I have been familiar with Donaldina Cameron House since my experience there as a teen through young…read moreadulthood, and now as a parent with a Summer Daycamp/Friday Night Club participant. I never participatedin daycamp as a camper myself, but started there as a camp leader back in the day. I was in HS and being a camp leader entailed a summer-long commitement of training and participation. As a camp leader, we were trained as campers; we 'played' camper as we took bus trips to the various camp sites, went over various activities and songs, were trained by a psychologist on the age group we would be working with and how best to interact with them/what to expect from their age group. As a highschooler new to camp, I felt welcome in this new-to-me community and developed many social ties and friendships, as well as leadership skills. As stated by others, this is a church-based organization that offers many social services. I participated in the Summer Program which interconnected in to the Friday Night Club program and later became a club leader. My son is now a participant and I have even had the support of the youth services staff in assisting me with various issues around my son's learning differences and IEP. Cameron House has provided a place where my son can participate and feel a part of a greater community that I feel good about.

Interesting historical building ..Youth programs ..community center ..visited in 2008 ..back in…read more2026 ..Chinatown ..neat

Community service was a good way for me to get to know my new home: SF's history, its…read moreneighborhoods and their cultures, and of course the issues and needs present in the community. I've been a ROCK volunteer for a year now, and not only do I have a greater appreciation for this city, but I've also found a family in the kids, staff, and volunteers that I've met through ROCK. I'm involved in ROCK's Saturday Skill Drills, 6-week sports sessions (3 sessions per year) for elementary-school kids. The kids are extremely energetic and enthusiastic for a Saturday morning, but it's a rude awakening that's so much fun--and a welcome change of pace from hanging out with boring adults! There are also weekend programs geared towards middle-school and high-school students, as well an elementary after-school program, so there are plenty of chances to share your talents and lend a hand. Visitacion Valley has received some careless and ignorant media attention, and I wish more people could see what a vibrant community it really is. There's a quote from Daniel Burnham that goes, "To love one's city and have a part in its advancement and improvement is the highest privilege and duty of a citizen." I want to encourage fellow SF citizens to consider joining a remarkable grassroots effort that celebrates, protects, and empowers the next generation of this neighborhood (a neighborhood that Newsom & Co. are choosing to ignore). ROCK is profoundly changing lives, including my own, and I can't be more thankful and proud! be a part of it... http://www.rocksf.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhWLCJuESWc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-kNRLrzCNA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFWgFHAJvqw

I love volunteering for ROCK. Its awesome because you get to do different outdoor activities like…read moremountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, habitat restoration (if you choose the middle school program) while spending time with kids that live in the visitation valley on saturdays. Most of the volunteers are in the mid 20's - mid 30's age range, which is nice. They also totally understand if you can't commit to going every saturday in the 6 week sessions they offer 3x/year, just as long as you can go to at least half of them.

My initial reaction to this group was nothing sort of amazing. They provided me with essential…read moreitems I needed when I was living in near third world poverty. They have a plethora of items and services they offer and were for the most part friendly. Things started going sour once I asked for assistance with housing. The cost of living in San Francisco is astronomically expensive that is no secret and allegedly there are outreach groups that can lighten the burden at least temporarily in The City albeit I have yet to find one. Fact of the matter is if you're not in very specific social circles housing assistance is firmly off limits for San Francisco citizens I have come to find out. After being told politely there was nothing that can be done about placement in long term sustainable housing the conversation for me ended. Towards the end of last year I did attempt to get back in contact with the general inquiry form via the website asking for a voucher for a haircut (which they offer). This was after attempting to catch one of the satellite sites they allegedly have set up around the city on various days and no one being at the location during the timeframe they specified. No worries come to the actual brick and mortar location and we can get you a voucher right away. Once there I did receive the voucher but I also asked for a sleeping bag (again another item they allegedly offer) since the place I was staying at the time was so cold I swore I saw a few penguins running around one night. The woman literally laughed in my face and said I couldn't have one. Huge red flag that I ignored but I politely thanked her and left. The voucher itself is only valid at certain locations for the hair cut so I went to the salon and tried to introduce myself to the woman there. The woman proceeded to pointedly ignore me and project a very dismissive attitude towards me. Nothing was said I simply walked out and have not returned since. Overall this place is now NOT a great place to go if you're of African decent. Period point blank if you want something good done do it yourself. "Free does not mean good" and it really rings true for here. I am not sure if its the moral high ground of knowing that the people you're assisting are obviously at a much lower point then you are which in turn makes the workers feel as if they're above you. However save yourself the shame and disappointment and simply avoid. Its not worth it if you're already in a shaky place in your life to have this weighing on your conscience. As you can see from my other reviews I have not had the most pleasant experiences lately in The Bay Area...However! I write these reviews based on my experience so that others will benefit from the experiences that I have. But always do your own research!

