Bayview Mission Christmas Party 2009

On Monday, December 21, 2009, Bayview Mission held its annual Christmas party for local residents.

About 300 of our neighborhood families attended this event, totaling approximately 1200 people! This is a record number for a Bayview event! To help us accomplish this, we were assisted by 48 volunteers.


We give special thanks to all of our many friends who also made this event possible:

Diocese of California

Grace Cathedral

Cathedral School for Boys

Soroptimist International of San Francisco

Katherine Delmar Burke School

Fran Johnson of Tucker, Ellis & West, LLP

St. Francis St. Mary the Virgin

and all individual donors

We are truly blessed to have such a generous, wide-ranging community to help us in this endeavor. Because of this, we were able to make Christmas special for so many in the Bayview/Hunter's Point community this year!

Interview of Susan Napoliello

David Cowen interviewed Susan Napoliello about her work with Bayview Mission in San Francisco:

How did you initially get connected with Nina and Bayview Mission?

My husband and I were living in Malaysia where I was an elementary principal at an international school in Kuala Lumpur. Instead of renewing my contract, we decided we needed to be closer to family. We agreed to take a ‘pause’ from our professional careers and devote ourselves during the first six months of re-entry reconnecting with family and engaging in community service. We chose San Francisco as our home base, as I was born here and we had spent four years in San Francisco prior to seven years overseas. During our last year in KL, I came to San Francisco on business, and one morning I decided to walk up the hill from the Hyatt to attend a service at Grace Cathedral. As I sat in the choir stall and listened to Nina give a homiletic about Bayview Mission, I knew we’d found a place to hang out during the ‘pause!'


I was told you used to work in a part of the Mission called "Produce Land." Please tell us more about this.

On our first day, we were given a choice of assignments: inside the garage packing groceries or outside in ‘Veggie Land’ sorting and bagging produce. It wasn’t a tough choice, as we both enjoyed exercise and fresh air. Soon we were lifting produce bags and boxes, counting the contents and estimating distribution quantities all under the loving supervision of Hal, the ‘Boss of Veggie Land’, as we affectionately called him. After making a ‘test bag’ of produce ranging from melons to cucumbers (It was a different assortment of produce every week depending on the donations we received from the Food Bank), we set-up assembly lines that could accommodate the arrival of volunteers throughout the morning. By noon, we had 5 bins of plastic bags filled with produce ready for distribution.

You started the homeless ministry with the Mission. Please tell us how this came into being and the kinds of work you do with the homeless.

Before I began volunteering at Bayview Mission, Nina had collected supplies for homeless which included hygiene products (mostly toiletries from hotels), backpacks and blankets. Items were distributed as requested by clients. As the number of volunteers working in ‘veggie land’ grew, I looked for other ways to support the Mission. I approached Nina about developing a formal outreach to the homeless who were living in the area. By that time, my husband and I had been volunteering at Bayview for about a year. We’d given up the ‘pause’ for a new way of life focused on service. In addition to Bayview we were involved in several community projects geared toward the homeless, including SF Project Homeless Connect. As ‘client escorts’ during Connect events, we learned the value of getting to know our clients and calling them by name.

At Bayview, we began the formal ministry by learning each person’s name and by asking specifically what they needed, rather than simply handing them a pre-packed bag of toiletries. As several clients requested soups with pull-tops, we began adding extra food to the ‘hygiene bag.' Nina started putting aside donations like underwear and socks that were being requested. Beginning as a small ministry in terms of clients and donations we now regularly see 20-30 ‘friends’ every week and distribute hygiene and food bags, underwear, shoes, clothing, coats, towels and blankets. Knowing our clients by name and giving them what they need creates an atmosphere of dignity and friendship. Every Monday, I go home having shared and received a ‘million smiles!'


I understand you are at the School for Deacons. What in particular are you studying and how far along are you?

I have just finished the first semester of a three year program that includes academic study (courses like Old Testament and Church History), liturgical study (knowing and practicing the Episcopal liturgy, including homiletics), Social Ministry (practicum in service like Bayview Mission) and Spiritual Formation (clarifying and responding to our Baptismal Covenant).

Once you are finished, do you envision carrying on with the kind of work you have done with Bayview Mission.

At this point, I am certain of one thing, service has become a way of life. The School for Deacons compliments what has already been carved in my heart.

WE'RE ON YOUTUBE!!!

San Francisco Bayview Mission presents to you this magical experience in cinematic history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqqHiaME_6s

"Velvet Box in My Heart"

The following reflections were written by Susan Napoliello in response to the death of Bayview Mission client Margurite:

The ‘velvet box in my heart’ was filled this week with memories of a client who had been killed.

Yesterday, a fellow volunteer called to tell me about the death of a client we served. A little over a year ago, I took over a ministry at Bayview Mission working with people who live on the streets or in temporary shelters in the Bayview area. I’ve had many poignant moments with clients, but none as profound as those I shared with Margurite.

