# Raising families in the Tenderloin > Five families share trade-offs and community in San Francisco's toughest neighborhood. - Title: Raising families in the Tenderloin | Shortify - Summary: Five families share trade-offs and community in San Francisco's toughest neighborhood. Five families describe balancing drug risks and community in San… - Keywords: tenderloin, san francisco, family, kids, parenting, drug use, community, rent, housing, public school, news, local - Source: The San Francisco Standard — https://sfstandard.com/2026/10/11/good-bad-unexpected-raising-family-tenderloin - Published: 2026-10-11T13:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: tenderloin, san francisco, family, kids, parenting, drug use, community, rent, housing, public school, news, local ## Tenderloin families navigate drug risks Families in San Francisco's Tenderloin face open drug use and street disorder while raising children. > the tenderloin has become a byword for san francisco’s dysfunction, but it also has the city’s highest concentration of children ## Safe Passage program protects kids Safe Passage volunteers clear drug users and loiterers from alleys behind Tenderloin Community Elementary each day. > volunteers in high-visibility blue-and-red vests corral the children into organized groups ## Chun Truong's family strategy Chun Truong, 46, teaches kids to be mean to strangers to avoid being preyed on. > i tell them you have the one-time permission to cuss them out ## Drug education for children Truong frames addiction as mental illness and warns drugs destroy the body long-term. > this is what happens when your mental mind’s not there ## Truong's living situation Truong shares a one-bedroom apartment with three children for $900 a month. > i’ve lived here for thirty-something years ## Gomez family's challenges Esperanza Gomez, 40, and her husband raise six children in a three-bedroom apartment for $1,300 a month. > it’s really hard to make ends meet ## Gomez's community efforts Gomez's children work at Boys & Girls Clubs and help with food and housing applications. > dayana is employed as a psychologist and social worker ## Ghaleb's food struggles Nawal Ghaleb, 36, faces tripled grocery costs and food allergies for her three children. > a pack of two raw chickens has gone from eight dollars to twenty dollars ## Ghaleb's park work Ghaleb works as a park captain at Boeddeker Park for $33,000 a year. > sometimes people yell or throw food at me ## Martinez family's trauma Edwin Martinez fled El Salvador seven years ago but now faces drug violence in San Francisco. > sometimes now it’s even worse, with the immigration situation and everything else ## Martinez's health struggles Martinez's son saw his father injecting insulin, thinking it was drugs. > the first time edwin jr. saw his father injecting himself, he thought he was using drugs ## Alameri's community Adnan Alameri built a Yemeni-Latino community in the Tenderloin with block parties. > i don’t remember having a bad neighbor ## Alameri's children Alameri's three children graduated from college or work in fields like dentistry and biology. > azzam is helping at his dad’s restaurant, fanoos grills, while applying to dental school ## Tenderloin's school system The Tenderloin has only one public school despite high child concentration. > the tenderloin has the highest concentration of children of any neighborhood in the city ## Family food challenges Families cook at home to save money but face food allergies and limited budgets. > we don’t see the needles on the street anymore ## What happens next Families continue balancing neighborhood risks with community support and education. > i want to give a good, like a better future to my children ## Key takeaway Five families describe balancing drug risks and community in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood.