>> well, they caught us by surprise. here we are on mosaic. i am tom burke. i welcome you to this wonderful program. it's been a pleasure to be here. it's okay that we are talking about here we are at a long-term program about a long-term program. and it is grey center. here to tell us about it is sandra munoz. thank you so much. i am so glad you're here. grace center, when we were coming in, we have that little time in that room outside and they have a tv. we catch a little bit of

rachael ray. all i could think with her was 30 minute meals. so i am thinking maybe this program is kind of like 30 minute heels. so we can look at issues and look at how people are being helped through a lens, and maybe we do something big about the whole thing. but we are here to talk about great center. you help women and men. you are celebrating 50 years of the construction of great center. it's been a pound for a lot longer than that. tell us about it. stay with in 1932, the sisters of good shepherd came to san francisco until the university's school for girls. it was a facility geared for teenage girls having difficulty at home and they had come to the attention of the juvenile courts and maybe social services. they were placed with the sisters. the sisters really wanted to give them the best. >> and i don't want to interrupt, but i know there are still people who raise money under that banner. i always wondered universities

around ladies home is what is called, pray? >> yes. >> there are still universities that raise funds under that banner. >> that hold. is called university bound. the idea was that we would have a full credited high school into presidents. that is where the teenage girls came to live at that facility. as the years went by, the sisters began to dream about having transition residence because the girls would -- when they finish high school, many times they didn't have the support him but didn't have the financial means. they really didn't have a safe place to stay. so what they did was approach the carpenters union and said, could you build us a residence just like you built out into noma? so the carpenters union, local 22, rose to the occasion. he worked very hard with all the

other demands, especially the plumbers union, number 38. so they constructed gray center and all the materials were donated free. so that is how the beautiful facility was built. >> and tell us where it is. you can't see it from the road. >> it is in the portola district. it's near mission and silver. it is right behind our original property, so it is nestled back there. it's nice and quiet and private. it's a wonderful location. >> for anybody who knows the counties like i do, you can almost hit saint elizabeth's with the stone. >> yes. [ laughter ] 's event we are talking about this. today it is a residence. you have how many women there? >> we have capacity for 12. it's a license recovery residents. it's for women want to stabilize their early recovery and have the means to go out and get a job and rebuild their lives after the

difficulty with addiction as it tears your whole life and your whole heart apart. >> it does. i mean, the ripples of addiction. we are talking about that transition thing. we are going to take a break in a little bit, but you really have a hand in that. women just don't come to the finish of the time and you say, good luck. >> that's right, tom. i think one of the things that's important is that addiction covers a lot of different issues and a lot of different things, so my job at grace center as a case manager is to really utilize the resources outside gray center and link each one of our women to employment, to education, to healthcare, primary and both mental health. ultimately, secure housing, independent living. so it is really important. and at the same time, we are

working on the addiction piece as well. >> we just have a few seconds left. we want to grab a little bit of the history. tell us a little about your passion sister. >> sister passion is the one who was instrumental in contracting the union. she worked very tirelessly along with told sullivan. they were able to put up that building. they started in april and finished in september. she was a really dynamic person. >> and here we have heard today very we have another shot of her in action on site. >> that's right. >> how long did she stay with the work? >> well, i'm number of years. she was also instrumental in raising money to build our beautiful gym. we had a gym at the university's school. >> we are going to take a break, and we are coming back on mosaic.

stay with us. grace center. great place. girl: mom, can i have a dollar? i think my purse is upstairs on the bed. it's not here. check the dining room. nope. the upstairs closet? announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy.

>> welcome back to mosaic. today we are talking about grace center. it is a wonderful place that works really hard to help women of addiction and who are having issues in life to move on with their lives into their lives going. they're here with marguerite bartley and sandra munoz. they are part of the executive team and part of the working team that helps women do what they have to do. we talked about sister passion, and that you have not been without your celebrities out there. you have had roast kennedy on site or you. >> yes, they came to than three weird pictures of her. >> i think we have her here. >> she really was a great asset to come here. very interested in young women.

