San Francisco will rename an alleyway after a respected community leader in the Tenderloin neighborhood, city officials said.
The city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved on Tuesday the renaming of the 100 block of Elm Street, the alleyway next to Tenderloin Community Elementary School, to Midge Wilson Alley, in honor of the community leader who co-founded the school.
“Midge Wilson is a driving force for good in the Tenderloin, and it’s fitting that her name and legacy become a permanent part of the neighborhood through this commemorative street renaming,” Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement.
“Midge was an essential force behind the energy to center the needs of women; particularly women with children in the Tenderloin.” BAWCC Board of Directors statement
Wilson founded the Bay Area Women’s and Children Center in 1981 and served as its executive director until her retirement in 2022. City officials said that under her guidance, the BAWCC undertook projects that transformed the Tenderloin, including building playgrounds for the neighborhood and the Civic Center, holding family-friendly community festivals and events, initiating after-school programs, and keeping open areas for children to play soccer or on the playground.
She also helped founding the Tenderloin Community Elementary School in 1998.
“BAWCC is excited and proud that our founder, Midge Wilson, can be honored for her immense contribution to the Tenderloin community,” the BAWCC Board of Directors shared in a statement. “Midge was an essential force behind the energy to center the needs of women; particularly women with children in the Tenderloin.”