“It takes the hood to save the hood”
The slogan — and battle cry — of United Playaz, a nonprofit after-school program in SoMa states, “it takes the hood to save the hood.”
For 23 years, the faculty and founders of United Playaz have dedicated their time to creating a safe and uplifting environment for kids living and going to school in the SoMa andTenderloin areas.
Randy Nichols,who was released from prison over 6 months ago, works with the elementary aged students at the facility. As he folds children’s clothes from the lost and found, Nichols tells me about the impact U.P. has had on his life as well as the community it serves. His incarceration spanned 31 years for second degree murder. Nichols utilizes his past to help the children at U.P. and to promote change, he said, “I couldn’t do anything to go back and fix that community 32 years ago but I can do something about the community I’m now living in.”
Although U.P. is formally an afterschool program, the program serves a greater purpose in its community. United Playaz hosts events like an annual MLK march from the stairs of City Hall down Market Street ending at Yuerba Buena. UP promotes education but it is believed throughout the facility that education is only part of the influence they want to have on the kids, Nichols added, “we stress things like homework but our biggest priority is safety… we want to keep the kids off the street after school; away from gangs.”
UP offers the kids — ranging from young elementary to post high school — a computer lab and homework room. The kids are separated by group with different expectations and approaches to assisting each age group. Nichols talks about the elementary students, he says, “with our elementary school [kids], we pick them up at the elementary and take them over to the rec center.” The recreation center on Folsom and Sixth street has a basketball gym, an outside playground, and other indoor activity stations.
Nane Ofa is the coordinator for Transitional Adult Youth, the program for young adults who range from 16–24. TAY offers mature assistance to older kids who are seeking jobs and college resources. Nichols said, “those that maybe didn’t finish their high school, [Ofa] helps them get enrolled in getting their GEDs, helps them with applications, resumes, job searches… she’s even gone as far as if the kids say, ‘I’m ready for my driver’s license’, she will drive them to the DMV and help them.”
Although Ofa is new to her position, she has created a system that only allows her kids to win. Nane explains the efforts she puts into her kids and said, “I guarantee them a safe passage on the other side of the city. A lot of them can’t cross due to turfs and safety reasons.”
Some of the kids in TAY have been a part of United Playaz since they were in elementary, Ofa said, “A lot of them started with us very young. A couple of them had siblings that started with us and they kind of followed the trail.”
Outside of its unique education and safety, UP also provides free meals and, if necessary, hygiene facilities. Nichols talks about the end of a standard day and said, “we feed them a free meal and wait for their parents to come pick them up.”
UP has branched off and established international facilities in New York and the Philippines. Nichols summed up the entirety of the program and said, “we just want to give a well-rounded experience to the kids.”
