Episode 85: Hospitality House

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Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program

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“We believe and Invest in the real potential of every individual in the community” Joe Wilson

In this episode, our featured voices are the Executive Director of Hospitality House Joe Wilson, the Director of Community Engagement of Hospitality House Windy Click, and the Manager of Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program Janet Williams.

Hospitality House is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that is focused on working with our un-housed community members through providing wrap-around support services staffed with formerly un-housed and incarcerated persons. In addition to highlighting their work and solutions, we wanted to feature their unique Community Arts Program which sees art as both an agent of healing and change.

Joe Wilson, Executive Director

Joe Wilson, Executive Director, was hired in May 2017 to succeed long-time Executive Director Jackie Jenks. Joe previously served as Hospitality House’s Community Building Program Manager as well as the Deputy Director of Programs. Prior to Hospitality House, Joe was the Assistant Organizing Director for the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), oversaw AFSCME’s Western Region training programs for emerging leaders, and was the director of the California Child Care Campaign to organize nearly 50,000 family child care providers. For nearly a decade, Joe was Associate Director at Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth, the City’s premier child advocacy group, and oversaw a multi-year policy and organizing campaign that secured nearly $140 million in local, federal, and state money for children, early educators, and working families. Joe has helped create numerous organizations, including the Coalition on Homelessness in 1987, the Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform, Voices of Early Child Care Educators (VOICE), and has served on numerous nonprofit boards. In 1988, he co-wrote a study that leads to the formation of the Community Housing Partnership. Joe is the co-chair of Market Street for the Masses, the Steering Committee of the San Francisco Human Services Network, and the Executive Committee of the Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association (HESPA). Joe is formerly homeless, and a former shelter resident and staff of Hospitality House.

Windy Click, Director of Community Engagment

Windy Click, Director of Community Engagement, joined Hospitality House in 2013 as an on-call staff member working at all programs. As a formerly incarcerated woman who spent 17 years inside a women’s facility, Windy was determined to acclimate herself to society by providing service to others in need. In 2015, Windy joined the agency’s Community Building Program as a Peer Advocate Community Organizer utilizing her previous experience in community organizing while incarcerated. After developing her leadership skills, Windy was eventually hired to lead the Community Building Program as the Program Manager in December 2016. In February 2020, Windy was honored by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for her success in community organizing and increasing voter turnout in the Tenderloin neighborhood. In October 2020, Windy assumed the role of the Director of Community Engagement overseeing the agency’s Shelter Program and Community Building Program.

Janet Williams, Manager of Community Arts Program

Janet Williams, Community Arts Program Manager, spent the summer of 2010 working at Hospitality House's Community Arts Program (CAP). Inspired by their mission to connect people to the power of art through a harm reduction philosophy, she returned to her native Ireland in 2011 and set up a volunteer-run art program modeled by CAP in several Dublin City shelters throughout DePaul, Ireland. In 2016, Janet returned to become the Manager of CAP. She firmly believes everyone is an artist and art can save lives. Janet has a BA in Visual Art Practice and a Graduate Diploma in Community Art and Socially Engaged Practices.

Hospitality House-Fighting for the Soul of the City-

Hospitality House is a progressive, community-based organization in San Francisco’s Tenderloin Neighborhood, Sixth Street Corridor, and Mid-Market Area. We build community strength by advocating policies and rendering services that foster self-sufficiency, celebrate cultural enrichment, and promote racial equity. Hospitality House is committed to rebuilding lives, celebrating creativity, and strengthening the community for low-income residents in the heart of San Francisco.

Hospitality House began in 1967 as a simple drop-in space offering a safe refuge for homeless LGBTQ youth. As poverty and homelessness emerged as national crises, Hospitality House evolved into an anchor institution serving housed and un-housed low-income residents with a commitment to racial and economic justice.

-More than 50 Years of Transformation Through Art- Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program (CAP) is the City’s only free fine arts studio and gallery space for low-income and homeless artists, celebrating art as a vehicle for social change. Local artists hone their skills through tailored workshops, with frequent opportunities to create and exhibit their work to a growing citywide audience and keep 100% of the proceeds from art sales making CAP a unique social enterprise, celebrating the work of art - as a viable economic asset. We provide free art supplies to low-income neighborhood artists, establish opportunities to sell artwork through exhibitions and art markets, and increase artistic skills through art workshops. Follow Hospitality House’s Work on Social Media:

Facebook.com/HospitalityHouseSF
Instagram.com/HospitalityHouseSF
Youtube.com/HospitalityHouseSF

Donation/Volunteer

+ All of us at Hospitality House are immensely grateful for the continued outpouring of support from so many of you throughout the year. Our communities continue to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis - as well as the inter-generational effects of poverty, homelessness, and racism. Throughout San Francisco and beyond, ordinary people have demonstrated extraordinary courage, remarkable resilience, and inspiring mutuality. Your support, your generosity, your belief – the power of connection is needed more than ever. Ways for folks to support and stay connected with Hospitality House:
- Text "Give2021" to 415-300-2686 to donate
- Get on our mailing list and/or Donate
- Follow up on Instagram & Facebook

You can also shop at Hospitality House and Buy Art from local Artists

Videos

Watch these Videos to find out more about Hospitality House Programs and People

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1446 Market Street | San Francisco, CA 94102 | (415) 626-2787