James Mapstone from 2nd Chance visited the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco. Delamcey is a community where people with nowhere to turn, turn their lives around.

Delancey Street is the USA's leading residential self-help organization for former substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom. Started in 1971 with 4 people in a San Francisco apartment, Delancey Street has served many thousands of residents, in 5 locations throughout the United States. Residents at Delancey Street range from teenagers to senior citizens, and include men and women and all races and ethnicities. The average resident has been a hard-core drug and alcohol abuser, has been in prison, is unskilled, functionally illiterate, and has a personal history of violence and generations of poverty.

James and other professionals from similar backgrounds headed out to San Francisco for a week to learn about the project with a view to replicating something similar back in the UK.

Below you can click on the daily blog that James wrote documenting his trip. He talks about his experiences, the people he met, the social enterprises he worked on and what inspired him the most. Enjoy...

Settling in

Meeting the family

Life at Delancey Street

James goes to work...

Last days and a motivational talk

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Posted: 03.05.10 20:11