This story aired in the August 6, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
According to the city of San Francisco, seniors here are more likely than any other age group to live in poverty. Nearly half of San Franciscans who are 65 and older don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs, like getting enough to eat. And according to a national study by the University of Michigan, Older adults are also prone to loneliness: WITH one in three reporting feeling isolated.
But a spot in the Tenderloin is working to overcome these challenges, by bringing under-resourced seniors together for coffee and connection.
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Story Transcript:
REPORTER: If you walk down Golden Gate Avenue between Larkin and Hyde on a weekday morning, you’ll notice a line of people forming on the sidewalk. They stand alongside a stucco building, with a sign in the window that says: “St. Francis Living Room. Drop in for seniors 60 and over.” Larry Holland waits at the front of the line, alone with his cane.
LARRY HOLLAND: Except for 10 months I've been homeless. You know, that's since 2012.
REPORTER: Like some of the folks waiting in line behind him, Larry is unhoused. Like everyone else, he’s an older adult. The building’s green front gate swings open. It’s 8:30 am, and it’s time for breakfast.
LARRY HOLLAND: Okay, let’s get going.
PIERRE SMIT: Good morning.
LARRY HOLLAND: Good morning.
REPORTER: I follow Larry through a lush courtyard and into Saint Francis Living Room.
PIERRE SMIT: Hi, Larry. How are you?
LARRY HOLLAND: Hi.
REPORTER: Staff greet guests at the door, and seniors begin settling in. The room is crowded with square metal tables. Red loveseats line one wall. Christmas photos of older adults with Santa hang above them. Across the room, a built-in cabinet displays a whiteboard used as a bingo scorecard. A huge window cut into one of the walls reveals a small kitchen, where staff wait behind plexiglass, ready to serve breakfast, cafeteria-style. Larry makes a beeline for the food.
KENYA HANCOCK: We serve oatmeal every morning.
LARRY HOLLAND: No raisins.
REPORTER: Kenya Hancock is an older adult, herself—as are most of the staff and volunteers at the living room. Kenya works here as part of a job training program.
KENYA HANCOCK: And we also offer some type of protein sandwich. It's ham and cheese this morning. And we always serve coffee.
LARRY HOLLAND: Coffee with milk. No sugar.
REPORTER: Larry picks up a tray piled with food, finds a seat, and digs into his breakfast.
PIERRE SMIT: This is a safe place for the elderly, 60 years old and over, who are homeless or low-income.
REPORTER: Executive director Pierre Smit says Saint Francis Living Room’s mission is to improve the quality of life for seniors in the Tenderloin. Many older adults in the neighborhood live in shelters, on the street, or in single-room occupancy units—a type of affordable housing common in the Tenderloin that does not have its own kitchen or bathroom. This living room is a space that most guests don’t have at home: a large, comfy place to relax with friends. It’s named after Saint Francis of Assisi, who is known for serving people who live in poverty. Just like the living room’s volunteers do.
PIERRE SMIT: It's a job that everybody can do! But it's the population of a city to take care of its people.
REPORTER: After all, San Francisco is also named after St. Francis of Assisi.
PIERRE SMIT: We have volunteers here who are, they're elders also, and they, some of them were homeless and they come over here and help.
BRUCE PEERMAN: I was homeless for 10 years.
REPORTER: Bruce Peerman is a 67-year-old from the Sunset.
BRUCE PEERMAN: I used to come here, you know, just to get something to eat once in awhile.
REPORTER: Now, he works at the living room.
BRUCE PEERMAN: I live right around the corner. I like to get outta my SRO, which I don't like staying, you know.
PIERRE SMIT: This work is major.
REPORTER: Many older adults live on fixed incomes that don’t even cover rent for most affordable housing. So the number of seniors experiencing homelessness is expected to be nearly three times higher in 2030 than it was in 2017. And unhoused seniors are twice as likely to be food insecure as others living in poverty. Here at the living room, all guests get a nutritious breakfast—and can take a couple of sandwiches to go.
PIERRE SMIT: You know, this is a good place for them to come over and have some enjoyment of life. Of meeting other people, being part of a community.
REPORTER: That’s easy to recognize when laughter from a group of older adults floats across the room.
HARRY WONG: This is a whole table of friends. A lot of friends, Marilyn—
MARILYN: Harry!
REPORTER: Harry Wong is a 72-year-old San Francisco native.
HARRY WONG: And Marilyn is my, we joke around, she's my ex-wife.
MARILYN: No, my brother from another mother.
HARRY WONG: Whatever.
MARILYN: Whatever.
PIERRE SMIT: Actually, this organization was started based on research that there was a lot of senior—in this case it was senior male—who were living in small room hotels and they had no place to go, and they were suffering.
REPORTER: Saint Francis Living Room was founded by the St. Anthony’s Foundation in 1987 to combat loneliness.
HARRY WONG: I got into a deep depression, and yeah, it was pretty bad.
REPORTER: Harry was recently an isolated senior, himself. For years, he’s been a caregiver to his partner, who is chronically ill.
HARRY WONG: One of the reasons why I was isolated was I was taking care of him. And being with him 24/7 and I forgot who I was. And I was suicidal. And then when I connected to the community, it got me out of isolation, where I was for three years. I'm happier now and I come daily, yeah. And living room has been wonderful. You know, they know my name It's like the sitcom, Cheers. They may not like me, but they know my, know my name.
REPORTER: The morning winds down, and the staff begin to clean up, preparing for tomorrow’s breakfast. Harry tells me he’s heading around the corner to his second senior center of the day.
HARRY WONG: The beautiful part is I've learned to not only self-love, but also to give. And by giving it to the community, I've learned to, I love myself more. I have a little piece of life to live. Whatever life I have, I'm gonna give back. That's why I stayed in the Tenderloin area because I think people need more help.
REPORTER: As Harry makes his way, he says he’ll look out for the well-being of other older adults in the Tenderloin.
