Conard House
…. whose mission it is, to build welcoming communities and caring relationships, that empower people and restore hope. When you shop at Style Sonata, we will enthusiastically donate a percentage of our sales, to this wonderful and worthy organization. Your generosity will touch the life of someone who is suffering and recovering from serious mental health conditions and chronic homelessness.
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
~Anne Frank
This year has been a year of great challenge, but also great camaraderie. If there’s one lesson we have all learnt throughout this experience, it is that we are stronger together and we can do great things even when apart. As Style Sonata navigates this new reality, we have asked ourselves a recurring question: how can we be better stewards in our community? Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like we don't have the power to make a real difference in a big and confusing world. But we have all come to understand and witness with our own eyes that every gesture -- big and small -- counts. We have committed ourselves to doing our small, so that combined with others, we can create the big.
In March, we launched our ABIERTO series to showcase the bravehearts in our small business community who have been hit hard with this new reality. We want to do what we can to help to keep these doors open because these doors shape the very fabric of our neighborhoods and provide sustenance to many families. The rally cry for ABIERTO is #takeouttogiveback so that even though doors are closed for regular service, our community will still support these businesses through takeout, deliveries or curbside pickups.
This month, we were also able to mobilize plans that have been in the making for the past year, which were geared towards aligning with worthy causes close to our hearts. We are thrilled to now announce that our first collaboration will be with Conard House in San Francisco -- our home city -- to help advance their goal of helping those who have experienced personal or psychological hardship and homelessness. Conard House offers 30 residential and social service programs -- from supportive housing and health navigation services, to money management and training services -- to help vulnerable individuals get back on their feet. Their mission is to restore hope by providing a sense of community underscored by strong, caring relationships.
Take a stand for something worthwhile, raise a banner in behalf of truth, health, justice, beauty, or morality. Each will inevitably be joined by others, so that truth shall prevail…so that justice shall be established, so that beauty shall dominate over ugliness. — Conard B. Rheiner, October 1, 1967
There are so many causes that are close to our hearts. Homelessness is a crisis that is particularly rampant in our community and we thought it was an important space to be active in. San Francisco has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the Bay Area. In 2019, the official count of the homeless population (based on the federal definition of homelessness) stood at 8,011, which was a 17% jump from 2017. However, experts debate that the real figure for 2019 is closer to 17,595. This figure was tallied from a city database of homeless people who receive health care and other services from the city. It represents a 30% jump from the previous year. Even more alarming, is the incidence of mental illness among this vulnerable population. Recent studies show that 4,000 individuals of the 17,595 homeless population in San Francisco experience what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a perilous trifecta: homelessness, mental illness and addiction.
Starting this month, Style Sonata will be donating a portion of every sale made directly on our site to Conard House to support this worthy cause. We are committed to standing hand in hand with our community. We are grateful for our Style Sonata family and we wish you all the best.