'Safe Passage' Program Guides Kids Through The Tenderloin

'Safe Passage' Program Guides Kids Through The TenderloinPhotos: Blair Czarecki/Hoodline
Blair Czarecki
Published on March 10, 2015

Since 2008, volunteer-based organization Safe Passage has been working to build a culture of safety on the streets of the Tenderloin.

Inside Boeddeker Park, on the corner of Jones and Eddy, Safe Passage's Executive Director Dina Hilliard, Program Director Kate Robinson, and dedicated volunteers sit around a map of the Tenderloin, strategizing a day’s work on the TL's streets.  

The day's volunteer shifts start at 2:45pm on weekdays, when staff stand on the corner of Turk and Leavenworth with walkie-talkies and bright vests, smiling and waving at the regular foot traffic of some 170 kids that pass through every 40 minutes or so.  “They wear yellow vests for people to notice them,” said one student. “I feel happy because they keep us safe.” 

“It is not our goal to intervene or get involved with negative street elements; we are a safety presence, and with us here, people can focus on us, and feel safer on the streets,” says Robinson. “There is something about seeing the yellow vest, seeing people waving with their walkie-talkies, it’s just a really good feeling, and we know it has a positive impact.”

Safe Passage's work is motivated by what it’s like to live and walk these streets, which include 11 high-crime city blocks. “People feel scared, even I feel scared, and imagine what it would feel like to be a kid here,” says Robinson. 

“You see a lot of things, a lot of people, and a lot of positive things happening. The drug dealers saying, ‘It’s 2:30, it’s time to put it away.’ Or, ‘OK guys, break time.’ And that’s exactly what we want,” says Robinson. “We aren’t here for policing ... We are a positive presence, even with drug dealers, we are coexisting."

Beyond this highly trafficked corner, volunteers roam around designated safe passage routes to see where kids and families are walking and what the conditions are like on the streets.

“We understand that the neighborhood changes. We collect data and do observational surveying, so if we notice crime or walking patterns change, we make adjustments,” says Robinson.

The program is also known for its sidewalk art which shows yellow bricks painted directly onto the sidewalks. These serve as a visual designation for safe routes connecting schools, community centers, and after school programs. The idea was expanded based on data collected from parent surveys, and the “passages” were assigned to specific areas thought to be safer for youth travel through the neighborhood.

Safe Passage's plans for the future include a permanent installation of these painted blocks, expanding their efforts to 18 city blocks.

Built on the foundations of collaborative community efforts, Safe Passage gained a solid foot-hold the last year. “We operated from 2008-14 on very minimal funds,” says Robinson. "We received a few small grants in those seven years, but we operated mostly off of volunteer contributions and time, until the TLHIP (Tenderloin Health Improvement Partnership) process gave us this opportunity to grow,” she continues. “All of the organizations who made up the [original] Safe Passage committee are now board members."

Safe Passage currently provides a unique training model for its volunteers, including stipends for designated corner captains stationed at high-risk corners.

“The goal of this program is for it to become second nature for our volunteers on how to respond, and this response is very specific, which reduces the risk and the chances of someone feeling unsafe,” says Robinson.

Safe Passage has affected more than just youth traveling from school to after school programs. “The tech companies have gotten involved, the staff members that work there, even if they don’t live in the neighborhood, they have to walk through it,” says Robinson.

While possible expansion, more shifts, and the hopeful employment of a Volunteer Coordinator are being discussed, “I’d love to see less of a critical need for Safe Passage,” says Robinson. “Our real mission is to create a culture of safety.”

Interested in volunteering? Contact Kate Robinson by email at [email protected] or by phone at (415) 292-2328.