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Sundays at Leland House

The first time I went to serve at Leland House, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I rang a bell, knocked on a door, and felt the tug of fear that could pull me back toward my car, back home, back to a place I was comfortable. Part of me wanted to be there, and was ready to serve, but another, louder part of me was nervous: What, exactly, would I be doing? What if I didn’t have a clear assignment? What if I started talking to someone living with debilitating HIV/AIDS--as all of Leland’s tenants are--and said something stupid, or had nothing to say at all?

Once in I quickly met Dan, Leland House’s volunteer coordinator who oversees Sunday evening dinners. I met a City Church Community Group--an older couple and a few young single guys--who had come with bags of groceries; onions and chicken and tomatoes and peppers. We talked as we sliced and oiled and pulled out pots and pans in Leland’s well-used kitchen, where residents get square meals and, twice a month, groups from City Church go to cook.

Leland House, which is located in Visitacion Valley, has room for 45 residents. Most residents are triple diagnosed (HIV, psychiatric, and substance abuse issues) and may have a difficult time surviving independent living. There is no pressure to leave Leland once admitted--for some, this is the first stable home they have ever enjoyed. The folks who work at Leland feed their residents on $4 per person per day; an enormous challenge in one of the most expensive cities in America.

City Church’s partnership with Leland House is longstanding and all the more important for being about the mundane task of eating and serving food. We are in need of faithful volunteers--with your community group, or on your own--to visit Leland House in the coming months. It’s a fairly easy task: Show up at 3pm; leave at 6pm. You can buy ingredients for a simple meal to cook together, or you can take a shortcut and order pizzas for dinner. You’ll get reimbursed by City Church, and once you’ve finished making the meal, you might take a tour of the house, or see the outside space, but mostly you’ll just sit with the residents. Sit and play games, sit and talk, sit and listen--it doesn’t matter what you talk about, as I learned. No one there was looking for me to be particularly impressive. Just a warm meal and some conversation. And that, I think, we could all use a little more of.

I left Leland House with the kind of experience that made coming back easier, and not only because this time I knew where to sit and what to say. I knew that I had a role to play in making these Sunday dinners, and I was glad I hadn’t given into the fear I felt early on.

If have questions contact Julie Quon at julie@citychurchsf.org

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