Jamestown Builds a Pipeline of Leadership from Within Through Teen Workforce Program

"Jamestown is my home. I am Jamestown and Jamestown is me.”

One of the things that makes Jamestown programming so unique and successful is our ability to join our youth on every step of their academic and personal development journeys. We have countless youth who joined our programs as elementary school students and went on to work with our Youth Workforce summer camps and eventually become Jamestown staff.

Gibran Gonzalez is just one of the many young people who entered our doors as a student and then became a valuable member of the Jamestown leadership. In his current role as Youth Workforce Manager, Gibran coordinates high school employees, who not only receive valuable work experience and compensation but also a mentor from their community who can connect with them on a personal level.

During the lockdown stage of the pandemic, Gibran and his team had ears, hands and hearts on the ground, providing families with meals and other important resources needed to sustain their livelihood during these uncertain times. Gibran texted his students regularly to gain info about how he could support families, including mental health check-ins.

Give today and help Jamestown continue developing young leaders in our Mission District community. So far we’ve raised $120,000, let’s keep the support going! Thanks for supporting our work over the years!

To hear more about Gibran’s Jamestown journey, check out his interview below.

Q: What’s an important lesson you learned from Jamestown youth?

A: That every generation keeps getting smarter. These kids are teaching me things week in and week out.

Q: What is your fondest Jamestown memory?

A: My fondest Jamestown memory was the program I was in as a teen. I got the chance to have a place to be me, where I was surrounded by people who were like me, all in the same space. More significantly, I had mentors who had similar life experiences as me at some point in their life. Having a space to go to after school is really important.

Q: What do you want your Jamestown legacy to be?

A: I have said it since I was 15 -- I want to be the Executive Director later on in life. I know that I will have big shoes to fill as the directors before me are people I look up to. I want people to know no matter how bad you had it growing up, you can still be someone that can help others.

Jamestown Welcomes New Executive Director Nelly Sapinski

Dear  Jamestown Familia,

In these difficult times, we are excited to announce the Jamestown Board of Directors has selected Manuela “Nelly” Sapinski as the organization’s next Executive Director. Nelly succeeds Myrna Melgar who will step down on May 29, 2020. 

We are deeply grateful for Myrna and the incredible growth and stability she has brought to the organization. We believe Nelly is uniquely equipped to lead Jamestown and continue the powerful legacy of our organization.

Nelly’s selection comes after an extensive search process in which more than 15 candidates were vetted by a hiring committee of the Board and finalists were evaluated by panels of Jamestown staff and youth. 

Nelly joined Jamestown in 2014 and currently serves as both the Deputy Director of Programs and Interim Executive Director. With six years of experience in high level leadership, Nelly begins the position with a deep understanding of Jamestown’s mission and community. She also brings extensive experience with youth development and education, which are the foundations of how our organization serves the community.

In her time at Jamestown, Nelly has been instrumental in developing and expanding programming, while also implementing data collection and evaluation systems, so important in measuring quality. Prior to joining Jamestown, Nelly served as the After School Program Director at Reading Partners, the national literacy non-profit, and managed curriculum, instruction and evaluation for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.

Nelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University and a Masters of Education from Harvard University.

While Nelly is stepping into the executive director role during turbulent times, the Board of Directors is more than confident that Nelly has the right community relationships and professional and educational background to help Jamestown continue to thrive. I hope you will join me in welcoming Nelly to her new role.

Warmly,
Betty Pazmiño
Chairperson
Jamestown Board of Directors

Jamestown Persists Amidst School Closures and City Lockdowns

Familia, we hope you are staying safe and healthy during these difficult times. Jamestown, along with our community partners, have done our best to remain adaptable to the circumstances and continue working to ensure our communities are safe and informed on COVID-19.

Due to the closure of all SFUSD schools, our site-specific programming remains on hold during this lockdown. Still, despite the circumstances, Jamestown remains resilient and is taking an innovative approach to continue serving our youth and families.

