Mary Isham’s family and
friends are seeking donations to help pay for her
cancer treatment in Germany.
Photo courtesy Micky Duxbury
Missing the Noe Valley Ministry
Editor:
I took a walk the other day by the much beloved
structure that was
once home to the Noe Valley Ministry on Sanchez Street. It’s
been some time
since I’ve been up that way on foot, and I was struck by the
deterioration of
the building that has taken place since it was vacated for a
planned renovation
that has apparently stalled. For over a decade I held my
Singing Rainbow Youth
Ensemble rehearsals and concerts in that wonderful old
building, renowned for
its perfect acoustics. Its rafters are filled with echoes of
music made by many
celebrated artists presented by the Noe Valley Music Series
and Noe Valley
Chamber Music. I was not alone in my feeling that the Noe
Valley Ministry was
the location of the “heart” of the community, with all kinds
of classes and events
happening all the time. And of course, there was the Nursery
School which not
only nurtured generations of Noe Valley children but put
smiles on the faces of
all of us who came and went in the building.
I met some of my dearest friends at the Noe
Valley Ministry. I was
on the committee that raised the capital for a new roof. I’m
not a member of
the church, so I do not know what the grand plan is for the
building but I fear
an age-old principle may have been ignored when it was
conjured up: “If it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it!”
I hope life soon returns to that venerable space
or at least a
coat of paint is put on to protect it from the elements and
vandals.
Candace “Candy” Forest
Diamond Street
Attack on 23rd Street
Editor’s Note:The survivor of a serious assault
on 23rd Street
between San Jose Avenue and Guerrero Street at 2:40 a.m.
Sunday, Jan. 6, sent
the following e-mail alert within days of the attack. At
press time, police
were still looking for the suspect, described as an Asian or
Latino man, 25
years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 160 pounds, with a buzz
haircut and facial
stubble. If you have information, call the anonymous tip
line, 415-575-4444,
or text a tip to TIP411 and put “SFPD” at the beginning of
the message.
Hello,
If you’re getting this email, it’s because you
are a female friend
in my circles, live in my neighborhood, or have a large circle
of women
friends. I wanted to spread the word of what happened to me,
so hopefully you
and your circles can be more aware, street-smart, and vigilant
about your
personal safety.
On Saturday evening, I was walking home from a
friend’s potluck
through the Mission when I was attacked—an attempted rape. I
was actually being
quite conscious of those around me due to the fact that I’m
heading to Nairobi
in several weeks and personal safety has been on my mind. As I
turned up 23rd
Street, I noticed a man walking to me that “zero-ed” in on my
presence, locking
eyes on me. There was no side street to turn down, and I
didn’t want to turn
around, exposing my back to him, so I kept walking. As we
neared each other, I
tried to walk around a tree quite close to the curb. Before I
could do so, he
lunged at me.
He knew what he was doing and how to attack
someone. He went first
for my eye socket with his thumb and put his other hand in my
mouth to stifle
my screams and slammed me down to the ground. He was using the
hand in my mouth
and on my jaw to try and slam my head on the concrete,
presumably to knock me
out. Once I was down on the ground he straddled me, pinning
down my arms. After
about 15 seconds of struggling just to avoid him knocking me
out, I was able to
use all my strength to surge up on my right side to unpin that
arm. Since I’m a
climber, I’m strong, and I don’t think he was expecting this
and was unprepared
for that maneuver. Luckily, through this move and some biting,
I was also able
to get his hand out of my mouth, and started screaming—first
just yelling and
then screaming for help. I struggled with him while screaming
and trying to
avoid him knocking me out for another 30 seconds until a
couple in a house
several houses down the street threw open their window and
turned on lights.
This scared him away.
The cops came, and while we drove around looking
for him for a while,
we were unable to find him. This means that someone who
clearly knows how to
attack swiftly and effectively is still out there in our
neighborhoods. This
happened at 23rd between Guerrero and San Jose Avenue—the
fringe of the Mission
and Noe.
I’m incredibly lucky that I had the strength to
keep him from
delivering a knockout blow and to fight for so long until
someone came to help.
I’m incredibly lucky that those in the houses around me didn’t
fall prey to
crowd-think and assume someone else was going to help. I’m
walking away from
this with a bruised eye, scratches on my face, road rash on my
shoulder, and
sore/bruised back, shoulders, jaw and ribs. It could have been
significantly
worse.
I wanted to spread this around not to try and get
attention or
your sympathy, but to hopefully make you aware of the fact
that attacks and
“bad things” can also happen to people in your circle. We live
in a big city,
and the best thing you can do is be incredibly conscious of
your surroundings
at all times. Please—walk in groups, or with a male friend,
take taxis, and
dial up those street smarts....
Feel free to send this around to other females
that could benefit
from a dose of reality.
