Providing Home Cooking For Teens In Need

San Francisco (CBS 5)  -- A simple home-cooked meal can mean the world to a teenager who’s been on the street.

The kids at Gerry’s Café in San Francisco are getting that and more. Gerry Hill volunteers his time for others five days a week, but Thursday nights are special.

Thursday is the night he opens Gerry's Cafe at Avenues for Independence, a transitional living program in San Francisco where he's volunteered for four years. He works to provide homecoming to formerly homeless teens.

In addition, residents get career counseling, mental health services, the kind of support many have never known. Most of the young residents Gerry cooks for have no idea he had a life beyond this kitchen. Before Gerry started cooking as a volunteer, he worked with young adults in a much different role. For 30 years, he was a professor of Biology at Carleton College in Minnesota. He joined Larkin Street Youth Services when he retired and moved back to the Bay Area

"Being able to interact with bright young minds that have new and creative ideas and its overwhelming here,” Gerry says. “They are all creative if you just sit and listen.”

What Gerry brings to the community goes far beyond his cooking skills. Former resident James Dykeman still comes back to the house most Thursdays, so he can share in what happens around this small kitchen table.

“Gerry brings to this residential experience a sense of home. He comes here without fail every week,” James says. “He cooks a real meal for people who aren't used to having a real meal. He brings his friendliness, his positive attitude and his words of wisdom.”

James is now living on his own, with a good job and bright future.

“I feel he gave me a sense that, no matter where you are in life, there are people there who can give you more than just the words you need to hear. They have a presence about them that makes you feel grounded and feel the positively that people are willing to relay,” James says.

Gerry gives all that, and a healthy meal. For helping young adults make the transition from the streets to independence a little warmer and a lot more nutritious, This week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Gerry Hill of San Francisco.

By Kate Kelly

For more information on Larkin Street Youth Services, which runs Avenues for Independence, Click Here.