by Karen M. Andrews

Our penultimate blog post featuring “pop-up portraits” coincides with our final week of classes for Spring 2017.

Enjoy hearing a few words from Tyler Bradford and Melanie Boonstra!

Tyler Bradford

Photo credit, Kristen Leichty

Tyler, an English major at Westmont, works as a “Publishing Intern” at the non-profit organization, 826 National.

Tyler’s role at his internship is tied to the publication they are working on this spring:

My primary responsibilities are to tend to the day to day edits, organization, and management and arrangement of the 15th Anniversary Anthology project.

Tyler has enjoyed reading “dozens of student essays, stories, and poems from around the country” for this project.

One of the more valuable aspects of Tyler’s internship has been the “friendliness and encouragement” of his supervisor and coworkers at 826 National.

What advice would Tyler give to other students coming to the WSF program?

If you have the opportunity, go for a run in Golden Gate Park. It's incredible!

Melanie Boonstra

Photo credit, Jordan Bishop

Melanie, a Westmont History major, works at  Because Justice Matters, a nonprofit organization “serving women and girls in the Tenderloin who are at higher risk of being exploited.”

Melanie has enjoyed the “opportunity to cultivate friendships with women from all different walks of life” and has found “listening to other's stories” most valuable: 

Every story has so much to give the world and those who are marginalized often get muted.

On Mondays, Because Justice Matters (BJM) hosts a manicure day, welcoming all women from the Tenderloin. I asked Melanie why she thinks the manicure outreach draws so many women to BJM:

Some come to sleep in a safe corner of the Ellis Room, eat more brownies than I can attempt to count, drink warm coffee, color, or simply talk to someone while they get their nails painted. It is often the only place where these women can come in, be themselves, with no questions asked.

Melanie has also helped teach dance classes to girls of the Tenderloin. It’s “a beautiful thing to watch young girls experience dance as a way to give glory to our Creator. “

Melanie has been studying the history of the Tenderloin, the role this district plays in the city of San Francisco, and she’s learned more about the people of the Tenderloin from their poignant stories:

Many of these women have experienced some type of abuse such as sexual or domestic harassment due to their ethnicity and so many other hardships due to being a low-income woman.

My biggest encouragements have come from women whom the world would deem as hopeless. ... I can no longer walk past a homeless child of God and not acknowledge that God is with them as much as He is with me.