I believe in the power of storytelling so want to start back, where my story begins. The Geneva Towers in San Francisco!
The 20-story Geneva Towers buildings at 1001 Sunnydale Avenue were originally built in 1957 as a private apartment complex for middle income tenants, but because of its location in The City, the building didn't attract the renters it was meant for so eventually the towers became a public housing location. Growing up I've heard some pretty interesting remarks about the place I used to live with my birth mom. I don't fully remember the buildings, but I sense the outline of the structures as if I remember being there. The stories I've heard about The Towers only makes me appreciate how far I've come and the people God placed in my life that cared enough to make sure of my well-being.
Question:
“What do you remember about The Geneva Towers in SF?”
Responses:
"The Towers was a scary place to visit and you NEVER visit after dark"
"It was the first housing project to have luxury when they first opened"....then...?!
"Potrero Hill and Geneva Towers were 2 of the worst places in the city in the 90's...where you didn't want to be if you wanted to stay safe"
"It was a common place for killings and drugs"
"People were always throwing things out the windows. Dirty diapers, trash, bottles, you name it"
"We called them the 'Terrible Towers'!"
"Low income, drugs, poverty, violence, I would always hear about someone getting jumped, beat up or shot in the towers and was told to stay away"
OMG I lived here!??
The Towers got so bad that the Federal Government took over the property and closed them down in 1995. The buildings were demolished by 600-pounds of explosives at 2:30pm on May 16th, 1998. According to KTVU channel 2 news on that day of implosion, people were excited to see the towers fall, one spectator said "it was the center of crime". Police were interviewed and said how horrible it was to respond to all the calls they received about the towers. Follow this link to see the news broadcast from that day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XteYfeCIUj0">youtube.com/watch
I lived in The Towers with my mother and my older brother who suffered from Muscular Dysprophy and was wheelchair bound. Our mother would often leave us in the apartment alone, leaving my big brother in charge. She would sit me on the bed and tell me not to move, not to get off the bed for any reason. Even at 18-months old, I knew to obey those orders. Perhaps I was too scared to do otherwise. My aunt would often come by and take me back to her place for a while. She recalls, "I would come to the towers to pick you up to have you come visit with us. We would have to drive a different car over to the towers because we didn't want anyone to recognize us, the car or you. When I would come to get you, you would often be sitting on the bed alone, in nothing but a onesie with a hole at the crotch...sometimes you had on a diaper and sometimes not. It would break my heart to return you back to that place. You would scream, cry, kick and hit your mother when we brought you back. You never wanted to go back there!"
Eventually I left The Towers, I was saved and was given a second chance to thrive in a new environment. Stay tuned....
Have you ever been told that because of where you came from you'd be unable to pursue your dreams? Remember, your origin does not dictate your destination! Rise my brothers and sisters. Rise.
with love,
D.