February 22 will mark the sixth year since my brother, Jeff, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away, and the fifth year since starting our Jeff Adachi Legacy Project (JALP). The JALP was established to honor and pay tribute to Jeff's lifelong fight for a more just, equal, and compassionate society by aligning the foundation's efforts within the San Francisco Bay Area to carry forward Jeff's ideals, commitment, and spirit.
Since our inception in 2020, the foundation has distributed grants of more than $60K to JALP charities. Outside of the JALP, the foundation has distributed over $210K to charities throughout California and Washington working with at-risk youth to improve educational and life outcomes, assisting low-income families become more self-sufficient, and caring for home-bound elderly persons.
Drawing inspiration from Jeff's own words and experiences and fueled by his fervent desire to make a meaningful impact on as many lives as possible, the JALP aims to pay homage and carry forward Jeff's legacy and spirit.
What are your thoughts on the economic gap between the rich and the poor?
JEFF: San Francisco is very much a tale of two cities where you have, on one hand, very wealthy people who have been living here or who are moving here and can afford the high rents and the multi-million-dollar homes. And on the other hand, you have people, about 13 percent of San Franciscans, that are very poor, living in housing projects, barely scraping by.
Do you have any ideas, either as a citizen or as a professional on how you deliver economic justice?
JEFF: They’ve always said that it’s about jobs. Provide more jobs, then people aren’t going to be involved in crime. That’s partially true. We also have to work, particularly with young people, at changing value systems.
We have to get people to substitute in new values — “Should I do this or do that? If I get arrested, I could be in jail for six months and be out of operation. You know what, I’m going to choose this instead.” But getting people to make better choices based on evolving value systems is a hard thing to do.
Do we know one another enough in the Bay Area?
JEFF: We have a social justice program at our office called the Magic Program (Mobilization of Adolescent Growth in our Community). We need to get children experiencing and learning new things. We have to spend more time on gaining cultural, racial and social equity — if we begin to look at our brothers’ or sisters’ problems or our neighbors’ problems as our own then we can collectively solve them.
Can solutions to inequity and injustice come from the wallet as well as from being open with your neighbors?
JEFF: The idea that people should give back, in terms of giving hard dollars, to support various things, whether it’s arts enterprise or something else that you want to see in
your community, you just don’t see that as much.
I’ve been involved with philanthropy for a long time, and I find that the people who are most giving are San Franciscans who have been here and that have that connection to the city. We want to encourage people to take more of an active role in our communities. That doesn’t just mean volunteering or tutoring but also really putting some dollars behind it.
But what does it mean to maintain a legacy? Even after five years, it remains a question whose answer we continue to pursue as we work to shape and scope the JALP.
Creating a lasting legacy has been a real challenge. We had big hopes the JALP could be a catalyst to leverage the community’s support for Jeff to carry forward his ideals, and in the process, create a movement. We have not yet been able to create the buzz we had originally hoped for, but remain confident that in time, we will be able to do just that.
(to be continued)
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Current and Past Red String JALP Grant Recipients: All Stars Helping Kids, City Surf Project, EBAYC, JCYC, Kimochi, Larkin Street Youth Services, Magic Programs, Sunset Youth Services, United Playaz
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