The RAMA Blueprints Podcast Series is the oral history of San Francisco’s Real Alternatives Program (RAP), a small non-profit organization founded in 1969 by Jim Queen. Through research, 1st hand interviews and archival footage, RAMA Blueprints tells the story of how RAP, a revolutionary youth service organization, advocated for youth empowerment through leadership development and self-determination. Generations of San Francisco community leaders were trained while at RAP and still today many work in leadership positions within community services locally or nationwide. Its legacy includes being one of the most pivotal youth service providers to influence both city, state and nation wide policies utilized by other city governments and organizations.
The following episodes feature guests who are or have been part of Instituto Familiar de la Raza.
Episode 1: El Altar y La Vida
We follow the story of the establishment of the altar at the Bryant Street campus, the first of its kind in a public school setting within the San Francisco Unified School District and how the two agencies, Real Alternatives Program (RAP) and Instituto Familiar de La Raza (IFR) came together through cultural spiritual healing practices. We also address some approaches to Wellness for frontline workers and street outreach staff.
We present the stories from former staff, students and teens from that time, RAP board members, and IFR staff from different community organizations in San Francisco’s Mission District. In particular, Instituto Familiar de La Raza (IFR) and RAP.
eXtra Commentary: Self-Care with Michelle Alvarez-Campos
Instituto Familiar de La Raza's Clinical Supervisor Michelle Alvarez-Campos gives reflections about the El Altar y La Vida episode, providing family services in times of crisis, resilience, and self-care to re-energize our focus and prevent burnout.
Ep 3: Wellness In The Time of School Chaos: A Roundtable
We present a conversation about healing and wellness in light of the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
We hosted a roundtable with dedicated individuals who join us to share their wisdom and insight :
Anthony Ceja, Former Real Alternatives Program (RAP)Employee and now Senior Manager for the System of Support for the San Diego County Office of Education and Father of 2 children.
Michelle Alvarez-Campos, Former RAP Case Manager and currently, Practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker with La Cultura Cura Youth Program at Instituto Familiar de La Raza (IFR) in San Francisco's Mission District and also mother of 2.
Jennifer Quevedo, MSW and MS in Psychology, Wellness Practitioner and mother of 2 middle school children.
Cassandra Cole, Program Director of the Early Intervention Program at IFR, who has over 30 years in the field. Cassandra is passionate about helping adults understand the social-emotional, developmental, behavioral and cultural needs of young children and loves working in community settings where you will find children, also a mother of 2.
Jesus Adolfo Piña, English Language Specialist for the Compton Unified School District with 23 years of teaching experience in the middle schools, and a father of 2 children.
Moderated by former Real Alternatives Program High School Principal and RAMA Blueprints Podcast Host Socorro Gamboa.
Collectively, this panel represents almost 150 years of qualified experience in their respective fields of expertise.
Ep 3 eXtra Commentary: Cynthia Alicia Meza
Spanish Immersion Teacher of 19 years, a mother of four, troop leader of San Francisco Troop number one of the Radical Monarchs and Latin American Teachers Association Teacher of the Year in 2016. Cynthia Alicia Meza is a San Francisco Unified School District teacher. We asked her to reflect on episode three Wellness in the Time of School Chaos, a Round Table.
eXtra Bio: The Carrillo Brothers
In this Extra Episode of the RAMA Blueprints Podcast, we hear from Dr. Ricardo Carrillo and Arturo Carrillo, both born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District.
The Carrillo Brothers talk about their upbringing and how they were raised within the community village and healed through the transformative practice of the arts. They are an early example of “Program Kids”, youth who heavily relied upon services to survive and develop into thriving adults.
As adults and professionals, both would eventually work with RAP: Dr. Ricardo Carrillo as a licensed therapist, and Arturo as a program director at Walden House, who built deep bonds with RAP. The brothers’ stories of sangre, corazon, resilience, and self-determination paved their path from a troubled, humble beginning to a life dedicated as social justice warriors since the 1970s.
Ep 5 eXtra Commentary: Metzi Henriquez
In this extra of the Rama Blueprints podcast commentary, we hear from Metzi Henriquez, who currently works as a therapist for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She comments on the RAMA Blueprints series and shares with us her knowledge and approach to working in community mental health services.
Episode 6: Tres Generacíones/Three Voices: Sustaining the Work through Resiliency
RAMA Blueprints Podcast presents an intergenerational conversation on the theme “Sustaining the Work through Resiliency” with Dr. Concepcion “Concha” Saucedo, Fatima Ramirez, and Oscar Grande.
