Consistency Makes it Happen

By Richard Johnson

Why wait for change when you can be a catalyst for change? This phrase is an appropriate way to sum up the core mission of the Hayes Valley Community Partners (HVCP). We use community policing as the vehicle to achieve our mission to foster a safe and caring community for all. I have seen first hand, as the co-founder of the HVCP, what a dedicated and diverse group of individuals can achieve if their hearts and minds are into the task at hand. With little funding and lots of elbow grease, the HVCP, of which HVNA is a founding partner, just finished their 5th Annual Fostering a Safe and Caring Holiday Season. Our first season in 2002 was a month of holiday events in December. Since then we have expanded the season to include Halloween and Thanksgiving events.

Some of the highlights of the 2006 Season were:

3rd Annual Halloween Poster Contest; and for the first year a Haunted House sponsored by the California Public Utilities Commission for school children at John Muir Elementary.

Safe Halloween activities for children, youth and adults to participate in at four sites in Hayes Valley.

2nd Annual Giving Voice to the Season Thanksgiving Dinner and talent show at Valley Christian Fellowship Church.

16th Annual Hayes Valley Merchants Holiday Celebration and 2nd Annual Community sing-along in the new Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley.

4th Annual Wreath and Card making event, hosted by Koshland Community Garden, which had children, youth and adults coming together to make over 250 cards and 30 wreaths for families and community members of the Western Addition.

5th Annual Toy giveaway to over 200 children in Hayes Valley North and South, Ammel Park, Friendship Village housing sites and youth at the Hayes Valley Playground.

5th Annual food box giveaway to 250 families in several housing sites throughout the Western Addition.

5th Annual Community Luncheon for over 100 community members at the old John’s Hayes Market.

Cherryl Abdullah and her nieces show off the wreathes and cards they made at the Fostering a Safe and Caring Holiday Season event.
Photo: Barbara Wenger

We hear so much about community policing from the Mayor, our elected officials and police commission in the papers, but to me this series of events is a classic example of community policing. The beauty of it is that the vision came from the community, but its essence is that it combines the resources of the SFPD, both elected and salaried city officials, business community, community groups, non-profits, faith-based groups, neighborhood groups, housing board members and community volunteers to achieve the goal of fostering a safe and caring community for all.

The Partners have taken the lead and will continue to advocate ending the cycle of crime and violence in our community. Our mission is to create equal opportunity for all and this is accomplished by putting money and resources into housing, education and job creation. So be on the lookout for upcoming HVCP events, either in the Voice or at the HVNA website, and make a point to attend one. Who knows, you might want to become a partner working to assure a safe and caring community for all.