The View canvassed its readers to identify individuals who volunteer their time to make a positive difference in their community, some of whom are described in this article. The paper welcomes nominations of others.
Katherine Doumani serves as the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA) executive committee president, elected to the role in 2019 and 2022. She’s been a San Franciscan for 22 years, initially landing in the Western Addition before moving to Tennessee Street. She works in property management.
According to Doumani, DNA has just under 200 members who pay an annual $25 fee, with complimentary membership available to residents with limited resources. Its emails are opened by roughly 1,000 people, a communication effort it bolsters with street posters, social media, and monthly community cleanup days. DNA sponsors an annual block party on Minnesota Street in April and a winter holiday gathering in collaboration with The Potrero Boosters.
Doumani said one of DNA’s recent accomplishments was preventing the splitting of Dogpatch from Potrero Hill as part of the 2020-mandated redistricting of supervisorial boundaries. DNA also advocated for Esprit Park’s renovation “with a design to serve everyone in our community.” The organization is working to reduce cut-through traffic in Dogpatch to make the neighborhood safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
“Much of the hardest work that DNA does is behind-the-scenes advocacy with the City and speaking on behalf of the community at City Commission meetings,” said Doumani.
DNA has seen a new set of faces emerge as residents engage with one another more.
“This is reflected in the new members of our board. We look forward to this trend continuing,” said Doumani. “I turn my energy to work on solutions when I find myself complaining or troubled about issues in our community. Instead, it’s better to take the long view…enjoy the camaraderie we build with our neighbors, who become our friends, during the ride.”
Rebecca Kee, Daniel Webster Elementary Parent-Teacher Association president, has been a PTA member since her son started kindergarten at the school in 2016. DW PTA has roughly 100 member-families, its highest participation level in years.
Kee lived the first decade of her life in the Sunset District, before her family moved to Marin County. After graduating from college in New York City, Kee moved to Bernal Heights, where she initially was a second-grade teacher at Paul Revere Elementary School. She’s presently director of Potrero Kids Preschool, a year-round, Spanish-focused preschool with locations in Dogpatch and Potrero Hill.
In 2022, DW PTA held a “Jump-a-thon” fundraiser.
“Kids had a great time on the (school) yard having a jump-roping party. (They) got small pledges from family and friends for how many jumps they could do. We raised $10,000 for the school,” said Kee.
Last year’s direct giving campaign, “Give a Hoot,” raised tens of thousands of dollars. The DW PTA typically organizes two large evening events on campus, Pasta Night in the fall and Circus Night in the spring, at which educators, staff, and families can connect and have fun together.
Kee said DWPTA has a new website on which the group posts updates.
This month new families will “…be invited to join the PTA and get to know each other at our back-to-school BBQ (which) happens in the early weeks of the new school year,” said Kee.
Kee added that part of the fun of being involved with a PTA is that there’s always a guaranteed influx of new leaders.
“Local restaurants have catered events, nearby businesses have (donated) gift cards for our auctions, and local circus performers have entertained us at gatherings. There are so many ways to partner with (DW PTA) on supporting these amazing kids in the neighborhood,” said Kee. “It’s a joy to see how the DW community comes together to care for everyone’s children and invest in their success. My hope is that the DWPTA will continue to welcome new families into our community and engage them in our community-focused vision for the school.”
Peter Linenthal, became Potrero Hill Archives Project director in 1990. He attended preschool at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House in the 1950s and has lived on Missouri Street since 1975. Linenthal worked for decades as a pre- and after-school teacher at several City schools. Most recently, he taught at Daniel Webster Elementary School.
Linenthal began amassing material for the archives in 1986 by collecting oral histories of Hill residents. Since then, he’s been acquiring “almost anything” connected to Potrero Hill and Dogpatch history.
The Potrero Hill Archives Project gathers historic materials and makes them available to the public. Images from the archives will be used as part of a projection project by Ben Woods, a visual artist, which’ll celebrate the opening of the San Francisco Flower Mart in the historic Pacific Rolling Mill building. The archives has held several popup museums on street corners and led walking tours of the Hill during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has a large display at the Potrero Hill Festival in October, and sponsors Potrero Hill History Night in November.
The 2023 History Night will take place at St. Teresa of Avila Church, focusing on interviews with longtime residents, along with scenes from the 1970s television show “Streets of San Francisco” filmed in the neighborhood, supported by a “generous grant” from Avenue Greenlight, a San Francisco program that funds merchant associations and community groups.
“It’s encouraging to see more and more newcomers to the neighborhood at these History Nights. I sense that, increasingly, folks want to find out more about where they live,” said Linenthal.
This year, the Potrero Hill History Archives Project will move from Linenthal’s basement to the Dogpatch Hub, creating more accessibility and the ability to display history collections.
“It means a thorough reorganization of the archives and finding folks to help us too. We’ll get help from other neighborhood history groups,” said Linenthal.
Along with Abigail Johnston, Linenthal co-authored two Arcadia Publishing books on Potrero Hill history, San Francisco’s Potrero Hill and Then & Now: Potrero Hill.
“People sometimes think of the past as rigid and boring but, in fact, it’s constantly changing as we discover what’s been forgotten or neglected. There’s always something new to learn about the past,” said Linenthal.
He’s working with historian Hudson Bell on an article for the San Francisco Historical Society about a Black man from New Bedford, Connecticut who came to the City during the Gold Rush, established a soap-making factory, which eventually moved to Potrero Hill.
Linenthal has illustrated roughly a dozen children’s books, including the Look, Look! series of high-contrast board books for infants. He’s particularly proud of Jaya’s Golden Necklace, which takes place in the Kushan Empire of Central and South Asia. He’s working on a catalog of his collection of Central Asian artwork, which he calls “the Kushan Collection.”
“I’m sure my early art experiences at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House were an inspiration. Art materials were always available there. The director, Rhoda Kellogg, was an innovative teacher who discovered common motifs in very young children’s art from many cultures. Kellogg was really my introduction to Potrero Hill,” said Linenthal.
Danny Pham 
Chaitanya Tondepu