There are about 400 SRO hotels in the Tenderloin. A majority of these SRO units don't have adequate places to store or prepare fresh healthy foods (think: mini-fridge and/or a microwave... at best). Only a handful of the SRO hotel buildings have community kitchens on site.

Residents of SRO hotels have increased rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits, and other chronic health problems with highest effect on African American, Latino, and Asian families. 66% of children are overweight or obese.

To makes these matters worse, there is no full service grocery store in the district. The local stores lack consistent basic fresh food supplies and many residents & families have not been routinely exposed to fresh products and don’t think of them when making a meal. Residents often rely on packaged or fast foods to get by.

• We believe people’s lives do not have to be compromised because of economic status.

• We believe life expectancy and quality of life for tenderloin residents can be dramatically improved if they had a place to cook.

• We believe educating the community about accessing and preparing healthier foods, increasing physical development, and using non-toxic cleaning and environmental principles are keys to reducing the illnesses and problems facing the Tenderloin residents.

It is our goal to create more spaces for proper meal preparation in all the SRO hotels in the Tenderloin. We hope to accomplish this by building community kitchens in as many SRO hotels as we can. We also have a mobile kitchen that we operate that allows us to visit the various SROs and provide healthy meal service.

In addition to kitchen/cooking spaces, we plan to bring in educational programming to teach residents about healthier eating habits and lessons on how to cook more wholesome meals to combat their health concerns.

We need your help to create a permanent green kitchen space for the residents of the Camelot SRO Hotel at 124 Turk St! This hotel currently serves 50 residents who are all chronically ill. We created the plans to build a fully equipped kitchen on-site so residents can have access to prepare healthier meals. Training for managers and residents to safely prepare fresh meals, and ongoing food education support will also be provided to emphasize food as medicine for our chronically ill residents. This kitchen will not only help manage the health of the current residents, but will make a lasting impact on improving the health of all future residents for years to come.

In order to get this project going we need to raise an initial amount of $15,000 in order to pay for the necessary permits to begin.

We are also seeking an additional $5,000 to pay for essential costs related to operating our mobile kitchen van. It is currently inoperable due to repairs needed. Until we get permanent kitchens up and running, our mobile kitchen van is how we are still able to provide our services to the many residents of the Tenderloin.

Our overall goal is $150k in total to complete the entire project and get our mobile kitchen fixed, we hope to continue fundraising until we hit our goal!

From the Garden to the Table (FGTT) is a non-profit prevention program to change lives through the promotion of healthier eating and cooking habits. Our aim is to create positive change and end the disproportionate incidence of asthma, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other health problems in low-income communities, especially communities of color.

The San Francisco Recovery Theater (SFRT), a therapeutic theater project with a core group of actors and musicians composed mainly of people in recovery. The purpose of Recovery Theatre is to use the medium of drama as an educational tool in recovery treatment process. Experience has taught us that drama can present the suffering addict a mirror of himself and in the process; he can begin to transform himself from self-destructive behavior to constructive action for the betterment of himself, his family and the community.

Together we partnered up to create the Green Mobile Health Education Kitchen (GMHEK) which is our mobile kitchen service that travels to different SROs and community spaces to provide healthy meal service, educational programming, and theatrical/musical entertainment.