Code Tenderloin expands its reach
Jobs readiness program adds Western Addition
A former homeless man nicknamed the “Mayor of the Tenderloin” is expanding his constituency beyond the neighborhood northeast of San Francisco City Hall by duplicating a job training program he founded there to help poor residents latch onto the tech wave. Del Seymour is set to open another location for his job readiness program Code Tenderloin in January at a location outside the Tenderloin on the edge of the Western Addition, and he’s getting a financial boost from one of the city’s tech giants.
The expansion comes with the help of Twitter, which is providing $25,000 to Code Tenderloin.
“Over the past three years, we have strived to build bridges between tech and the Tenderloin and our partnership with Code Tenderloin is a reflection of this work,” said Caroline Barlerin, Twitter’s head of philanthropy. “We celebrate Code Tenderloin’s impressive programs providing dignity and opportunity through an intense workforce development program.”
A new set of classes is moving to the Booker T. Washington Community Center in the Western Addition, this time specifically targeting transitional youth, a term for people
generally 18 to 24 years old who have aged out of the foster system.
Like at the original site of the program in the Tenderloin, the new site will offer a fourweek course on job readiness and interviewing. Both locations will also offer a six-week, fast-paced course on front-end web development.
The plan is to provide professional development to black youth in a city where education gaps have persisted for decades, Seymour said. A recent report from San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Vincent Matthews found disparities in academic performance between African American students and higher scoring peers have not varied much in 25 years.
Seventy-four percent of African American students did not meet state standards on the most recent assessments and the graduation rate was 71 percent — the lowest among ethnic groups. At the same time, the 9 percent suspension rate is the highest among ethnic groups, according to the report.
“The focus is on African American youth who have been overlooked,” Seymour said of his programs.
The site of the new classes — the community center at 800 Presidio Ave. — has been a major piece of African American history in the city since it was founded after World War I to help returning black soldiers and their families attain social services and recreation in a segregated city.
The once deteriorated building was rebuilt after years of political red tape and celebrated its grand opening in October, attended by the late Mayor Ed Lee and a number of city officials.
Patricia Scott, the center’s executive director, said the partnership with Code Tenderloin is one of many programs already in place at the center helping local youth.
“We are really excited about working with him,” Scott said of Seymour. “The population we got really needs this badly.”
“Our kids didn’t get much help in public schools,” she added. “We got the results of that. We don’t just give up. We try to fix that.”
The original Code Tenderloin classes will continue to serve the homeless, formerly incarcerated and similarly disenfranchised at Piano Fight, an entertainment venue at 144 Taylor St. Seymour hired a new instructor for the Western Addition location.
While instructors who teach web development for Code Tenderloin are volunteers from tech companies, a handful of the job readiness instructors are paid, Seymour said.
The organization started as a way to help members of the neighborhood who appeared left behind when gentrification followed the arrival of major tech companies like Twitter, Spotify and Zendesk.
Since a number of tech companies began funding Code Tenderloin in 2015, some 200 people have entered the program with about 50 percent placed in full-time jobs — some at tech companies, Seymour said. Graduates of the new class at the Booker T. Washington Center will be awarded a laptop and a $150 stipend, Seymour said.
With the latest move to the Western Addition, Seymour said he continues to look for more opportunities to expand. The next goal is a location in the South of Market neighborhood, he said. After that, downtown Oakland.
“Our kids didn’t get much help in public schools. We got the results of that. We don’t just give up. We try to fix that.” Patricia Scott, executive director of Booker T. Washington Community Center