Currently, Jamestown program staff are working daily at our Buena Vista Horace Mann Beacon stayover shelter to handle the added capacity and support youth and families during this time of crisis. The stayover program has been greatly expanded during this shelter-in-place order and Jamestown staff have stepped up to do their part. Chavez Elementary, one of our other Beacon sites, is providing a community food bank so our families and other vulnerable community members have access to the nutrition they need to stay healthy.

Despite the social distancing order, we have still been able to offer some of our community programs through online platforms. Our Strengthening Families class continues to host regularly scheduled meetings through video chat, so families can continue to build healthy relationships and communication practices. The Loco Bloco performance ensemble, despite not being able to meet physically, continue to rehearse via Zoom meetings, keeping them active and engaged with their community and art form.

Along with hosting program meetings online, we continue to share relevant resources on our social media from the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) as well as other community organizations working with similar populations. We want to ensure the families we serve are properly informed and connected to all the services available to them.

As Jamestown continues navigating through these uncertain times, we are doing our best to provide the services we can to our youth and families. In these tough times, it is imperative we continue to serve vulnerable populations to ensure the security of our community.

Thank you for supporting our work and being valuable members of our community.  We continue to send lots of love and light to all of our gente. Stay safe and strong everyone.

Girls Got Goals Kicks Back Into Action

It’s that time of year again, Girls Got Goals is back in action!

Now in its 16th season, our Girls Got Goals league continues to provide an outlet for middle school girls to learn a new sport in a safe and supportive environment. This year, five teams will compete in league play for a chance at the coveted title. 

Last year’s champion, Everett Middle School, saw a huge surge in interest after taking home the big trophy, so much so, that this year they are fielding two teams to keep up with the demand! Girls Got Goals has a rich history as a nurturing safe space for young women to build community and develop as athletes and human beings. With 127 players enrolled, including expansion into the high school and elementary age groups, this year is shaping up to be one of the biggest yet!

Grateful for our amazing GGG Coaching staff!

Outside of the weekly games and practices, Jamestown Sports Director Ariel Esqueda, will host personal development workshops focusing on the specific needs of each team. Past workshops have included college prep courses, healthy living seminars and restorative justice classes rooted in developing positive cultural identity for Black and Latinx youth. 

The workshops build off the program’s youth development framework and are tailored to address the direct needs of the participants. Jamestown understands that not every youth receives the same type of intentional and focused instruction in their everyday academic lives. By creating and cultivating programs like Girls Got Goals, we are able to engage students in a more intimate space, allowing us to build interpersonal relationships that strengthen our families and communities. 

Presenting Loco Bloco's Carnaval 2020 Theme: From Roots to Reincarnation

Through our artistic expression, we will create:

An embodiment of the ancestral traditions & wisdom living in the land & carried in our spirit

An act of community healing from our ancestral trauma as our scars evolve into adornments of empowerment
A reclaiming of our strength, power & voice as we transform our vision for our collective future

Join us March 7th at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 School for our Spring Resource and Carnaval Registration Fair 11am - 2pm. If you want to get involved before this, join us every Monday at Brava Theater for our Free Community Drum and Dance Classes 5 - 6:15pm. Stay updated on all things Loco Bloco by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Join The Mission and Support Jamestown

This past year has been groundbreaking for Jamestown, we hope you have enjoyed following the journey and growth on our Futuros Sin Fronteras blog. We have completed the merger with Loco Bloco, expanded our programming to serve nearly 4,000 youth and their families, and purchased space in the building we occupy at the Historic Centro Social Obrero. Our organization is stronger and more sustainable, poised to continue providing opportunity to kids, and helping them succeed.

At Jamestown, long-term engagement and deep relationships based on trust are the secret to our magic. This magic is the underpinning of the success of our youth, and what makes our programming special. We strive to serve youth and their families for as long as they need us -- providing crucial programs and supports to accompany them into adulthood. 

