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S.F. philanthropists are revitalizing the city’s public spaces. We need a human infrastructure fund, too

14 0
05.07.2026

Purdue Boilermakers football player Ronnie Hill, center, serves a plate of food to Jay Phelps, right, during a Christmas lunch at St. Anthony’s on Dec. 25, 2017. The city’s recovery requires that its underserved citizens don’t get left behind.

Teena arrived in San Francisco with two suitcases, a baby and nowhere to go. When she walked through the doors of St. Anthony’s on Golden Gate Avenue, she received a meal, a case manager from the group’s Women’s and Children’s Services, and eventually a path to an apartment of her own. A year later, Teena works in the kitchen at St. Anthony’s, helping feed the community that once fed her when she had nothing.

“All I needed was a start,” she said, “and I took off running.”

Every morning in San Francisco, thousands of people walk past extraordinary wealth and extraordinary suffering within the same city block. A founder takes a matcha break from his AI startup that’s valued in the billions. A family waits in line for free breakfast in the Tenderloin. Engineers negotiate compensation packages larger than most people will earn in a lifetime, while seniors and families choose between medicine and groceries. One of the most innovative cities in human history still struggles to guarantee safety, stability and a fair shot for many of its own residents.

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As San Francisco comes back, so does its wealth, minting a new wave of multimillionaires and........

© San Francisco Chronicle