>> we also have our mistress leg who was a big hand. >> he was a very generous person too many people in san francisco. somehow he came to know about the sisters and the work. he would come ever christmas and bring gifts for every person, every child, every sister, and personally give it to each one. >> as we go through the years, how many people could that have numbered? because now you have 12 or 15, but through the years it was hundreds. >> that's right. we almost wonder girls in residence and university school for girls. that went from 1932 to 1977. so there were a lot of young women were helped. >> in that time, let me ask you, how has it been through the tears? we've talked about addiction being the awful thing that it is, and the addict has to realize they need help but they can't really give the help to themselves. so how was it -- how has it been to the years?

have you seen good service develop for people who need them? how was it for you when you reach out was to mark >> time, i have. one thing about the sisters of good shepherd is that they work tirelessly for the women and for those people whose lives have taken a turn for the worse. in my time working with grace center, i had the opportunity to go into different agencies, criminal justice department, work falsely with treatment programs such as friendship house, salvation army, different agencies. in order to correlate services for our women. so i get a chance to watch them change and grow and just become the very best. >> i have some note here, very good notes. i want to do some of the very valuable boilerplate's about

gray center. what is your mission? you tell us. >> okay. we really believe that each person has a dignity given to them by god. there is this personal worth. we are committed to really helping women in recovery. we do that through a 12 step- based program, add it up to you for women to put their lives back again. >> where did it come from? how did it evolve? certainly, the wall cave of a young woman you had before, this was not in their lives. somehow this is a vote for you. >> that's right. the letter where the sisters are, year in international congregation. this same guy you of value and worth of each person and to help women in need, that's the overall mission. it is expressed in different ways in different countries and different cities. there is a tremendously to help women in recovery in san francisco. there are very few resources

for women. >> you can help 12 people at a time. do you have people clamoring to get in? >> it goes up and down. we do have some people that they are about to come ready to come into gray center, and others are kind of on the way. we do have people on the waiting list. but it does fluctuate. >> maybe you can tell us, who meets gray center customer how is it good for all of us maybe? >> well, i think that it may not be good for everybody, so women who have completed some kind of drug treatment and classes around drug treatments and who are now ready to move into more of the independent living, they would be a good candidate for gray center. again, we work closely just looking at or cord knitting with

different agencies as they are ready to transition out of a treatment program, they call us and then we setup it up to to see if it would be a good fit. >> i'm not looking for just think to say, but every woman you help it helps us. it helps everybody. it helps their families. the ripples of addiction, as we said before, are in numeral. he just can't count them. so how does the good work you do for one moment help us all? >> the idea is that really become stable or she can be a good mother to her children, she can return to her family. she will become a good citizen, get a job, pay her taxes. she won't end up back in the criminal justice system. so it is a win-win situation all around the. >> over three weird went to take a break really of websites and phone numbers or did people can donate, can find out.

we are going to talk about the 50th anniversary and more when we come back on mostly. -- on mosaic.

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>> today we are talking about gray center. it's a wonderful program that has been around for many years. they are going to be celebrating the 50th year of the construction of the facility in october. that's going to be a good time. you are going to of honor the unions that put it together that hammer the nails and put in the wires and all those things. sister marguerite and xander are part of the wonderful team. how many people are there? >> well, we have about 10

people that work either or part-time. it is really a team effort, because we work closely with the women, and we also have our staff that to the fundraising and the bookkeeping are you so it's a wonderful agency. >> what kind of regimen is there at gray center? does everyone have to take their meals together? is it that kind of thing? is there an urging to her community? >> absolutely. we encourage the women to do a lot of different things together. some have never been to a baseball game. some have never been to the beach. some have never sat down at a table and had a dinner family style, so we really tried to incorporate that sort of family togetherness in the gray center living. so it is really neat. there is a huge sense of community, and the women are just -- it's really like one big family.

>> what brought you to gray center? >> what brought me to gray center was working closely with some of the sisters in san francisco county jail. i came for a site visit. i thought, how nice would it be to work for this agency, maybe volunteer, maybe i'll call. things just kind of transpired from there. i came aboard onto the gray center team working on call and full- time job. it gave me a good balance of old in custody and in the community. ultimately, last year i was offered a full-time position with grace center, and i came onboard full-time. >> okay. >> it's been amazing journey. >> sister, how about you. have you been in recovery help,

have you been assisting women in recovery for a long time? >> it was first my experience in 91. i worked there for six and a half years and then i went to chicago and help out our shoulder for battered women and children. in great san francisco style, i recycled and i am back there again. but it is a unique program in the sense that it is based on 12 step. for myself, it was something very new. i had only worked with teenage girls in crises, so the whole idea about watching a person in america will recovery is just amazing. i just love it. >> and the thing about recovery, it goes on forever. you are always in recovery. and so is your family. so are those people that are impacted by those things. everybody is in recovery for the rest of their lives. that's something that you really are helping these women for the rest of their lives.

