About
San Francisco Village
About
Since 2009, San Francisco Village has been enriching the lives of older San Franciscans by providing them with the community, connections and expertise they need to stay in charge of their lives. As a non-profit membership organization, we invite people from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds who want to feel fully engaged as they age, and realize that together we’re better.
With a staff of five and a non-member volunteer corps of 175, San Francisco Village includes more than 375 members ranging in age from 60 – 96, located across 25 different neighborhoods.
We need support at every age, but especially as we get older. As we age our social networks change: friends move or pass away, health and financial resources shift. So creating new connections late in life, while staying in our home for as long as possible, is vital to facing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Doing so with a team of kindred spirits who can empathize with these challenges is the gateway to shared experience and a deep sense of belonging. San Francisco Village is that gateway.
History
In June 2006, a committed group of local leaders, residents, and health care experts came together – inspired by a New York Times article about Beacon Hill Village and aging-in-place – to address their concerns about aging and housing situations for older people in San Francisco. The committee spent the next two years focusing on conceptualizing the service model, securing initial funding and confirming the organization’s 501(c)(3) status.
In January 2009, San Francisco Village officially launched and started offering member services. At its inception, the Village served older adults residing in the Richmond District, but as word spread, membership expanded to include people living in neighborhoods all over San Francisco.
The Village Movement
San Francisco Village is part of the national Village Movement. Established in 2002, the Village Movement has since grown to include more than 350 Villages – there are 200 active Villages across the country, with an additional 150 in development.
San Francisco Village is one of 50 Villages in the state of California, and we’re proud to be leading Village Movement California (VMC). VMC connects Villages across the state to strengthen impact, accelerate growth, and ensure sustainability of this life-affirming model for social change. Together, we advocate for innovative, community-based solutions to improve quality of life and expand choices at all stages of aging, empowering older adults to sustain independence through community and remain in charge of their lives as they age.
Staff
Kate Hoepke
Executive Director
Jill Ellefsen
Member & Volunteer Coordinator
Sarah Brigid Newsham Kent
Program Coordinator
Yousra Sebiaa
Administrative Assistant
Jessica Da Silva
Wellness Program Coordinator
Board of Directors
Gretchen Addi
Co-Chair
Design Consultant
Brittney Doyle, MPH
Founder, WISE Health
Bill Haskell
Co-Chair
Long Term Care Strategist
Steve Hayashi
Retired Engineering Manager
Steven Hieger
Vice Chair
Director of Information Technology, NCPHS
Andrea Jacoby
Treasurer
Finance, Executive Coach
Barbara Kivowitz
Health Care Strategy & Innovation Consultant and Author
Mary Lanier
Executive Project Consultant, CPMC
Joanne Low
Secretary
Community Volunteer
Mary Moore Gaines
Board Member Emeritus
Rector Emeritus – St. James Church
Funders
Since membership fees cover only one quarter of our operating expenses, funders are critical to ensuring that San Francisco Village can continue to provide quality programming and services to our members. San Francisco Village is deeply grateful for the generous support of our donors.
Contact Us
Interested in learning more, or just want to say hello? We’d love to hear from you!
Peter Heldman,
volunteer since 2013
Kate Hoepke, Executive Director, has been a community-builder for 30 years, in the field of aging since 2001 and with SFV since 2012. In addition to her role at SFV, she is a leader in the national Village Movement and Chair of Village Movement California, advancing the Village Movement statewide. She is the founder of 40 Mothers Clubs, social support networks for young families in the San Francisco Bay Area, which have served more than a million families since the early 1990’s. Kate has a BA in sociology and an MBA from San Francisco State University, and she is a 2019/2020 Encore Public Voices Fellow.
Sara joined the team in 2018. She brings with her 20 years of experience in community development, philanthropy, and organizational management. She completed her bachelors at George Washington University and her masters at UC Berkeley. Her career focus has been on evaluating how community groups run from year-to-year and strengthening daily processes to increase institutional success. Sara loves travel and global development issues, particularly a non-profit she founded 10 years ago focusing on students’ access to school in Cambodia. Sara is raising her family here in San Francisco.
Yousra was born and has lived in the Bay Area her whole life. She began working at San Francisco Village during her sophomore year of high school and she is now a student at San Francisco State University, where she is majoring in Social Work with a minor in Counseling and Health Education.
Jill has been working in the field of aging for 15 years, starting as an in-home care provider until going back to school to earn her Masters of Gerontology from San Francisco State in 2013. She has experience as an Activities Coordinator at an assisted living facility, a Resident Services Coordinator at a low income senior housing complex and has also been a hospice volunteer. While she joined the staff in 2018, Jill has been part of the San Francisco Village community since 2014, when she began as a volunteer. In her free time she loves spending time at the beach, cycling, hiking and knitting.
Maya is a public relations and communications professional with more than a decade of experience; her expertise includes consumer products and technology PR, as well as event management and content development. She has been a pro-bono consultant with the Taproot Foundation since 2012, and has participated in three service grants to date. Maya attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a BA in mass communications and a minor in political science.
Sarah has spent the past decade working in creative and non-profit settings in Chicago, Baltimore, Juneau, and San Francisco. She is passionate about community building, art making, accessibility, and social justice. Sarah studied social work, art, and psychology at Loyola University Chicago and spent two years post- graduation volunteering with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. She enjoys exploring and adventuring in San Francisco on foot and bike, making feasts from farmer’s market finds and scheming her next creative project.