Professional Services in Pacifica

As a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco partners with families, community volunteers, and donors to build affordable homes for residents with low incomes in San Francisco and Marin, and on the Peninsula. To date, the organization has built more than 160 homes, with 36 new dwellings currently under construction.

Other projects include the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. Through this program, Habitat Greater San Francisco works alongside community partners and residents to respond to community-identified needs, whether that means refurbishing a youth center, repairing a resident's roof, or creating a community garden.

Junk King’s red trucks travel to houses around the country to clear homes of clutter while maintaining environmentally safe practices. Friendly haulers give customers a call when they're en route, then cart away anything except hazardous materials, including garden clippings, outmoded furnishings, and cursed Cadillac trunks. The refuse rangers sort through everything they take away, donating what they can to charity, recycling what they can’t, and even sweeping up when the job is done. So far, Junk King has saved 908 tons from entering landfills by striving to recycle more than 60% of what they collect. All appointments are scheduled within two-hour time frames, often with same- or next-day service.

The Spark Program addresses the nation's dropout crisis by connecting students from underserved neighborhoods with professionals who help motivate them to succeed academically and professionally. Each student identifies his or her dream job, and Spark matches the student with a mentor who has that job and can provide a one-on-one workplace apprenticeship. During the fall or spring session, students work on a specific project with their mentors at their workplace once a week for two hours after school. Additionally, students attend an in-school Leadership Class, led by a school staff volunteer, where they learn professional skills such as resumé writing and public speaking. Each session culminates in a Discovery Night, where students present their projects.

To date, Spark has provided more than 1,500 apprenticeships to middle-school students across the United States. Nearly all participating students come from neighborhoods where dropout rates exceed 50%, but Spark's alumni data show that apprentices have significantly higher graduation rates from high school, improved academic performance and attendance, and fewer suspensions.

The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) helps support underserved communities around the world through development training programs for students and professionals that address local health, environmental, social, and economic issues. Programs include short-term global service trips, internships abroad, and international volunteering, where participants work at program sites in Argentina, India, Kenya, Bolivia, Nicaragua, or Uganda. As part of FSD's commitment to grassroots, community-based action, participants work directly with local partners at each site to create economically and environmentally sustainable programs.

After apprenticing with a Shanghainese master in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong, John perfected his craft as an alterations master for Aquascutum, a major UK clothing designer. Years later, he packed up his seam rippers, measuring tapes, and songbird sewing assistant and headed to New York’s famed garment district. There, the expert tailor cut professional samples for prestigious brands such as Ann Taylor. Now in San Francisco alongside veteran tailor Betty, the two expert needle wielders adjust clothing so that it flatters the body’s best features. Capable of perfecting garments ranging from casual to formal wear, the clothing experts are more than willing to work with any fabric—including leather—with rush and same-day services available.

A Peabody- and Emmy-winning program, Students Rising Above (SRA) was founded by a local news anchor and a community-relations manager as a scholarship program for students who are the first in their families to attend college but lack the financial resources to support their educations. Many of these students face tremendous challenges such as homelessness and neglect but realize their potential and succeed academically, earning the grades necessary to qualify for further education.

SRA selects its program participants during their junior year of high school and works with them through college graduation, helping through guidance and support to foster a 90% graduation rate after four-and-a-half years. Since its inception, the program’s services have grown to include medical care, summer internships, precollege readiness support, and care packages with technology and dorm-room essentials, as well as intangible support in the form of a network of trusted adults and peers. SRA students have attended more than 70 colleges across the country, including Princeton University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Davis.