A Place That Is Kind To Me,As I Am Kind To It.

A Place That Appreciates Me,When I Need To Be Appreciated.

A Place That Treats Me Well Most ALL The Time!

A Place That Teaches Me Creative Ways To Deal With My Emotions.

A Place That Helps Me To Express Myself In Ways That I Will Best Be Understood.

A Place To Give Me Value When The World Seems In Short Supply.

A Place That Helps Me To Get My Needs Met When My Needs Are NOT Always Clear To Me.

A Place That Treats Me Kindly When The World Shows MeIt Is Running Low.

A Place That Is Willing To Hear Me When I Need To Be Heard.

A Place That Helped Me To Physically Adjust When I Had My Strokes.

A Place Willing To Help Me Quiet After My Heart Attacks.

A Place That Is Very Willing To Work With Me As I Battle My Anxieties.

A Place That Takes Me Seriously And Laughs With Me When I Need To Laugh.

It’s A Place That Helps Me To Be A Me

That We ALL Can Seem To Deal With.

Please Don’t Close Laguna Honda Hospital

I Don’t Know If I Will Find A Place

That So Readily Accepts Me As I Am!

Thank You To Those Who Worked Hands-On During The Heart of The Pandemic...

 Putting Our Safety First, Before Your Own.

The Defunding of Laguna Honda AND Closing It Seems A Very Shortsighted, Sad Response,

Throwing In The Towel And Crying ''Uncle,‘’ WHILE Throwing Out The Baby In The Process.

Maybe Another Look At The Grit AND Determination We Have When We Stand Together and Work Together.

Fixing What Needs Fixing Not Allowing FOOLISHNESS To Run The Show.

Realizing That The Pages We Find Ourselves On Aren’t Really That Different!

Where Finding A Compromise Is Possible And Taking A Closer Look At Our Priorities AND Yours,Tweaking Where Necessary, Allowing Residents To Express Their Two Cents When Needed.

Support NOW Becomes A Doing ''With'' Situation, Instead of A Doing ''For'' Situation.

Whereas He Who Holds The Cards, Also, Holds The Objective,

At Times It Exposes That Closure Is NOT OUR ONLY OPTION.

A Situation Can Be Reached That Brings A Smile From Both Sides.

A WIN-WIN Situation, Prevails.

A Happier Entity Now Dwells On Each Side.

AND, They ALL Live HASSLE-FREE, Again, For Awhile!

“My name is Felipe, and I am 61-years-old. I am originally from Mexico. I came to the USA when I was 38-years-old, and I moved to Los Angeles. After five years, I moved to San Francisco. In May 2006, I had a stroke, which was a very bad stroke. It damaged [my] C3-C7 [vertebrae], so that’s why I am handicapped. The first time I was in San Francisco General, I was in a coma for two weeks or more than two weeks. After that, they moved me to Davis and then Duboce and Castro, for therapy. They removed the ventilator, and they started teaching me how to eat and swallow after the stroke.

“Once they moved me to Laguna Honda, I met a lot of people younger than me. The facility was a huge facility, and very good people to take care to me. So I was so happy. I was a little depressed because of my health situation. Little by little, I accepted my new situation. I started to go to City College and journal. I went to the Mission campus because I needed to speak English. I took some classes there. Right here at Laguna Honda...You can have a lot of friends and experiences. I met a lot of Spanish speakers. When we moved to the new building, I met some people –they belong to Latin people. I have friends...We enjoy it, right here. Sometimes I have the opportunity to go outside to the community –sometimes to enjoy my family, sometimes to enjoy events outside. 

“I love to have time in the computer. In the [Laguna Honda] library, I spent time to learning online. In 2010, we started with the Computer Club. They come to teach us whatever we need, and what we don’t know. They provide us with computers, and now, each unit has a lot of tablets for the residents. I enjoy also the art studio. I like to painting. I am learning. That one is one of my paintings. That one is for my hometown in Mexico. I’m from Jalisco. My health situation is not too easy. It looks like I am ok, but I have a lot of problems, especially with my diabetes. I can move only my arms and my head. Right here, they always turn me side to side every two hours. Right here you have everything. You have x-ray, pain clinic, wound clinic, podiatric...Right here, if you have a problem, they help you right away.

My home is at Laguna Honda. Right here, it’s my life. Because I cannot go to visit my family’s house because they live on the third floor and there’s no elevator. This is my home, definitely. My family lives right here in San Francisco. My wife can come in 20 minutes. If I move outside [of here], I don’t know when and how they can visit me. Because many people, maybe, they don’t need it. But many of us, we really need the service they provide to us right here at Laguna Honda.”