World-renowned business coach Tony Robbins came to the rescue of the two French nuns who faced eviction after their landlord reportedly doubled the rent of the little San Francisco soup kitchen they were renting with proceeds from the sale of their handmade pastries.
“No more crying for us no more?” Sister Mary Valerie of the Nuns Fraternite Notre Dame Mary of Nazareth Soup Kitchen said in her thick French accent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “No more crying no more,” Robbins assured them during a secret Friday meeting that ended with him handing them a check for $25,000 to cover the costs of their rent for the year.
Their rent in the Tenderloin district had been upped in January by nearly 60 percent, from $3,465 to $5,500 a month–a testament to the Bay Area’s rising real estate prices, resulting from high demand coupled with low availability.
FILE – In a Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, Sister Mary Valerie, center, hands out bags of popcorn at the Fraternite Notre Dame Mary of Nazareth Soup Kitchen in San Francisco. San Francisco nuns whohave been in danger of getting kicked out of their home after a rent hike of more than 50 percent, have won a reprieve. Lawyers for the nuns and landlord, with help from motivational speaker Tony Robbins, reached a deal Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, allowing the nuns to stay for a year at their current rent. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
In addition to the $25,000 Robbins gave the sisters this week, he is giving them another $25,000 within the next year, which he urged them to use to move to another location. He is reportedly also helping them with a business model so they can maximize profits from the sales of their handmade pastries, including enlisting the help of several of his high-powered San Francisco friends.
For Robbins, the nuns’ story touched on a personal note. He was poor as a child and homeless as a teenager.
Thousands have reportedly sent donations to the soup kitchen. The Chronicle notes that one woman, Marilyn Richardson, president of the San Ramon-based Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp. set up a GoFundMe page on Wednesday. It has so far raised more than $12,000 of the $25,000 goal.
Robbins is also involved in Feeding America and has reportedly vowed to give the proceeds of his new book to the organization, known for its “100 Million Meals Challenge.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.
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