By Linda Badger
Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc., (RAMS), a non-profit mental health organization, celebrated the opening of its new headquarters at 601 Clement St. at the end of January.
With the support of District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan and former Assemblymember Phil Ting, the building opened thanks to a 2023 $6.5 million grant from the State of California.
To many in the community, both RAMS and the building it purchased – on the corner of Clement Street and Seventh Avenue – represent an important part of San Francisco’s history.
Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS), held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 22 to celebrate the opening of its new facility. Pictured from left to right: RAMS Board Member, Summer Lee, SF Department of Public Health Director of Managed Care Imoh Mimoh, Supervisor Connie Chan, Former Assemblymember Philip Ting, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie, Nichole Wong (obscured), Jaclyn Thongrak, RAMS CEO Angela Tang, RAMS COO Patty Rodriquez, RAMS Director of Development and Communications Domenica Giovannini, RAMS CCO Christina Shea, RAMS board member Tom Yeh, RAMS Director of Community and Workforce Empowerment Hasian Sinaga, RAMS Board Member Maggie Roberts and RAMS Director of Community Engagement and Government Affairs Natalie Tualemoso ah Soon. Photo courtesy of RAMS.
Although it is new to the Inner Richmond, RAMS has been headquartered in the Outer Richmond since 1974. With multiple Bay Area locations, it has a staff of approximately 400 employees, including licensed counselors, peer counselors, psychiatrists and nurse practitioners. RAMS estimates that it provides mental health services to 14,000 people each year.
RAMS’ primary focus is to provide direct counseling services to low-income residents with severe mental health issues. Most clients are referred to RAMS by the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Office of Coordinated Care. Virtually all its funding comes from government programs such as Medi-Cal and Medicare. It does not service individuals with private health insurance.
The individuals referred to RAMS meet with therapists trained to treat issues such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and psychosis. RAMS also manages clients’ medications.
In addition to offering direct counseling in its offices, RAMS provides on-site behavioral health counselors to work in local pre-schools and public high schools; hires and trains peer counselors to participate in San Francisco’s street crisis and overdose response teams; helps to secure perinatal care for Black women and conducts courses to support job seekers. In conjunction with providing this wide range of services, RAMS trains students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees in social work. It also operates a 33-bed in-patient board and care facility on Broderick Street for adults who are impacted by both severe mental and physical illness.
Although RAMS is available to people of all ages and backgrounds, the organization has roots in the Asian community, with counselors proficient in Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Russian.
RAMS was initially founded to help Asian American Richmond residents receive services.
Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Asian Americans in San Francisco faced debilitating housing discrimination – including racially restrictive covenants in deeds, confining them to an increasingly overcrowded Chinatown. Once such practices were held illegal, thousands of Asian families moved to the western neighborhoods such as the Richmond District. In 1974, the Richmond Asian Caucus founded RAMS to address the needs of this new community. The disturbing resurgence of discrimination and violence against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic was one reason that lawmakers decided to grant RAMS the funds to purchase a permanent home in the Richmond District.
“This Clement site represents a deeper community investment in care that feels personal, welcoming and grounded in community trust,” said RAMS CEO and President Angela Tang. “For many of the people we serve, it is not just about accessing services, it is about being seen, heard and supported in a way that honors who they are.”
RAMS purchased 601 Clement St. for $5.3 million. The building had been last occupied by Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy, which moved from Clement Street to Geary Boulevard in 2023. It had occupied the space for about 20 years. The structure was built, however, to be a bank in 1912, and is of historical and architectural significance.
The building on the corner of Seventh and Clement was designed by the prominent Gilded Age architect, Albert Pissis (1852–1914). Pissis, who was of French and Mexican descent, moved from Mexico to San Francisco with his family at the age of 6. He was later sent abroad to study architecture at the famed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Upon his return, he had a major influence on San Francisco’s architecture, designing grand “Beaux Art” structures such as the Hibernia Bank, the James Flood Building, the Emporium building with its spectacular glass dome and the Temple Sherith Israel on California Street. He is credited with being instrumental in San Francisco’s reconstruction following the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire. All but the façade of the Emporium building he had built in 1896 collapsed during the earthquake. He had it rebuilt by 1908.
This historical image of 601 Clement St. was taken from a photo displayed on the wall of Schubert’s Bakery. The building was originally built in 1912 as a branch of the German Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco, and changed its name to The San Francisco Bank in 1918 due to anti-German sentiment during WWI. Photo by Andy Fischer.
In 1912, Pissis was commissioned by the German Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco – founded in part by Claus Spreckels – to build several branch banks in neighborhoods that had experienced a post-earthquake population boom – including the Richmond. Although smaller and less grand than his most famous works, Pissis’ building on Seventh and Clement still reflects his Beaux Arts aesthetics, with marble and wood paneling and a glass dome bringing light to the interior.
Tang said that RAMS’ new “light-filled space promotes healing.”
“This space will help us address the increasing need by allowing us to expand reach and have a greater impact,” Tang continued.
Approximately 80 of RAMS’s employees work in its new headquarters on Clement Street. Their work focuses on in-person outpatient counseling, the administration of the High School Wellness Centers program and on training graduate students to become the next generation of mental health professionals.
As of February 19, 601 Clement Ave. has been officially identified as a “historic resource” by the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission.
Learn more at ramsinc.org.