Fifteen years ago I received a present. It was a book titled “Care Through Touch: Massage as The Art of Anointing” by Mary Ann Finch. Right then and there, it planted the Care Through Touch seed in my heart.  Fast forward to November 2014,  I was attending a Sabbatical Programme at the School of Applied Theology in Oakland, CA. Mary Ann Finch came to SAT to share with us her experience of offering massage therapy to the homeless, who inhabit the dangerous and squalid alleyways of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. She invited us to participate in an Immersion Day at the Care Through Touch Institute (CTI) which she had established thirty one years ago in the Tenderloin. That day, spent among the homeless community in San Francisco, brought the Care through Touch seed which was incubating within me to the surface. To paraphrase the words of the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, “my heart was caught off guard and blown open.”

The Tenderloin District and its Inhabitants.
The Tenderloin district in San Francisco is situated close to the city centre. It consists of approximately fourteen blocks which are bordered by the wealthy neighbourhoods of Nob Hill and Union Square. This small area is inhabited by over 4,500 homeless people, and includes

•          Veterans (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq)
•          Seniors
•          People with HIV/AIDS
•          Women who work on the streets
•          People suffering from Mental and Addictive Illness
•          Sex Workers including (LGBTQ)
•          Women and children who are victims of Domestic Violence
•          Recent Immigrants

To read more click here

Fionnuala Laide rsm
Southern Province