The Life of Sally Hindman
“The young people are leading; in a way they are like prophets, and the rest of us are following their leadership…From our faith.
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In the airy Vault Cafe of South Berkeley, behind a thick cherrywood table, I settle into my too-low chair. The woman opposite me sits leaned against an exposed brick wall beneath shoulder-length blonde hair, with a pair of thickset, small glasses perched on her nose, and a smile as warm as it is quick to appear. Sally Hindman, the Executive Director of Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) and co-founder of Street Spirit, welcomes me with a high pitched “Hi!”
Sally has been working with the homeless, especially homeless youth, for upwards of thirty years. After graduating from Cornell with a degree in Environmental Conservation, Sally was originally drawn to resolving the energy crisis brought on by dwindling fossil fuels and the high consumption of resources in the ’70s. What Sally came to realize, however, was that environmental awareness was a post-material commodity only available to a select few. “What became clear to me was that the whole idea of caring about the environment was something that was for the wealthy or privileged to care about, but people who were just trying to get by day-to-day couldn’t even think about something like that.” Although she was torn between her concern for the failing environment and her newfound solidarity with the world’s homeless, in the end, Sally came to see as a priority the fundamental struggle of homelessness, “and that was survival.”
The work of Mitch Snyder, a radical American homeless advocate in the ’70s and ’80s and the driving force behind the Community for Creative Nonviolence (CCNV) in D.C., deeply affected Sally. “Snyder...was a huge influence on a lot of us who ultimately spent our vocations really focused on homelessness. He was someone who was doing radical fasting in solidarity with homeless people trying to get resources for our impoverished citizens, and he had a huge impact on my faith.”
The “faith” Sally mentions there is a crucial part of her work. YSA itself is a fervently interfaith organization; Sally herself personally identifies as both a Jew and a Quaker. Sally speaks strongly of “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and elevates it as a real radical call, that it is more than just “your neighbor next door that needs a cup of sugar,” but really “we’re not just called to share a cup of sugar, you know, it’s way more than that.” Sally also emphasized the fundamentality of Micah 6:8 on her spiritual journey: “What does the Lord require of us but to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the Lord.” Wistfully, Sally asks me, “how [does one] go to bed at night and be living with Micah 6:8 and not want to deeply respond to doing what we can to create justice?!”
Today, Sally is working with YSA to house, teach, and empower the homeless youth of the Bay Area. Through artistic and practical mediums, YSA works to provide fundamental vocational skills, beautification of neighborhoods with murals, and (for the last three years) the construction of a tiny home community all in the effort to put 100 youths under 100 roofs — by the youth, for the youth! Sally’s initiatives have made it easier than ever to get involved in the fight against homelessness with volunteer opportunities in artwork, construction, event organizing, and more. For my Keystone, I’m working closely with Sally to raise $12,500 to cover the costs of a tiny home and assembling a team to build one with me. If you are interested in YSA’s volunteer opportunities, or if building a tiny house sounds like fun, feel free to reach out to me at mmiller2020@jchsofthebay.org! As Sally reminds us, “The young people are leading; in a way they are like prophets, and the rest of us are following their leadership…From our faith.”
