TSC Gets Up Close & Personal with the Homeless

October 30, 2019

Our Oct 21 tour of the Tenderloin in San Francisco was an eye-opening experience. Led by Del Seymour, a Vietnam War veteran and 30-year resident of the Tenderloin, the tour started at Donut World on the corner of 7th and Market and included stops at historic spots such as the UN Plaza, where the United Nations Charter was signed in 1945, and the Cadillac Hotel, once home to wealthy visitors and stars like Muhammed Ali and Jerry Garcia.

The tour also included visits to lesser known places, such as a popular drug-dealing hangout, a second floor “sweat shop” for garment workers, and a church where homeless people sleep on the pews during the week.

“I don’t want to glorify the ugly part,” explained Seymour, “but you’ve got to tell the truth, man.”

Seymour founded the Tenderloin Walking Tours four and a half years ago as a way to share the rich history of the district and the lives of its residents, including those who make their home on the streets. Seymour’s own story is one of despair and redemption. Seymour spent 10 years addicted to drugs and living on the very streets he tours. He now runs his own business, volunteers at local service organizations and, most recently, serves as a member of the San Francisco Local Homeless Coordinating Board.

His life has come full circle.

Asked by one of the teens how he escaped his life on the streets, Seymour told a poignant story about a man who, just five years ago, passed him on the street carrying a beautiful Pierre Cardin suit. Seymour commented on the suit, and the man offered it to him on the spot. Seymour decided to visit the church the man attended to see what else he could get. When he arrived at the church, Seymour said, “I knew that I was home.” He decided to change his life.

“The Big Man upstairs saved me,” he told the teens. “Everything I have today is because of Him.”

As the group sat around the lobby of the Cadillac Hotel at the end of the tour, Seymour told the kids that many of the people buying drugs in the Tenderloin were just like them—white kids from Marin.

“It’s a one-way street,” warned Seymour. “Once you come down it, you can never go back.”

“What you see out there, people high and living on the streets, it’s because of drugs,” he said. “When your friends tell you that it’s not a big deal, to take a hit, don’t believe them. It is a big deal. Everyone out there, including me, started with one hit or one pill.”