After spending time in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps and returning to Africa several times on medical trips, Ryan began volunteering at the Hamilton Family Shelter in 1988
The Jefferson Award: Martha Ryan, prenatal program founder
Suzanne Pullen, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Jefferson Award Winner: Martha Ryan, founder and executive director of the Homeless Prenatal Program in San Francisco.
How she started: After spending time in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps and returning to Africa several times on medical trips, Ryan began volunteering at the Hamilton Family Shelter in 1988. At that time, there were three women in various stages of pregnancy and none was getting prenatal help. Ryan took a grant-writing class and applied for a grant through the San Francisco Foundation to begin a prenatal program for homeless women. In 1989, the grant came through. In the program's first year, three part-time staffers, including Ryan, helped 72 women.
And now: The Homeless Prenatal Program now serves 2,100 families. There are 30 staff members; two-thirds of them are former clients. "The staff members who are former addicts are tremendous role models," said Ryan. "They turned their lives around and give the other women hope that they can do it too." The Homeless Prenatal Program offers a housing program -- which placed 289 families in permanent housing last year; job training; a mental-health center; a technology center; a substance-abuse services program; and perinatal services. Ryan says that 97 percent of the mothers who participate in the program get clean and give birth to babies with a healthy birth weight.
Her inspiration: While working in Sudan, Ryan saw that sustainable change was possible. The women she worked with at refugee camps were able to reach out to members of the community during a series of disease outbreaks, and within seven days, 55,000 people were vaccinated. "Women are considered the lowest people in their society, but these women were revered because of what they learned and what they did," said Ryan. She wanted to use the same philosophy in San Francisco to show homeless pregnant women how to help each other.
Her vitals: Ryan, 55, lives in San Francisco with her husband, Dan McDonald, and her children, Ryan and Emma. She is a nurse practitioner with a bachelor's degree in languages and a master's degree in public health.
Who has made the biggest impact on her: Ryan recalls Sedona, a pregnant addict she approached several times about joining the program, but who consistently refused. Ryan learned from another agency that Sedona was HIV positive and too ashamed about being pregnant to ask for help. Ryan continued to seek out Sedona on the street, despite colleagues who thought she was wasting her time. Sedona never got clean or came in for counseling. Her baby was stillborn. Later, Ryan learned Sedona was pregnant again, and this time someone from another organization approached Sedona and mentioned Ryan's name. "She was in my office the next day," said Ryan. "She went on AZT, got clean and got involved in the prenatal program. She gave birth to a healthy baby." Ryan said Sedona reunited with her family and became a community health worker before she died of AIDS in 1994. "She had real quality at the end of her life, " said Ryan. "She said she turned her life around because she felt people cared about her after being told she was bad for so long."
In her own words: "The women who work in the program are an inspiration to me, as are the women we serve. Against all odds they are turning their lives around -- and the lives of their kids. Once you give them the opportunity to succeed, they become trailblazers, and nothing stops them."
What others say about her: "She believes in the importance of education, for her staff and for the clients, as a way of pulling themselves and their families out of poverty. She's always looking for ways to help us better ourselves," said Carla Roberts, a former client who began working for the program in 1994. "She's a beautiful spirit who knows how to treat people with dignity."
To find out more: Call (415) 546-6756 or visit www. homelessprenatal.org.
NOMINATE SOMEONE: Do you know someone who deserves to be honored for community service? Go to www. sfgate.com/jeffersonawards.