The live conversation brings to light the depth of challenges and approaches to solutions through the wisdom of an elder and former executive director, through the eyes of a rising leader that committed to collecting memories through journalism and the arts, and the firsthand lived experience of a former community organizer who transitioned to work in city government.
All three leaders have engaged with the community in different roles: Dr. Concha Saucedo as Co-Founder of Instituto Familiar de la Raza (IFR), incorporating traditional ways with Western wellness; Fatima Ramirez, raised in the Mission, as the Executive Director of Accíon Latina who is passionate about the intersection of art and media; and Oscar Grande while a Senior Organizer for PODER displaying decades of grassroots organizing. The discussion was hosted by Socorro Gamboa.
RAMA eXtra Bio: Dr. Concha Saucedo
In this eXtra of the RAMA Blueprints Podcast, we listen to Dra. Concepcion Saucedo-Martinez, Ph.d also known to many with respect and love as “Concha”, who is a Mexican Yaqui Chicana born in California and raised in traditional indigenous ways.
In the 1970’s, Dr. Concha Saucedo- Martinez was instrumental in co-founding Instituto Familiar de la Raza, a Latino mental health clinic in San Francisco’s Mission District. Concha and her colleagues in the community revolutionized mental health practices by providing clients with spiritual and culturally sensitive services and workshops. Through her knowledge, teachings and wisdom, she made therapy and psychiatric care more accessible and affordable to the Latino community in San Francisco.
In the year 2000, Dr. Saucedo, in collaboration with the Real Alternatives Program, created and developed La Cultura Cura, which promotes a reflection of culture, critical consciousness, self-reflection, social-emotional wellness, deep understanding of the individual, group, historical and cultural relationships, and the teaching of En La K'ech (You are my other self)
A community activist for social justice for over 50 years, she is a grandmother of seven, respected Elder, traditional healer practitioner, visionary, public school teacher, professor, former Board President of the Real Alternatives Program (RAP), and Executive Director Emeritus of Instituto Familiar de La Raza. She has focused her life work on integrating indigenous spiritual practices with mental health services for the healing of youth, families, and community. At present, her vocation is to pass on to others, particularly young people, the healing practices and ceremonies from this continent.
The eXtras of the RAMA Blueprints podcast are intended to help the listener with a deeper understanding of the people, events, and places that created the Mission District and the series as a whole.
Tres Generacíones/Three Voices: Above and Beyond: Silencio Jamás
RAMA Blueprints Podcast presents their Tres Generacíones/Three Voices live podcast series at BRAVA Cabaret in San Francisco. The panel addresses the intersectionalities of insider/outsider, invisibility, homophobia, resilience, migration, ethnicity, race, class, and gender, the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the history of social and political organization of LGBTQIA Latinos in the SF Mission District and Citywide.
This engaging live podcast includes a lively intergenerational conversation between Dr. Eduardo Morales (Founder and Executive Director, AGUILAS), Claudia Cabrera (Program Director, Si a La Vida, Instituto Familiar de La Raza), and Luka Fernandez (Participant, Promesa, Instituto Familiar de La Raza).
The Tres Generaciones/Three Voices live podcast series at Brava Cabaret features three guests representing three generations of expertise regarding the topic at hand. The intergenerational panelist consists of an elder in the field, a seasoned community worker, and an emerging young leader in the field. All have experience working towards building alliances through activism, art, organizing and empowerment.
Always framed through the Principles of The Real Alternatives Program (RAP), the discussion will seek solutions and future action steps that will hopefully build upon the findings of previous work to elevate the level of discussion and details for future action steps and conversations.
Founded in 2021, RAMA Blueprints is the first podcast documenting the history of the Real Alternatives Program (RAP) within the City and County of San Francisco between 1967 - 2003, along with its current impact on community empowerment in San Francisco and the country.
This conversation was held on June 27, 2024, at Brava Women for the Arts Cabaret in San Francisco's Mission District. This episode was produced and edited by Darren J. de Leon and Socorro Gamboa for the 5 Sisters Audio Garden.
Tres Generaciones/Three Voices series: Nuestra Sagrada Salud: Community Mental Health
What does healing look like when it’s rooted in history, land, culture, and community? Listen to the new episode of the RAMA Blueprints Podcast: “Tres Generaciones/Three Voices series: Nuestra Sagrada Salud: Community Mental Health” and discover it!
In this episode, you will delve, by the hand of three community leaders: Michelle Alvarez Campos, LCSW; Metzi Henriquez, M.A., MFTI, and Dra. Lizbett Calleron, MSW, PPSC, EdD, into the vital intersections of cultural heritage and holistic wellness, specifically honoring community-promising practices—the grassroots, culturally rooted strategies that have sustained neighborhood well-being for generations.