Not the easiest of clients to work with, she would send volunteers scattering in her wake. She often announced her presence with shouting and would confound the most patient volunteer with her peculiar lists of dos and don’ts. Noticing her coming from a block away, volunteers would shout my name, hoping I would be able to contain her rantings and prevent a conflict with other clients. As a group, we learned to read her moods and amateurishly diagnose her symptoms in an effort to rationalize her actions and respond appropriately. We shared stories to help us humanize Margurite’s daily life and bring compassion to our hearts. We celebrated moments when she seemed happy and made an effort to bring joy to her life by little kindnesses that paid attention to her compulsions and phobias.

Hearing her story about being robbed outside the check cashing business where she was pushed and shoved to the ground breaking her arm, brought tears of sympathy. Six weeks later, after she tore off her cast too impatient to let it heal properly, we feared that the swelling would lead to a permanent disability. We came to see her belligerence as a way of coping with life, and she came to trust us, knowing on some level that we cared, that she mattered to us. We knew she didn’t want to be touched, she would pick a fight verbally if she thought you were disrespecting her and she didn’t want people to know she was getting food from the pantry.

Nina tells all volunteers not to judge, to take each client as they come. Margurite challenged us and taught us to embrace Nina’s ethos. She was just as much a God-given gift to us as we were to her. I remember the first time I asked for her name and she told me that I wouldn’t be able to pronounce her real name, so she gave me a name I could master, Margurite.

I think of the last time Margurite came to our ‘new church’. She arrived late, after we had closed the door. Shouting through the garage she announced her name, “It’s Margurite.” As I rose to speak with her, I noticed loving looks from the volunteer, some who had 12 months ago rolled or averted their eyes when Margurite walked up the hill. When I came out, she was sitting on the steps to Nina’s house, just like she owned it, I commented that her arm seemed to have healed and in response she waved it around to demonstrate her new-found flexibility. When I returned with her bag, she lit up when I told her it contained two cans of clam chowder (a passion we all knew about). After I said good-bye and closed the door, she shouted again indicating she had one more request, “Do you have any jeans in my size?” I told her I would try to find some for next week and she seemed pleased. On Monday, one of my fellow volunteers brought a pair of jeans for Margurite and a belt in case they were too large. Margurite never came, and on Monday, I found out why. Over the weekend, she had been walking on a freeway, struck by three cars and killed.

Though I am saddened by Margurite’s death, I am heartened that Bayview Mission, a new church of volunteers and clients, is a mature group, one that has grown over time to transcend appearances and transform judgment into love. I am not worried about how we will all respond on Monday when we meet together. Through the grace of God, Margurite came into and touched our lives. We are stronger as a group and more able individually to see the face of God in our clients. She brought us that! Though I mourn her loss, I am blessed with many treasures in my velvet box that are marked Margurite, the name I can pronounce.

Police Report on Margurite

The Bayview Mission was terribly saddened by the news of the death of a long-time client of the Mission's food pantry by the name of Margurite. Margurite was killed by a hit-and-run driver on I-280 in San Francisco.

The following police report was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 10 of this year:

   (10-09) 11:53 PDT SAN FRANCISCO --
The California Highway Patrol is looking for a hit-and-run driver who
struck and killed a pedestrian on Interstate 280 in San Francisco.
The victim was hit just after 10 p.m. on southbound I-280 north of
Ocean Avenue, said CHP Officer Shawn Chase. The motorist didn't stop,
but two other drivers who subsequently hit the person did, Chase said.
The victim has not been identified. The damage to the body was so severe
that it was not immediately clear whether the person was a man or woman,
Chase said.  The victim was struck just moments after the CHP received
reports of someone wandering on the shoulder and walking in and out of
traffic, Chasesaid.  Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP at
(415) 557-1094.

Bee Busy at Bayview

(Photos by Victoria Holt and the Rev. Nina Pickerrell)

For two weeks, from Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 21, Bee Busy at Bayview Mission was in session. This is an annual vacation Bible school led by the Rev. Nina Pickerrell. For the first week, the camp was held at Grace Cathedral; the second week took place at the Bayview Mission. Ms. Pickerrell has hosted this camp for about 5 years. A number of kids from throughout the San Francisco community played games, did arts and crafts, took tours of the cathedral, and engaged in a number of activities that would not be possible anywhere else in the city.


During the first week, the Rev. Nina, the 20-plus kids, and a number of youth and adult counselors occupied the dining hall at Grace. This location enabled the group to tour various sections of the cathedral, some of which would normally be off-limits to guests, including the nave, the columbarium, the bishop's office, and various basement rooms. Several cathedral staff also talked about Grace's history and secrets to the campers. The kids were additionally given the opportunity to walk the labyrinth in silence and to sing "Amazing Grace" in the cathedral, the latter being a stunning musical experience! In between these tours, the kids had ample space to do such crafts as beading, drawing, and crocheting, as well as to play with balls, frisbees, and hula hoops in the courtyard. Both breakfast and lunch were provided daily.

In a question and answer session with some of the campers, it was revealed that eleven languages are spoken among ten of the kids. Most of the kids also play at least one musical instrument and participate in multiple sports.

