“I love being here at ALRP. This work, these people…give me my dignity back. Not only did ALRP help me with my housing issue, but they respected me and gave me a chance to show who I am and what I can do.”
Greg Curatolo, ALRP Board Co-Chair/Events Co-Chair/Office Volunteer

Now a Board Co-Chair, Events Co-Chair and office volunteer, Greg first came to ALRP as a client in 2005, when he was having serious issues with his unit in an affordable housing building in the City and was getting nowhere with the manager. Luckily, he was able to find the help he needed at ALRP.

Greg grew up in Queens, New York, and was raised by a close-knit family who taught him to believe that “If I can think it, I can do it.” That motto helped drive Greg’s success at Fordham University, in the re-insurance industry, and as a consultant to McKinsey & Company, until a series of unfortunate events caused him to lose everything, and have a breakdown, which eventually took a serious toll on his well-being. Greg was in the World Trade Center during the 1993 bombing and subsequently lost friends there during 9/11; his mother fell, was institutionalized, and then unexpectedly passed away; he experienced the deaths of many friends from AIDS; he was involved in a mentally and physically abusive relationship; and he had to euthanize a beloved dog who had been his companion for 16 years. Greg had gone from being on top of the world to being almost homeless.

Despite his losses and grief, Greg was able to “start life all over again” at 49 years of age, moving from New York to Noe Valley, where he lived with friends until a unit in a new San Francisco affordable housing complex became available. There, while living on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), he was grateful for the meals supplied by another community agency and, having nothing and being unable to work, he “learned to be humble again.”

Even more, Greg used these lessons and his connection with ALRP to rebuild his life from scratch and become the strong, generous person he is today. Now, Greg is more respectful of other peoples’ accomplishments and looks at “who the person is rather than at what the person has.”

After ALRP helped him to resolve the problem with his housing, Greg immediately started volunteering, and has given two days a week to the agency since 2006. Recently taking on the responsibility of ALRP Board Co-Chair, Greg also serves as co-chair of the ALRP Events Committee, coordinating some of the many events that support the organization. Greg also spends time volunteering in the ALRP office, assisting with a variety of administrative tasks.

“I will always be with ALRP,” Greg says. “Everybody is just so loving, and they let me shine. The staff acknowledges me and every day, ALRP’s Executive Director Bill thanks me personally for coming to work here. Truly, it’s all from the heart.”

Story by Nancy Coleman Consulting. Photography by Mark Rogers Photography.