Thanks,
A
Give Forward to Mary Isham
Editor:
Mary Isham has been a resident of San Francisco
for over 45 years
and is well known by many in the Noe Valley community for her
decades-long
commitment to progressive
causes. Many in the boomer generation will remember seeing her
in the bright
yellow vest that she wore as a “People’s Medic” during the
rough-and-tumble
demonstrations against the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador
in the 1980s.
Isham moved to the city in the early 1970s during
the tail end of
the anti–Vietnam War movement and was influenced by that
turbulent time. She
began her nursing career at Huckleberry House in the
Tenderloin and went on to
work for eight years as a nurse in the San Francisco City and
County jails and
Juvenile Hall. She continued her commitment to health
education at S.F. General
Hospital in the Patient Education Resource Center and served
as director of the
Health Center at Mission High School, where she became well
known for her
expertise in adolescent health care.
In 1998, shortly before her 50th birthday, Isham
was diagnosed
with a rare neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor—the same kind of
tumor that Steve
Jobs had. When Isham was rolled out of the operating room
after a 10-hour
surgery, she had no pancreas, no spleen, no gall bladder, and
one-third less
stomach and small intestine and began to face life as an
insulin-dependent
diabetic.
Dealing with significantly rearranged plumbing
has presented
incredible challenges, but raising the money needed to pay for
her last and
best treatment option is the biggest hurdle facing her now.
Like most
Americans, Isham does not have unlimited funds to spend on
medical treatment.
Isham’s story is unique not only in that she is
still alive, but
also in that she has turned to an innovative online
crowd-sourcing to help
raise much-needed medical expenses for her current treatment.
Now that the
cancer has metastasized to her liver, she has found a
cutting-edge targeted
radiation treatment that is only offered in Europe. But the
medical and travel
costs for each trip are over $20,000 and she needs to make a
total of three
trips.
After researching several sites, Isham chose Give
Forward, a site
founded in 2008 to enable patients to fundraise from their
friends, families,
and larger community. Give Forward has helped raise over $30
million for more
than 10,000 families and individuals.
Isham’s campaign has been running for three
months and she has
already raised 50 percent of her goal of $60,000. Most who
donate know
Isham—from childhood friends to nursing school alumni to guys
that played
basketball with her in high school, where she kept score for
the team.
But others who don’t know her have been so moved by her
story that
they’ve sent money along with well wishes like “I have lived
in S.F. all my
life, and I love that I get to be part of such a unique and
caring community. I
hope this fundraiser and your treatment is a huge
success.”
Isham leaves for her third trip to Germany in
March and hopes that
the site will be able to cover the expenses. From the
response from her
San Francisco community, it looks like she might just make it.
Micky Duxbury
P.S. If you want to learn more about Mary’s story
and see her art
which has been an important part of her cancer journey, check
out the link atwww.giveforward.com/helpmaryishamlive. The
last
day for donations at Give Forward is Feb. 28.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
THEVOICE welcomes
your letters to the editor. Write the Noe Valley
Voice, P.O.
Box 460249,
S.F., CA 94146. Or
email editor@noevalleyvoice.com. Please
include your name and contact information. (Anonymous letters
will not be
considered for publication.) Be aware that letters may be
edited for brevity or
clarity. We look forward to hearing from you.
THE NOE VALLEY VOICE
P.O. Box 460249
San Francisco, CA 94146
www.noevalleyvoice.com
The Noe Valley Voice is an
independent newspaper
published monthly except in January and August. It is
distributed free in Noe
Valley and vicinity, on or before the first Friday of the
month. Subscriptions
are available at $30 per year ($25 for seniors) by writing to
the above
address.
The Voice welcomes your letters,
photos, and
stories, particularly on topics relating to Noe Valley. All
items should
include your name, address, and phone number, and may be
edited for brevity or
clarity. (Unsigned letters will not be considered for
publication.) Unsolicited
contributions will be returned only if accompanied by a
self-addressed, stamped
envelope.
The Noe Valley Voice is a member
of the San
Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association.
Email: editor@noevalleyvoice.com
Editorial: 415-821-3324
Website: www.noevalleyvoice.com
Distribution: Call Misha, 415-752-1726
Display Advertising: Call Pat, 415-608-7634, or
email
PatRose@noevalleyvoice.com
Class Ads: See Page 33
Display Advertising Deadline for the March 2013
Issue: Feb. 15,
2013
Editorial/Class Ad Deadline: Feb. 15, 2013
CO-PUBLISHERS/EDITORS
Sally Smith, Jack Tipple
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND
EDITORS
Olivia Boler, Other Voices Editor
Corrie M. Anders, Associate Editor
Heather World, Associate Editor
Heidi Anderson, Owen Baker-Flynn, Karol Barske,
Helen Colgan, Jan
Goben, Kate Haug, Liz Highleyman, Rebecca Huval, Laura McHale
Holland, Florence
Holub, Tim Innes, Jeff Kaliss, Doug Konecky, Rhiana
Maidenberg, George Nelson,
Roger Rubin, Shayna Rubin, Karen Topakian
