Lourdes Figueroa: “There Needs to Be a Paradigm Shift.”

We've been very fortunate to welcome back Lourdes Figueroa to the SOMCAN staff! Lourdes has resumed her former role as Case Worker for our Familias Unidas program, providing Spanish-language outreach, referrals, and support for our Latino members and their families. Lourdes recently took some time out to answer a few questions, sharing her family’s migration story, the differences between a vocation and a career, and her hopes for the SoMa community.

What is your full name?

My full name is Lourdes Figueroa. At home, though, mi amá calls me Liliana. It is a name she would have wanted for me.

What name do you prefer to go by?

I prefer to go by Lourdes. I was named after my mom.

What is your title at SOMCAN?

My title at SOMCAN is Case Worker for the Familias Unidas Program

What does your job consist of? 

My work at SOMCAN consists of providing advocacy, assisting Spanish speaking families in navigating the different social services in San Francisco, may it be health care, affordable housing applications, finding rent assistance when in need, tenant rights referrals, and most importantly accompanying the family when trying to access these resources.

“I continuously come back to this line of work out of love. There is no other way.”

What do you like or what are you most excited by about your job?

The best part of my work is that I get to accompany the family. As I continue in this line of work, I’ve learned that I have been given the opportunity to not only bear witness, but to be proactive and, not only walk alongside families here in SOMA and the Tenderloin, but to learn and fight together. Overall this is a vocation for me. I seek nothing more, nothing less than a true commitment to the working family. I come from a history of migrant farmworkers. My childhood was a migrant life from orchards to tomato fields. When my parents first arrived to this country from Mexico they worked in the tomato fields in Yolo County, my grandfather died tilling the soil in Yuba City. My mother made a commitment to her community many years ago and continues to serve the migrant farmworker as a nurse assistant in Woodland, California. I suppose it is something I inherited, to approach the work with this commitment, out of love.

I’ve been in this line of work for about 16 years. I come in and out of it and it has never been a career for me. I think if you are committed to community, all of it becomes a vocation because it is not something you study nor try to climb but live. I continuously come back to this line of work out of love. There is no other way.

​I’m excited for all of this. Especially for the wonderful team that is the staff, the members, the working families, and the youth group at SOMCAN.

​How does your job fill a need in the SOMA community?

​My position at SOMCAN, not only provides a safe space for Spanish-speaking families, but an opportunity to work alongside the families to make changes with the affordable housing application process, to continue to bridge the community.

​What are some of the challenges that come with the job?

​One of the challenges that comes with the work is the rigorous process of applying for housing in San Francisco. It is a beast on its own. Seeing the barriers that the working family has to break through already, attaining housing is a miracle in itself. I believe that the approach to it and the way it is designed must be changed. There needs to be a paradigm shift in regards to this, here and nationwide. San Francisco has the resources and the potential to fully provide housing for everyone– from the people on the streets, to the working class family living in SRO’s, to even the middle class. San Francisco is such a wealthy city in all aspects, at this point it is a crime that there are waitlists for shelters and for housing period.

“Seeing the barriers that the working family has to break through already, attaining housing is a miracle in itself.”

What are some ideas for programs or services you would like to see implemented in the future?

 It would be wonderful to see a women’s group develop that focuses on health, good nutrition, personal well-being, and provides a space for story- telling and sharing.

 Further, it would be great to redesign the whole BMR program with the Mayor’s Office of Housing with the consistent input of the working families, the working class individual, and the family or the individual that is homeless—they need to be at the table designing the application process and of course the entire program. Importantly, they need to be at the table where decisions are made regarding speculation and further development. Their voices must have the same weight as the Mayor’s and the Board of Supervisors’, if not more.

 Many may think this is utopian. It is not a mythical hope. It is not a hope that is baseless and non-doable. It can be done and I’m sure it will become.

​How and when did you first get involved with the SOMA community?

​I started as a volunteer at SOMCAN in July of 2013, helping with the Familias program and the youth group. Before that I had been doing work with the families program at Tenderloin Housing Clinic and I had taken a couple of years off to attend grad school. Eventually Angelica hired me. Then I left in 2015 for a few years and worked at DPT. That in itself is another good story that we could talk about when you see me. I am grateful to be back at SOMCAN and witnessing the dedication of the team!

“San Francisco has the resources and the potential to fully provide housing for everyone– from the people on the streets, to the working class family living in SRO’s, to even the middle class.”

What are some of your favorite or go-to spots in the SOMA? Why?

 There’s Tony Baloney’s at 7th and Howard. He always makes a good greasy sandwich, a hearty salad too, and strong coffee. Tony is a good guy even when I wore the uniform as a meter maid he welcomed me. On sunny days I love going to parks, and we love to go by Yerba Buena; it is a good spot to sleep off some food from Inay’s restaurant. There’s a lot of good spots around here. My brother works at Escape from New York Pizza at 3rd and Harrison and that’s some fancy, easy pizza. SOMA is also home to the MOAD (Museum of the African Diaspora) and there is also the Jewish Museum, the SF MOMA, and so much more. I also like to get lost in the little alleyways between SOMCAN and Folsom Street and walk through Natoma Street or Minna Street. There are new spots that have opened up, too. I do walk in to buy their salads or coffee or even a slice of chocolate cake with a co-worker. It is beautiful to see how much our bodies have made this city, especially the Filipino history; it is embedded in the streets, the houses, the businesses, the parks, the art, all of it is Filipino heart, the immigrant heart.

 Really the Tenderloin and SOMA are my home and have been for the past eleven years.

​If you had one wish for the SOMA community, what would it be?

​So many. I have many, I can’t help it. The preservation of the Filipino culture here. The recognition of all of our history here. And for it to be recognized throughout the City as a place where families live and thrive.

​Access to good health, to good healthcare, the opportunity for work, a good healthy place to live, community art, all of these things are natural human necessities and human rights. And so many of these wishes for our community are things that SOMCAN continues to fight for and has attained for the community, as a community.

​”It is beautiful to see how much our bodies have made this city… it is embedded in the streets, the houses, the businesses, the parks, the art…”

Where can people find you on your days off? Any favorite activities?

​On my days off you could probably find me at a bookstore, or at a poetry reading, sometimes in Yolo County with mi amá, or with my wife.

​Do you have any drop-in hours?

​People can see me at SOMCAN on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm.

​How can people get in contact with you?

​Give me a call at 415-255-7693 or come by SOMCAN located at 1110 Howard Street.