Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) celebrated the First Anniversary of TNDC’s Kelly Cullen Community at its 33rd Annual Birthday Dinner at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Hundreds of supporters were on hand to celebrate TNDC’s long history of providing safe, affordable housing and support services for low-income people in San Francisco.
Kelly Cullen was an Executive Director of TNDC from 1993 – 2005 and one of the visionaries behind the formation of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. He helped dramatically increase the affordable housing stock in the Tenderloin. Although he passed away in 2010, his legacy lives on with the development of Kelly Cullen Community, one of three pilot programs in the United States that combines housing, social services and patient-centered health care for chronically homeless people.
The festive evening celebration offered a heartwarming program emceed by ABC7 anchor Cheryl Jennings, along with cocktails, dinner, dancing and live entertainment by gypsy-jazz and uptown swing band George Cole, and after-dinner dance music by DJ King Most. The uplifting evening, co-chaired by Radha Stern and Gary Maxworthy, included the annual presentation of The Brother Kelly Cullen Community Service Award named for the late former TNDC Executive Director, and given to an individual or organization that shows extraordinary community spirit and compassion in providing services to San Francisco’s poorest and neediest residents. This year’s award went to Darryl Smith and Laurie Lazer, co-founders/directors of The Luggage Store/509 Cultural Center, for their leadership in the San Francisco neighborhood art scene for nearly three decades.
