by Mauro Aprile Zanetti

It was spring 2000 when film director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola (currently a successful wine producer in the Napa Valley as well), came out with an idea that promptly involved poet, activist and City Lights Booksellers and Publishers co-founder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jeannette Hetheredge from renown Tosca Cafe, and several residents and merchants all over the old Italian neighborhood of San Francisco: "North Beach Citizens".

More or less like "startuppers" do along these very exciting and hyper-positive tech-crunch days--according to new data from the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters, in hard numbers, 57 U.S. firms have already raised $12 billion in the first quarter, which is more than double the fundraising totals of the last two quarters of 2015 combined--, North Beach Citizens fellows picked up a problem, they were perceiving in order to solve it: the rise of homelessness in their neighborhood, they saw and cared about. So they started joining together in a basement, I guess, or garage if you prefer that silicon-touch-narrative, to discuss about their "start up": team, vision, strategy, program, execution, some friends and family network, potential seeding angels, incubators and accelerators, proof of service and all that stuff in the pipeline from short to long term, looking for a final successful exit.

Here's briefly their personal "disruption" of that tragic social-vicious-circle, some human beings experience when loosing an environment, a family, friends and love--which basically means getting disconnected from your community--, and yourself as well: "rather than merely feeding homeless people, and sending them on their way, these neighborhood visionaries envisioned a real change; a resource center that homeless and low-income residents could use as a base and a starting point to rebuild their lives and reconnect with their community."

North Beach Citizens (www.northbeachcitizens.org) was definitely born in January 2001 staffed only with volunteers. Within one month, North Beach Citizens was working with 50 homeless citizens.

Sunday, April 3, 2016 it was the , at Saints Peter and Paul Church - An Italian Spring Dinner, catered by Enzo Pellico of E' Tutto Qua restaurant, perfectly matched with some tasteful wines from Francis Ford Coppola winery.

The event was beautifully co-chaired by Dick Grosbol and Jeanne Milligan, at the presence of the Dinner Honorary Chairman, Francis Ford Coppola, the Board of Directors-Officers, and hundreds of invitees, who could also enjoy some passionate Italian music and songs performed by Ron Borelli Trio. Ruth Yankoupe, President, Board of Directors opened the dinner with an Overview & Greetings of the organization. Kristy Fairchild, Executive Director helped the live auction & fund-a-need led by auctioneer, Greg Quiroga, hitting the ground running. George Lucas & Melody Hobson, Francesca Passalacqua & Ed Harry were listed as directors amongt some of the generous sponsors of the organization.

Client spotlight of the year was, Ralph, who told about how, thanks to North Beach Citizens he was able at 60 years old, after 18 years of homeless, to sign his first lease for permanent, affordable house,
also turning himself into a valuable team member to the others in the C.O.R.E program: Community, Opportunity, Reintegration, Empowerment. Philanthropists, donators and volunteers along these 15 years have been spreading more and more to tackle the real plague of San Francisco, we all should feel ashamed for.

We cannot but still trying to do our best, because we see and we must care about people living in such an inhuman way along the streets of the tech Renaissance City of San Francisco. Wherever you are on your life journey, next volunteer is you, which is sustainable and true: make a stand, if you are still alive!"