. Villela struggled with bulimia from her teens to her 20s. Painful as it was, her conquest of the disorder put her on a path of service and adventure that took her from her native Oregon to the ...
For retired couple, helping out the kids means setting up their house as a pre-school for their grandson
Two-year-old Asher loves trains. So, his grandfather, David Goldberg made him one. Crafted from cardboard, it was big enough for Asher to sit in and move around. “Grandparenting is so different these days,” said David as he pushed and pulled his grandson around, with Asher making train sounds. “I don’t remember my grandparents getting down ...
Volunteer for program providing host housing for LGBTQ+ youth pays it forward for those who once helped her
Growing up in what she describes as “a not very supportive family,” Lynne Painter, now 59, turned to her friends’ parents for support. “Older people mentored me throughout my life,” she said. “I tend to hang out with them.” When she moved to San Francisco in her mid-20s, it was a friend of a friend, ...
