Religion, State, and Charity
Working Together to Serve Our Community
In cities and towns across America, the Center for American Progress is engaging the public in conversations on religion and policy, giving voice to those whose concerns and hopes have been lost in highly polarized debates. Our series of national conversations began in Denver last spring and continued in Kansas City this summer.
In San Francisco, our conversation will address what happens when states must carry out their responsibilities with shrinking budgets while charities and religious organizations strive to fill the gaps in service created by budget cuts. What are the state’s most important obligations, in times of emergency and under normal circumstances? What are the consequences — especially for children and families — if the state does not fulfill its duties? How will tax cuts and initiatives like the Live Within Our Means Act impact the institutions that serve our communities and the communities themselves?
Please join our panel of community leaders and add your voice to a thoughtful, lively conversation.
Video:
Introduction
Melody Barnes
Panel
Note: All video provided in QuickTime (MPEG-4) format.
Panelists:
Anita Friedman, Ph.D., Executive Director, Jewish Family and Children’s Services
Reverend Glenda Hope, Executive Director, San Francisco Network Ministries
Reverend Calvin Jones, Jr., Pastor, Providence Baptist Church of San Francisco
Susan Makanani Wong, Director of Housing Development, Chinatown Community Development Center
Moderated by:
Melody Barnes, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Program: 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Doors open at 6:30 PM
Light refreshments will be served.
There is no cost for this event
Pacific Rim Room
Lone Mountain Building
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Directions to USF
Campus Map
Space is limited – Please RSVP:
Call (202) 741-6246 and leave a
message with your full name, organization, and email address.
Contact:
[email protected]
Please direct any media inquiries to:
Daniella Gibbs Léger
(202) 682-1611
[email protected]
Panelists
Anita Friedman leads Jewish Family and Children’s Services, one of the largest family service agencies in the United States, with 16 Bay Area offices in five counties serving more than 55,000 children, adults and seniors each year. She is a certified advanced clinician, specializing in groups, families and couples. She serves as a consultant on geriatrics, immigration and human service issues to the State of Israel, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Previously at JFCS, she was Director of the Émigré Program at JFCS, which resettled the vast majority of more than 30,000 people who arrived in the Bay Area from the former Soviet Union since 1970s. In 1998, she was appointed Commissioner on the Immigration Commission for the City and County of San Francisco. Before working for JFCS, Friedman taught community mental health studies at UC Berkeley. She has received numerous awards, including: the International Louis Kraft Award for promising young professionals in Jewish communal service; Hadassah’s Myrtle Wreath Award for leadership; Jewish Community Federation’s Professional of the Year; and the Koret Prize for leadership in community service. Friedman earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Antioch College, her Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University and her doctoral degree in organizational psychology from the University of San Francisco.
Reverend Glenda B. Hope received her B.A. in English literature from FSU in 1958 and her M.A. in English Bible from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1960. She received her M. Div. from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1969 and was ordained at Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. Rev. Hope has worked with numerous community service agencies, published many works and received many awards, including the Unsung Hero of Compassion from the Dalai Lama in May 2001. As Executive Director of San Francisco Network Ministries, founded in 1972, Rev. Hope is devoted to working cooperatively for the empowerment of all, proclaiming good news for the poor and seeking liberty for those who are oppressed.
Reverend Calvin Jones, Jr. ministers to families and youth involved in or affected by crime in San Francisco. He has been pastor of Providence Baptist Church for the past 15 years. In 1997 he formed a collaborative foundation with the church to provide a multitude of services including: a tutorial program with the Department of Human Services; health services for youth in collaboration with the Department of Public Health; Youth Leadership Program with Tides Foundation; Homeless Shelter Program serving 100 persons; and a Weekly Feeding Program for the homeless and poor. In 2004, Reverend Jones established a youth outreach program at the San Francisco Juvenile Hall in which he ministers to youth and their families to assist with communication and life-altering skills. In addition, he obtained funding for continuing the Mentoring Program, Providence Opportunity Program (POP), with the San Francisco Unified School District, when the school district significantly reduced funding. Pastor Jones was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from Balboa High School. Ho obtained a B.A. degree from the University of Washington (Seattle), and a Masters of Divinity Degree from Harvard Divinity School (Cambridge, Massachusetts). He is married to Eunice P. Davis-Jones and has two children, Rena Marie Jones and Aisha Simpson.
Susan Makanani Wong, Director of Housing Development, has been with Chinatown Community Development Center since April 1989. She oversees affordable housing development, technical assistance services, and is responsible for fiscal and new project planning. She has a Masters in Public Policy with an emphasis in Real Estate from U.C. Berkeley. Wong previously worked for the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, a nonprofit housing corporation in Oakland Chinatown. She served for six years on the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Advisory Council and is a current board member and Past President of the Wu Yee Children’s Services Board. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown and will begin service as a Deacon starting in January 2006. She participates every month in “Super Sunday,” the Church’s joint organizing project with Chinatown CDC that provides education and resources to families and seniors living in Chinatown’s Single Room Occupancy Hotels.
Melody Barnes is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she directs the Faith and Progressive Policy initiative and focuses on religion and domestic policy issues, including civil rights, women’s health and gender equity issues, and the judicial confirmation process. From December 1995 until March 2003, Barnes served as Chief Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Senator Kennedy’s Chief Counsel, she shaped civil rights, women’s health and reproductive rights, commercial law, and religious liberties laws, as well as executive branch and judicial appointments. Barnes is a member of the Board of Directors of The Constitution Project, The Maya Angelou Public Charter School, and The Moriah Fund. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with honors in history.