Martín Herrera Pazmino embodies the core values and mission of Jamestown. Currently a World History Teacher at John O’Connell High School in the Mission, Martín grew up in the community, attending public schools in the neighborhood, supported by the enrichment programs at Jamestown and Loco Bloco. A budding artist, he picked up his first drum at age 3 in a Loco Bloco class. Martín also attended Cesar Chavez Elementary School, where he participated in Jamestown’s afterschool program. 

Through his participation in Loco Bloco, Martín was able to hone his artistic skills and was accepted to the San Francisco School of the Arts for High School. While at SOTA, Martín worked as a youth apprentice at Jamestown, which taught him valuable workforce skills, opening the doors to a career in education. Working as a youth apprentice also provided Martín with income – a crucial component for our youth who are often overlooked by traditional college and career support programs. 

Every summer while he attended Sonoma State University, Martín came back to San Francisco and taught valuable skills to younger neighborhood kids in Jamestown’s summer programs. Martín credits his participation in Jamestown and Loco Bloco and his parents, Betty and Francisco, for his deep commitment to social justice and the Latino community in the Mission. It is where he grew as a leader, an artist and an educator.  

Jamestown’s comprehensive educational supports include academics, arts, sports, leadership development, and social emotional skill building delivered with cultural competence by our highly trained staff. Our work embodies education justice for low income youth: opening the doors to high quality educational opportunities regardless of their family’s ability to pay for it.

We consider all of our readers part of the Jamestown familia, and invite you all to donate and help us continue growing in our work during this holiday season. This will be our final blog post for the year, we hope you have enjoyed reading about all of our accomplishments and will continue following our progress into the new decade and beyond! Thank you for believing in our Mission, see you in 2020.

New Home, New Beginnings for Jamestown

On March 1st, 2019, Jamestown Community Center officially relocated offices to 2929 19th Street. Nestled between Alabama St and Florida St on 19th Street, a sign stands out on the front of the colossal building:

“Centro Social Obrero - Unidos Venceremos,” “Laborer Center- United we will win,”

Inside, the vast new space has meeting rooms, a kitchen area, and an open work space, surrounded by large windows expanding almost from floor to ceiling.

The new space is a huge improvement compared to the previous small office location in a Victorian building on 26th Street. Team members, such as Office Manager Katie Garcia, are excited about the new office.

“It’s amazing,” said Garcia. “Our organization is expanding, and so we needed something bigger. The community feels like we and the organizations we work with support them.”

With the expansion of our programs (such as the recent Loco Bloco merger and the new Beacon sites), the new location allows Jamestown, who is recognized for working with partner organizations, to continue to grow and solidify as a pillar in the community.

Our new home also holds historic roots that aligns with our mission for education, growth and social justice. In 2016, the building was dedicated and named The Rosario Anaya Education Center / El Centro Educacional de Rosario Anaya, honoring the distinguished Rosario Anaya. Among many achievements in her life as an education advocate, such as being the first Latin American woman elected to public office in the City’s history, Anaya was also the MLVS Executive Director from 1973-2015.

The environment of unity and support created in Jamestown goes beyond our own staff and four walls. The new office location also houses other nonprofits, all partners of Jamestown; Instituto Familiar de la Raza’s Roadmap to Peace, Mission Language Vocational School (MLVS), and Five Keys.

“(The space) is more welcoming for families, meetings, registration fairs, and family activities,” said Human Resources and Operations Manager Santiago Lopez, who has been with Jamestown for 8 years. “The staff (is) not divided by walls.”

The new work space is intentionally mapped to promote Jamestown’s work and mission inside and outside. Having access to the talent of a full culinary school certainly sweetens the spot as well. Melgar says that MLVS culinary school hosts “the BEST Friday lunches. Everyone in Mission comes.” The organizations and community are continuously coming together in this new space to support each other in various ways.

All of Jamestown looks forward to what the future holds for us in the new office space. We look forward to seeing you in our new, bright, beautiful offices!