so when you have wish lists, we are going to show that we have phone numbers and a website. what are the wish lists? >> i think sister could probably -- senate is posted on our website. a sickly, we would love to have gift cards say like two pennies. running a residence, we need all of those things. we also need volunteers. if they would like to come help us in our garden project. we are trying to make our ground sustainable and put native plants, so we are really working on that. if anybody would like to work in a garden, i would appreciate that. they can join the women's club. they raised money for us. they can find that on the website. >> okay. what about fundraisers? >> yes, in october we are going to have an event where we will honor the union, both the carpenters union and the plumbers union, for the building of grace center. that will be our big

anniversary in preparation for next year, because next year the sisters will be celebrating 80 years of serving in san francisco. >> that will be wonderful. >> this is kind of like the kickoff. >> he told me early on that invitations are going out to all of my bosses. >> exactly. [ laughter ] i would be delighted to be there. we will take a break and then come back to mosaic. gray center. remember the website.

and 30. oh! (bell dings) yo. hey, alyson. what's going on? working on my free throws. just sunk 30 straight. 30? that's not possible. maybe not possible for you, but i've been practicing. step back and gimme the rock. okay. mm-hmm. (bell dings) nice. 1. (bell dings) 2. (bell dinging) 11. whew. (buzzer blares) unh. you know, it's harder when people are watching. hey, you know, 11's not that bad. all you need are a few pointers. thank you. are you a free throw expert? well, no, not really. but i do know excellent teamwork when i see it. you know, it's so much easier to get active and live healthier when your friends are there to motivate you with a little friendly competition.

now let's get this game started. ready? ready? oh, she's going for the hook shot. hook shoot! oh! oh! that's what i'm talking about. (first lady michelle obama) america... (all) let's get healthy together. >> welcome back to mosaic. i am tom burke. we are here with sandra munoz and

sister marguerite from gray center. we are talking about the wonderful program that's been going on for at least 50 years. the sisters are going to celebrate 80 years. we are in our last segment, so i put my glasses on so i can see better here. we want to accomplish anything we haven't published. tell us, what is the best thing you want us to know about grace center and the need it fills. >> well, we really want people to know that this facility reaches out to women who don't have many resources, who never dream of when they begin their recovery that they will be able to have a long- term. we can do that by giving them the residence and services, the recovery mentoring, connecting them to jobs, educational resources so that they would really have a full recovery. >> and how about you come at you tell us. what's the best thing about grace center? >> best thing about grace center is

that the organization just look at the person and their needs. so it's not really about how much money the person has. they do this work from the goodness of their heart. and that says a lot for the organizations. i think it's one-of-a-kind. i have never seen anything like ray center. i have to be honest. >> well, it's great you can be part of that. he told us he raise all of your money. >> that's right. >> every dime. >> we really don't go for government funding. there's a lot of cuts with government funding, and we want our program to be steady and continue. as sandra mentioned, our whole approach is like jesus the good shepherd who left the 99 to go after the one sheep. we do really try to reach out to women of all faiths or no faith, and this idea of really

bringing that love and presence of jesus. >> and we are looking at a wonderful picture. is that part of the welcoming committee asterisk. >> that's right. right as you come up the driveway. >> you have been helping women for so many years, i mean, it's just -- the death of the work is not something i think that we can know without being part of it. it's not easily done. it's not easy for people to take advantage of the work. often people who are addicted or in trouble or they are not seeing things clearly, so what can we do in the community to help programs like yours? outside of donating. what can we do to help in the mental health and the recovery. of peoples lives? >> well, i think if opportunities come your way to become involved as you can so people don't have a lot of time, but there may be some volunteer work you could do. certainly, like you say if there is some donations you could have,

give of your time. really have a positive attitude. there is hope out there for people who really want recovery. >> do you hear from people who graduated? when are women considered graduated? >> well, we really don't look at women as graduates. we look at them as successfully completing the program, so they are in contact. we have barbecues, we have community events, we invite the women back. i am constantly in contact with everyone who has left successfully. sister and i were talking about that this morning. i work in the jail of couple nights a week, and how many people do we actually see from gray center returned to custody? i think i can honestly say one person, so that is a lot for the work that we do. would people succeed, the

community is a safer place and the world is a better place. each success that they have, you know, they just become the very best of themselves. >> can we get -- can women combat customer expect is. we have worked with women. for some time there is a struggle. maybe they just wouldn't make it the first time, but we are willing to work with each woman and her situation. it does make sense sometimes for them to come back. >> we are going to show the phone numbers and website again. senior munoz, sister marguerite. the heart is there, the lord is there. thank god you are there. so glad you joined us. >> thank you. >> we will get you back here again. remember grace center. we will show you how you can go there right now. ,,,,,,,,,,,,