Our younger Fools on the Court: Mikayla, Zach and Brandon
The Fools Court has been abuzz with youth energy this year, a lot of it thanks to the immersion groups we have hosted where students turn the Tenderloin community into their classroom. Established 26 years ago as an educational and charitable organization, Faithful Fools has been deeply committed to ongoing learning as a part of its practice and way of engaging with the community.
Through partnerships with universities and other community-based organizations, students get introduced to the Fools for service learning and community-building opportunities. Our work in education is a way of planting seeds out in the world and trusting they will flourish when and where most needed. What has been delightful is when the students make their way back to us out of an earnest desire to keep their ties with the community.
Get to know some of the young adults whose generosity of spirit and cultural diversity have energized the purple home of the Fools on Hyde Street and every person they have come across. We are grateful for all the beautiful ways they have shown up and cultivated an appreciation for the Tenderloin community and discovering the common humanity among all people.
Mikayla Brown
Mikayla is in the league of students who first got exposed to the Faithful Fools through an academic activity and then kept coming back on their own to carve their own path of foolishness. She came to do a street retreat with her senior class last October in the very neighborhood that she recalls having been warned before she moved for college to never go to once she’s in San Francisco. Years since hearing that, one of her favorite things about the Tenderloin is her walk to and from the Fools when she gets to see people from the neighborhood. It is where she feels most alive and connected because at the very least, people look each other in the eye.
The Fools were fortunate to have Mikayla as an intern this Spring semester and it’s gratifying to learn that she found it valuable being in an environment where she could have cross-generational and cross-cultural connections. She loved being able to further explore her passions for music and social movements and find more ways to link them, as well as using her talents meaningfully beyond the confines of a desk. One of Mikayla’s biggest contributions was the authentic way she engaged with various student groups hosted by the Fools, whether she was leading an embodiment activity or tagging along a stroll around the neighborhood in song, just because. Mikayla also shared that her experience at the Fools truly rooted her, particularly when she helped accompany a community member in a time of distress. This moment taught her more than ever the value of being fully present to people and situations.
While Mikayla is amidst a season of transitions and doesn’t know exactly what’s next after graduating, she is clear about the direction she needs to go and that she’ll need to be her full self and hold her head up high whatever path she takes. There is also no doubt in her mind that she’ll forever stay connected to the Fools and we’re equally confident she’ll continue to shine her light. In the meantime, Mikayla is committed to being present to what’s in her immediate horizon: completing a yoga teacher certification and spending quality time with her family back in Colorado soon.
Zach Sexton
Zach was a University of San Francisco (USF) student when he was placed at an internship in the Tenderloin in 2021, during which he kept running into staff from Faithful Fools through his work in the community. He was confused about the name at first, but after spending more time with folks from the purple building, he understood more and even developed an appreciation for how Fools showed up in the world. A couple of years later, Zach became the student advocate and supervisor of a group of USF Black Scholars from the Marshall-Riley Living-Learning Community program who spent a spring semester at the Fools as interns.
This year, Zach has been collaborating with the local poet and activist, Jesse Johnson, on a film project highlighting residents of the Tenderloin and Jesse’s poetry. This opportunity has allowed him to spend more time in the neighborhood and get to know people and organizations more deeply. Zach has appreciated being able to offer and further develop a range of his skills going from managing a program and being an organizational liaison, to interviewing and doing videography. He emphasized the importance of earning people’s trust in order for them to share about their lives and to make meaningful connections in the community. Having worked closely with Fools and Tenderloin residents has allowed Zach to be more focused on understanding the context behind people’s decisions. He has become better in accepting people as they are and to support them however they want to grow, but not try to fix them, nor see them as incomplete.
Back in June, the Fools had the pleasure of hosting a pre-screening of “Discovering a Different Sky,” the documentary Zach has been working on with Jesse that is part tribute, part love letter to the Tenderloin. The resounding feedback from the audience was how thoughtfully and gracefully Zach shined the light on residents of the neighborhood and weaved their stories together. We look forward to having Zach’s continued presence with us to see this project through and keep being a witness to his creativity.
Brandon Reyes
The stars aligned when Brandon came back to the Bay Area and found a job near Faithful Fools, seven years after his first encounter with us through a service-learning program. The street retreat he did in 2017, along with the other activities he participated in where he was able to connect with various Tenderloin residents, left a lasting impression on him that compelled him to return someday. When the opportunity to “put his money where his mouth is” surfaced, Brandon became a regular presence at the Fools Court coming over before or after his job, sometimes even when he didn’t even have to go to work.
Brandon’s easy going spirit and spontaneity have been great gifts as he supported the Fools from a myriad of tasks like providing tech support to staff and our neighbors or being a steadfast and positive presence in our community activities. He has been a wonderful listener and thoughtful contributor to discussions ranging from poetry to the cosmos. We once had to ask him to chase down a neighbor’s dog that got loose in the neighborhood and no questions asked, he took the mission to heart. Brandon has appreciated having the Fools as a space to explore big concepts in the company of a diverse group of people, in addition to being able to completely let go of any agendas and expectations, and to simply be present.
Brandon expressed that through his time with the Fools, he learned the importance of being in community. He recognized this even amongst those who are living on the streets and have been “othered” by society by the way they look out for each other. He also realized the need to unlearn our own practices and to have a critical eye on our own experiences and patterns in order to surface prejudices. As Brandon’s time in the Bay Area winds down, we know we’ll continue to feel his presence and he’ll go on being foolish in the best possible ways. [Read more of Brandon’s reflections on his experience with the Fools.]
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