Tenderloin Tours
Over the past year, Yammer has experienced many changes. Changes in leadership, changes in staff, and changes in our Mid-Market Matters philanthropic program. Since Yammer is located in the Mid-Market/Tenderloin area of San Francisco, it is very important to us to concentrate our corporate citizenship in our neighborhood. Here, the tech divide is more evident than most other areas of San Francisco. If you’re like me, taking the bus to work, working at my desk all day, then taking the bus home is a common practice. That was my reality until about a year ago when I was appointed Community Liaison, and I started to venture out into the Tenderloin and learn about the tight knit community that resides there. I wanted the same for all my co-workers at Yammer, so a couple months ago, we set out to send every empoloyee on a tour of the Tenderloin with somebody who knows the neighborhood better than most, Del Seymour.
Del lived in the Tenderloin for more than two decades. He was on-and-off homeless, a drug addict, and a pimp for more than a decade before radically changing his life. Now, he returns to the Tenderloin daily to give back what he claims he took out. Daily Tenderloin tours are a part of this. He leads donation based tours for anybody who is interested, his tag line being “You’ll enjoy the Alcatraz tour, you’ll like fishman’s wharf, but you’ll remember the Tenderloin tour.”
As such, we wanted every employee to experience the Tenderloin in a new way, leading up to our day of service. As we started to schedule tours and send out employees, there was a flood of mixed emotions and thoughts, the most common being “I had no idea that the Tenderloin was so complex.”
“It’s rare that we get to hear these personal stories, so it was great to get the chance.” -Hao Le
“The tour blew my mind. A window into a different San Francisco.” -Liza Pesenson
Over four weeks, Del toured 10 groups around the Tenderloin pointing out many of the long standing establishments. Groups walked through the Gubbio Project at St. Boniface Church, where nearly 100 of the neighborhood’s homeless slept safely on the pews, the followed the yellow brick road that marks the route of Safe Passage, and shuffled through the lunch rush at St. Anthony’s. The sounds of children laughing and playing flooded the streets as tours passed the De Marillac Academy and Boeddeker Park. Art and murals colored the walls on almost every block.
“I’m glad Yammer required this tour. I think it’s healthy for us to keep some perspective and both recognize, and sympathize with, the consequence of our industry in the community.” -Donnie Karns
Tenderloin tours are definitely something we will keep up. Volunteering and giving back is important, but understanding the community we are a part of is key.
