Tiny humans wearing bright blue oversized T-shirts kicked and chased a soccer ball on artificial grass, charged with a sugar rush. The kids, from GLIDE’s after-school program, teetered between two appropriately-sized portable plastic goals, learning skills from volunteer soccer coach Chris Stokes.
The 100 block of Golden Gate Avenue, now provisionally closed to cars as part of the Golden Gate Greenway Coalition’s decision to create more greenspace in the Tenderloin, is still an asphalt road in the most child-dense neighborhood in the city. But for three Thursday afternoons at the start of fall, the 450-foot stretch of road has been seized with sticky hands and faces as San Francisco’s Hometown Creamery doles out scoops from its bright red 1978 VW bus. Temporarily, it became one of two ice cream shops in the TL, a dessert desert.
Through the windows of the bus, creamery owner Saadi Halil hands ice cream to kids, parents and employees of the nearby nonprofits. SF’s Hometown Creamery offered a discounted rate to the ice cream social patrons.
“It’s kind of hard to bring ice cream anywhere and not have people get super excited,” said Halil. “But it feels good to bring that to a space where, you know, things can often be overlooked.”
While the Greenway isn’t exactly green yet, the road provides a space for neighborhood programming sponsored by any of the many social services organizations of the neighborhood, of which there are at least four with programming specifically for children.
Stokes, who played soccer in England and through college stateside, is on a mission to foster a love for the sport in American kids through private coaching, and recently, providing the space for the neighborhood kids to play during the ice cream socials. He organized with the St. Anthony Foundation for these events and independently fundraises for equipment through a GoFundMe page.
“Playing almost becomes a luxury for a lot of these kids,” said Stokes. “So seeing how happy they were yesterday, to be able to play in kind of an open, safe space was really special.”
