BY MATEO ALZATE
Before I came to San Francisco I was a youth pastor in Dallas and have been working with inner city kids for many years. I love working with them, nothing has taught me more humility than to do life alongside a young person as they discover how God sees them and how they see the world.
Three years ago I came to YWAM San Francisco with the vision to create the same safe spaces of discipleship with the youth of the Tenderloin. I had my expectations and even prepared myself to adapt to this wonderful neighborhood that keeps you on your toes sometimes. I spent my first two years in the city doing something that many people in ministry would call unproductive: I walked up and down the Tenderloin and listened to it; especially the voices of the youth that live here. And to be honest I was astounded by what I learned.
When you google the Tenderloin in San Francisco I’m sure you’ll read articles or news about how rough this neighborhood can be. All the drugs, the violence, the homeless and housing crisis, etc. And while all that may be true, there is something you will find when you take the time to walk the streets and talk to Tenderloin residents: this is a community full of families! And where there’s families there’s also children and young people. The most recent census tells us that there are a little over three thousand kids living and growing up on our six by six block radius of the Tenderloin limits. Which is amazing!
As I started building relationships with some of them I asked them “How do you see the Tenderloin?” I got many answers. The younger ones would say things like “I like it because my friends live here”, or “it’s fine” as they shrug their little shoulders. Some of the older ones around middle school and high school would say things like “It’s fine, I just know where not to walk when it gets dark” (As if that is even a choice for some of them) But honestly, what blew me away was that in most cases, when you ask them about the Tenderloin, no matter how they feel about it, there is always one common denominator: Hope.
These kids know and embrace that their neighborhood is not always the cleanest, rough around edges or even unsafe at times; and yet they talk about how they know it won’t be like that forever, because they are going to grow up and make a difference in it. And that is why it’s an honor to walk side by side with these visionaries. As we disciple the next generation of kids in this beautiful and diverse neighborhood, we know that they deeply care for their homes, their neighbors, their safety and the future of their hood. And what a powerful combination it is to see their hope come from a deep and rooted relationship with God. The one who walks with them day in and day out, the one who provides for them and their family in one of the most expensive cities on the planet. The one who gives them peace at night when they feel anxious or unsafe. This is the future of the Tenderloin, young people full of hope and walking with God. And that is why I love living life with them, that is why I love my neighborhood.