During the second week, the campers of Bee Busy came to Nina's house in the Bayview, otherwise known as the Bayview Mission. Again, the kids engaged in such crafts as beading and painting. Breakfast and lunch were again provided. They also got into a circle everyday and were read to by youth counselors. They additionally partook of some activities that they had not gotten to do at Grace Cathedral. That Monday, the camp coincided with the weekly food pantry at the Mission. The kids all worked together to fill backpacks to be given out to other children from the neighborhood. They also got to keep one backpack of their own. A few of the campers and counselors remained to assist with the food pantry after the day of camp was over. On Wednesday, a family from a farm in Petaluma brought farm animals, which included a small petting zoo of chickens and rabbits, as well as two horses and a pony that could be ridden by the kids-and even a few adults!

The fun continued on Thursday and Friday with an inflatable pool and seven-foot tall slide that the kids made use of enthusiastically, in spite of the cool, overcast San Francisco weather.

The Rev. Nina feels confident that she had the only 7-foot shark pool in the Bayview that day. "It was a joy to watch the children experience water play on a summer day!"

Victoria Holt Interview

David Cowen interviews Victoria Holt about Bayview Mission

You have been involved at Bee Busy at Bayview Mission every summer for a number of years. Did you attend the camp as a child?

I attended the camp back when it was Vacation Bible School at the cathedral, but it was much more of a religion-centered thing back then. I was very young and so have only vague memories, but I remember arts and crafts, making popsicle buildings and playing with Nina's amazing collection of stamps. We had the same awesome tour of the cathedral that the kids still have today, and I remember having a really good time! We used to have it in the Boys' School's classrooms, and we'd play out on the playground. We'd always learn a song and sing it to the congregation at coffee hour the following Sunday. Because Bayview Mission is only a recent development (at least when we compare it to when I was at VBS), I never got to experience the type of camp the kids get to have today, when they can enjoy Nina's backyard and the farm animals and so on. It's been wonderful to see it evolve over the years!


Describe some of the work you do to help out with the kids at camp.

For a few years, Nina would always describe me as the sort of Program Director of the camp, but all that really meant was choosing which activities we did from her amazing assortment of goodies in the barn. :]] Nina is the true mastermind behind this wonderful camp. I've mostly been a counselor-type of figure for the kids, letting them know what the plan is for the day and what their activities will be. When it's at the Cathedral, and more structured, I help to keep the kids involved in what we're doing, if its a tour or a slideshow or meeting with the Seniors. But when we're at Bayview, we can all relax, and I truly feel that I get a chance to get involved and have fun too. I know that I get as much of a kick out of being at Bayview Mission as the rest of the campers. :] This year I also helped a lot with the crafts planning and purchasing of materials. I really enjoyed that, working with Lizzy Compean, to think up some fun ideas and help the kids create such things as decoupage vases, paintings on canvas, animals made of toilet paper rolls, wizard hats, and so on.

I understand you do a lot of photography. What kinds of things do you
like to photograph? Have you taken pictures for the Mission?

I mostly photograph portraits that are framed within an interesting environment. It's sort of a very literal type of environmental portraiture, where through my compositions, I frame the subject so that it's interacting with its background, rather than just posing in front of it. That's my favorite, but I definitely enjoy all types of photography. I also really love band photography, both portraits and live shots of concerts. Just today I had a photoshoot (one of my first official ones with artists that aren't just my brother and his friends, haha) in Oakland that went really well, for a friend's new CD project. Over the years I've taken a ton of photos at Bayview Mission, some of which Nina has used early on for cards and so forth. It's mostly just stuff that she can save to remember the evolution of the place. Once I came over and shot photos of the house and barn before changes were made to both. And I shot the shed a lot before they had it taken down. Just archival stuff for keepsake. And every year at camp I've loved the opportunity to shoot the kids having so much fun!

Did helping out at the Mission fulfill any credit hours when you attended
high school at the Bay School?

I don't remember my school literally requiring credit hours... we did a lot of community service through our classes or as a group on special outings. I used Bayview Mission for a community project where we were told to go to another community we were unfamiliar with and interview someone who is involved there, then write a story from their perspective of one of their experiences of living there. It was a strange assignment but turned out great when I interviewed Nina. She told an amazing story of some of the things she's witnessed living in Bayview, and at that time I felt I truly was a part of the community at Bayview Mission. It's been such an honor to be able to be involved in a place I would probably never venture on my own for safety's sake. It truly enhances cultural empathy and is an experience all young adults should have!

You just completed a year of college up in Seattle. What school are you
attending?

I go to Seattle University, the Jesuit school in Seattle. It's a wonderful school with a great Core Curriculum based on the Jesuit values of a strong central education along with whatever the student chooses to major in. I'm really enjoying it!

Have you declared a major yet? If so, what are you studying?

I am studying for a BFA (Bachelor's in Fine Arts) in Photography. I knew while applying to colleges that I wanted to study photography, so I was looking at a lot of art schools. But in the end I chose a liberal arts school, because I decided that I greatly value a good general education. My major's department head says it best, that art cannot be created from a vacuum. I also appreciate the option to change my mind, should I decide to. :] I'm loving it so far though!