Very organized!! I wish everyone knew how easy it is to volunteer a few hours of your time. This…read morewas my 4 time. They give you different jobs every time and it's so easy to just help. The Homeless need help on other days besides Christmas and Thanksgiving. When you see the children and adorable dogs.... you will not only feel humbled and grateful you will feel good about helping. It's so easy and it goes by fast. I'll be back for as long as I live in SF.

Rarely have I run into the unpleasant experience of being the victim of fraud. After a quick Google…read moresearch of "free tax preparation" I decided to try this location out in hopes of getting the stimulus money from the recent bills that were passed to aid the country and help in recovering from the devastation of all types that Covid-19 has brought forth. Although the initial visit was mostly pain free I came to find out weeks later that the return was filed incorrectly. Odd I thought considering that I reviewed the information personally before signing and handing the documents over to the tax preparer before leaving. After an awkward visit to the IRS I came to find out that the return was altered after I gave the documents over and changed to a different address. I also received a call from the preparer (415-241-0201) saying that the "information was changed" which I did not understand until weeks later. (After seeing that my tax return was directed to a new address.) The entire ordeal taught me several things. One of which is go to a reputable tax preparer. Just because something is free does not make it good. And unfortunately there are all too many people in the world who will take your information and commit fraud with it. Overall this place is now NOT a great place to go if you're of African decent. While other places may or may not be overly enthused about your business tax season is one of the few times where everyone is pretty much welcomed being that nearly everyone is getting some money back. This location will take your business but what they do with the information after they have gathered it is another story. There are a lot of other free tax preparers or even paid tax specialist in The City which I would recommend going to versus coming to Arriba Juntos. As you can see from my other reviews I have not had the most pleasant experiences lately in The Bay Area...However! I write these reviews based on my experience so that others will benefit from the experiences that I have. But always do your own research!

I'm writing this review to express my disappointment and bad experience with this organization…read more Arriba Juntos operates with a highly problematic hierarchical power structure that unfortunately disregards the well-being of its employees, making them feel undervalued and dispensable. The management of Arriba Juntos is highly questionable. It has come to my attention that the agency has numerous inconsistencies when it comes to payroll. The director of Programs Gladys Garcia just sits in her office and gossips with staff and clients, about staff and clients. The majority of the day is spent on social media and whenever we need her assistance she is always on Facebook laughing at videos. Gladys states she has an open door policy and then will create false complaints and when asked for proof fails to provide any. Gladys consistently places blame on others, unwilling to take responsibility for her actions. In times of escalating conflict, she chooses to retreat rather than assume the leadership role expected of program directors and establish clear guidelines. Employees feel harassed at work. When employees approached Gladys with their concerns, instead of resolving the problem, she resorts to threatening to terminate all parties instead of trying to find a solution. They also illegally try and hack into personal devices and threaten staff of termination or clients risk of exit if they aren't with the right people on personal time.

