An S.F. nonprofit that’s staying put
Squeezed by high rent, child care center buys its building
For years, it seemed like the story of Mission Child Care Consortium would become just another tale of a nonprofit edged out of San Francisco.
The center — which cares for 224 children, making it the largest subsidized early education center in the city — occupies a 25,000-square-foot building on a palm tree-lined street in the Excelsior. Pizza restaurants and local businesses crowd the working-class area. Rent for the space at 4750 Mission St. started at $28,000, then inched up to around $42,000. The nonprofit’s leaders were prepared to close down.
But then they did something radical: With help from a mix of city loans and grants, they bought the building for $5.7 million. They will have a ribboncutting ceremony to celebrate at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
“We didn’t know what direction we were going to go,” said Joe Martinez, executive director of the nonprofit founded in 1969. “We didn’t know if this owner was going to sell the property. We knew the rent was going to be even higher, that we wouldn’t be able to afford it. But here we are in 2017, and it’s all worked
out.”
About $3.5 million of the purchase came from the city’s low-income investment fund, and an additional $2.2 million came from grants, the consortium’s own equity and a donation from the Hellman and Haas foundations.
It’s an unlikely outcome for a city grappling to keep its nonprofits. Rent for San Francisco office space has more than doubled in the past 10 years. About 2,000 nonprofits, or almost one-quarter of the total in San Francisco, had to leave the city or shut down from 2011 through 2013, the most recent city report available showed.
The consortium tried to buy the building for $4.2 million in 2006 during former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s tenure. But water and gas contamination discovered under the building — it has since been remediated — halted the purchase. Investors dropped out, and the nonprofit continued to pay skyrocketing rent prices.
“This is a really big deal,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safai, who represents the district and helped broker for city funds. “There is no other center like this in the city. It’s an institution that has been on an island by itself for a really long time. It’s a humungous asset for the working families of District 11. We mobilized a campaign and got this to happen. That’s a phenomenal accomplishment.”
The consortium provides bilingual and statesubsidized care to 3- to 5-year-old children. Monthly fees range from $42 to $760 based on family size and household income. On average, the full-price fee for day care for an infant in San Francisco ranges from $1,800 to $2,400 a month, according to the nonprofit Wu Yee Children’s Services. The cost of preschool ranges from $1,400 to $1,800.
If it weren’t for the affordable child care, Gisele Loyola wouldn’t be able to work at a nearby day care center, and her husband would have to change his hours at his construction job. She pays $43 for her 4-yearold daughter, Leticia Pinheiro, to attend the consortium. Her older daughter, Nicole Pinheiro, 10, is an alumna.
“I heard that the center almost shut down, and I got so scared,” Loyola said. “I didn’t know what to do. It’s hard to find a subsidized child care center for a girl my daughter’s age. I don’t even know where I would start to find a place with low tuition. We would have to keep her home and stop working for a while. This service is so important to me and to other families in the neighborhood.”
Besides, she added, Leticia loves the school. She loves her teachers, Miss Lori and Miss Yolanda, and making 3-D pictures with cardboard and feathers. She gets to celebrate holidays like Easter, and make collages with cut-up magazines, and go on field trips to Six Flags. They see cartoon movies and visit art museums, and she’s learning to speak English. At home, the family speaks Portuguese — Loyola wants her daughters to be able to communicate with their grandparents in Brazil.
“I was really nervous about taking my first daughter there,” Loyola said. “I didn’t think I was ready. But she loved it, and I was really comforted by the care they provided. They’re learning all the time. Our kids deserve just as much of an education as anyone else’s.”
Hilda Orantes, who works as a housekeeper, also sends her 5-year-old daughter Valeria to the consortium. Her story, too, is a well-worn refrain: She wouldn’t be able to work without the affordable child care.
“They are the best,” she said. “The teachers, the staff, everyone is so nice. I can work peacefully because I know my girl is in good hands. She enjoys every minute she spends there. That’s all I can really say. I am so very happy because they help many children and women like me.” Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn