CMCBD News

Meet Nick, Community Guide

08/14/2008 12:00am

In its first six months of service, the Central Market Community Benefit District’s (CMCBD) Community Guide Program has helped create a safer and more welcoming neighborhood for residents, workers, visitors, merchants and property owners.

Helping the CMCBD meet its mission of enhancing the environment in the neighborhood’s public right-of-way is Nick, Central Market Community Guide.

Nick helps support the Community Guides Program by providing social service outreach to people in need in the neighborhood’s public realm, greeting and giving directions to visitors, and reporting crime and safety hazards in the district to the San Francisco Police Department and other City agencies from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When asked what he enjoys most about serving the Central Market neighborhood as a Community Guide, Nick says it is the words of appreciation and gratitude he receives from people who are homeless and in need on the streets of the district.

“We try to connect people on the street who are in need of social service assistance to the help that they need, but there are some that refuse our services. However, even those that decline services thank us for taking the time to stop and ask them how they are doing, if they are okay, and how we might be able to help them,” Nick says.

“When we are able to connect people to services, seeing that happen and being a part of making that person’s life a little better is inspiring,” he says.

“We also get a lot of praise and thanks from merchants and property owners in the district, and it is really encouraging to hear that the [Community Guide] program is making a positive difference,” he says.

As part of the Community Guide Program, Nick received both classroom instruction and field training prior to prepare for his role. Nick is also a graduate of Saint Mary’s College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and communication.

During his education, Nick also served as an Academic Aid for underprivileged urban youth and foster children at San Francisco’s Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Center (TNDC) where he introduced study habits and time management techniques to the facility and parents. Nick also worked as a Special Education Instructional Aid, orchestrating group activities that enhanced the cognitive skills of students with autism and behavioral disorders.

When he is not in uniform as a Central Market Community Guide, Nick says he enjoys spending time at the library and reading about different religions and philosophies.

“I love spending time in the mountains, and I like camping,” Nick adds. He also works out almost daily.

When asked to share other interesting tidbits, Nick says he has a twin brother. “But he doesn’t really look that much like me,” he adds.

It takes a one-of-a-kind person as unique as Nick to fill the shoes of a Community Guide.


- - - - -
The Central Market Community Guide Program operates between the hours of 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. Call the Central Market Dispatch and Call Center at 415.543.5223 for non-emergency safety, social service outreach, and cleaning and maintenance issues in the public realm of Central Market. Visit here to learn more.