We are behind on our rent and DCPartnership all they could do is offer Lip service no real help…read more They offered to pay our first and deposit but they never followed through. I went down there so many times. Then stated maybe they could pay between $5K to $8K of our behind Rent. But then wouldn't do it unless we could show proof that we would pay the rest I sent them a letter telling them my husband once his workers compensation case was over we would pay the rest. Also I had surgery but am forcing myself to go back to work although I'm 60 years old and had a total knee replacement last year but they still didn't offer to help pay any of our 1 year behind Rent with our rent being over $3500 a month. Our credit needs work although getting better somehow (Thank God) We gave them all our PHI information to prove to them my husband hadn't worked in over 4 years and my knee replacement surgery I needed 1 year to recover but now I'm going back and I have Heart & Kidney issues. My last job my manager was a beast I'm praying my next one is so much better. Maybe we weren't the right Race Good luck!

Amazing!! Truly amazing!! We just finished our Kindergarten Readiness class today. My son got so…read moremuch out of this, I cannot give the program high enough praises. The teachers were fantastic. The skills my son came away with are terriffic. Things I tried to teach him, but failed at, he learned in this program. I know he will be ready and much more prepared when Kindergarten starts in August. We met the kinder teachers - and I actually got to have conversations with them one on one during recess. I volunteered three times in the classroom. It's great to see how my son behaves in class, how he follows directions and moves from one activity to the next. Of course, he was better when I wasn't there, but it was nice to see how he is in the classroom. We had little red book bags with 4-5 books in them. We'd read them each night and bring them back the next day for another bag of books. This helped my son get more excited about books and reading. He liked it before, but didn't want to sit through a story. Doing this every day for three weeks has helped turn my active little boy into someone who loves books as much as he loves running and jumping and climbing. They sang songs - it was great seeing the progression of these kids from the first few days until the last day. They all made huge leaps in their skills. I hope this program continues to get funding to help out many, many, many families who are unsure if they are really ready for kindergarten. Just super! Amazing! We didn't want it to end. If you get the opportunity to do this, DO IT.

Gracious, friendly, and helpful staff. They arranged a last minute ride for me with a volunteer,…read moreproviding required transportation to and from a hospital procedure. Very grateful for their help.

The mission of this organization is simple and clear - spend an hour of your time with a lonely…read moresenior and make a huge difference in their life! I have visited several different 'old friends', each more interesting than the next, but what I have enjoyed the most is making a connection with someone and being able to see them regularly. Little Brothers always needs volunteers and they have a great new website that is easy to navigate. You really do walk away from the volunteer experience with a huge grin on your face and a skip in your step. No one wants to grow older alone. I really felt like my time was well spent.

This organization is a disaster. They have three executive directors, which is truly bizarre and…read morewasteful, and essentially no one is running the place. It used to be a good organization but now it's unbelievably dysfunctional. Very sad.

Offer great services to the NP community. If you're a small org, they offer great discounts! Need…read morehelp fundraising? Communications? Board help? Managing your time? They have it all. Check 'em out and book a training!

I have been a SFAA member for years and would recommend SFAA to other landlords without any…read morehesitation. Special appreciation and recognition to Charley. Charley is professional and experienced. With his many years of experiences and knowledge, he listens to your questions and understands your questions and challenging situations in offering recommendation that is so helpful. He is always there to work with you and responds timely. He is friendly to work with and takes his time to help without feeling rushed despite his busy schedule. Charley is knowledgeable with the current laws and provides great resources to the most updated regulations and documents. He advocates for landlords and has great network with attorneys and realtors if needed. Thank you so much Charley! You are making a positive impact everyday working with your members.

Perhaps there is an advantage to joining this association if:…read more 1 - you like throwing money away 2 - you like giving money to poorly run organizations 3 - you like funding businesses with shady terms of membership If you don't fall into any of the above three categories, don't join. The services they promise (online, in written materials, AND via a live person over the phone), are not delivered. And don't even try to ask about it later. Already tried it. Doesn't work. You can get all the info and services you need elsewhere. Get a Nolo Landlord book and read it, and you'll be all set! Nolo rocks. SFAA seriously sucks.