Remember how good it felt when the Berlin Wall came down, the Iron Curtain lifted, and the Cold War melted away? For younger readers, 1991 marked the official, peaceful collapse of the Soviet Union, which meant we could finally go to bed at night without worrying about nuclear war breaking out before breakfast. It was a banner year; the first World Wide Web page went live, people started wearing sweatpants and sneakers outside the gym, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was back in Terminator 2. Good times.
Thanks to the “peace dividend” of the 1990s, the US army shrank by 40%. America’s oldest military base, the Presidio, which had stood at San Francisco’s northern tip under various flags since 1776, was demobilized and repurposed as a park. Newscasters went around quoting a biblical passage that suddenly seemed apt:
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Obviously, this sentiment didn’t take hold as comprehensively as we’d all hoped, but hey, it was a nice thought while it lasted.
One of my favorite spots in the repurposed park is the
Presidio Social Club
, once an enlisted men’s barracks, now a bustling restaurant where reclaimed medicine cabinets from the army hospital store bourbon above the bar. The menu features the California classic Green Goddess salad (the dressing was invented at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in 1923) and truly spectacular parmesan truffle fries ($12). A successful conversion to civilian life indeed!
Not all demobilizations go quite so smoothly.
As you’ve no doubt heard, all too often US veterans return home with post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injury, hearing loss, illnesses caused by toxic exposure, and various wounds, visible and invisible. Some fall by the wayside, especially those of color who are statistically far more likely to be ignored or disbelieved by the doctors and administrators assigned to help them. Today about 35,000 American veterans are unhoused, and 10,000 of those are living in California, including 350 or so in San Francisco.
The good news? Currently nearly 1000 vets are off the streets and living in decent apartments thanks to the hard work of an SF-based veterans advocacy group called
Swords to Plowshares
. Rich and I finagled an invitation to tour the apartment complex they recently built in the city’s Mission Bay neighborhood, but first, staff member Aurora Dopp suggested a visit to their downtown service center.
To get there, we walked past dozens of homeless men and women, far more of them than Rich and I had seen on previous trips to the city, and frankly, some were in pretty bad shape. One slept in the middle of the sidewalk, his trousers at half-mast; luckily for all of us he was wearing a second pair underneath. Rich spotted someone preparing to shoot up. I happened to miss that bit of drama, but still, I was glad to leave the crowd behind and enter the clean, orderly service center.
Aurora showed us staff offices, the clothing distribution area, and the legal department. One of their roles, she explained, is helping overturn undeserved dishonorable discharges stemming from misdiagnosed mental health issues or physical disabilities. As you can imagine, upgrading their discharge status gives an enormous boost to job prospects, social standing, ability to rent an apartment, and self-esteem.
In their spare time, the live wires on the legal team have spent many happy hours decorating the walls with photos of young service people who went on to do astonishing things. Recognize anyone?
The social center is a large, high-ceilinged room with comfortable couches, a big TV, computers, games, an art section, and more. A dozen men, mostly low-income vets who are no strangers to homelessness, were quietly taking their ease. I felt the same rush of thankfulness that had washed over me when I stood reading the list of the fallen at the Vietnam Memorial Wall — a profound gladness that Rich’s stint in the service had not ended this way.
Our next stop was the Edwin M. Lee Apartments in Mission Bay. Here Swords to Plowshares provides permanent housing for 62 veterans, nearly half of whom (45%) are over 65. Mental healthcare, peer support, VA case management, computer access, and six meals a week are part of the package. Aurora showed us the central courtyard where Rich eyed with envy the thriving vegetable garden.
In the game room, a staff member and a resident were engaged in a cutthroat game of dominoes. “Who’s winning?” I asked. “He is,” said the staffer. “As always.” They both chuckled, then bent over the battlefield again.
When I asked another staffer for a lunch recommendation, I learned the apartment complex is just around the corner from the city’s legendary
Spark Social Food Truck Court
. Here 150 mobile food trucks rotate through offering lunch and dinner; they’re surrounded by picnic tables, fire pits, miniature golf, and other recreational activities. I can only dream of something like that in my neighborhood!
Rich and I chose pupusas ($5.50), El Salvador’s national dish, which we’d come to love during a work assignment in a Salvadorian village. Pupusas are thick griddle cakes stuffed with refried beans, and while those at Spark were good, the cook had obviously cut way back on the lard, no doubt as a nod to California’s health consciousness.
Health consciousness is big around here; in fact, “Drum roll, please! San Francisco is
officially the healthiest city in America
,” according to a recent poll, based on such benchmarks as time spent exercising, sleeping, and —perhaps most importantly — connecting with family and friends.
And this is what Spark Social is all about. At a nearby picnic table, a group of folks wearing the gorgeous
kurtas
and
salwar
suits of the Punjab were laughing together over a meal. A half-dozen Buddhist monks in saffron robes ambled past. Small, chattering groups clustered around picnic tables and food trucks.
So to recap, we didn’t manage to secure the world peace that almost seemed within our grasp back in 1991. Worse, we now have war in Europe and the Middle East, and unprecedented strife and discord at home. And yet, as J. R. R. Tolkien said in equally turbulent times, “There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”
All around us are people fighting the good fight: making meals for the hungry, building shelters for the homeless, playing dominoes with the lonely, inviting the family to gather, posting photos of long-ago soldiers who accomplished great things, to remind us that somehow, against all odds, our future may be brighter than we could possibly have imagined.
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out,” said Abraham Lincoln. “It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.” He’s right; being kind is more than a feel-good gesture, it’s the front line in the everlasting struggle to make the world a better place. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak,” said Mother Teresa. “But their echoes are truly endless.”
The big green park in the upper left is the Presidio.
Click here to see an interactive version of this map
showing places I visited.
This post is part of my new series
OUT TO LUNCH IN SAN FRANCISCO
My goal is to discover cheap and cheerful eateries in some of San Francisco’s most colorful neighborhoods while I check out what’s really going on in this zany town. Are we in a doom loop? Already on the rebound? Still fabulous? Stay tuned! These and other questions will be explored in upcoming posts.
DON’T MISS OUT!
If you haven’t already, take a moment to subscribe so I can let you know when I publish my weekly posts.
Just send me an email and I’ll take it from there.
[email protected]
And check out my
best selling travel memoirs & guide books
here
.
PLANNING A TRIP
?
Enter any destination or topic, such as packing light or road food, in
the search box
below
. If I’ve written about it, you’ll find it.
Leave a Reply