It's no stretch to say that José Najera is the heart of Mullen Avenue in Bernal Heights.  Through his music, stories, vintage cars, and big personality, he's made an indelible impression on every neighbor on our block.  (If you haven't been at the block party lately, that's him in the purple hat).


Last week, José suffered a major heart attack.  SFFD and the doctors at Zuckerberg San Francisco General stabilized him, but shared the news that he needed a quadruple bypass surgery ASAP.  Rather than waiting a month for surgery at the Veteran's Administration hospital, José and Doris opted for treatment at Kaiser Permanente.  He's scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, February 5.




To help the Najera family get through this emergency, a group of neighbors are putting together this campaign.  Initially, we're asking for support to help with bills and caregiving expenses while he is in the hospital and in the early stages of healing.  As the hospital bills start coming in, we'll update the GoFundMe to reflect the cost of his surgery and ongoing care.  In addition to helping financially, we'll put out a call for other kinds of assistance -- meals, groceries, caregiving, errands, health care advocacy.  We're just not there yet.

Our first goal is to spread awareness of José's illness far and wide, so that he can feel the love and support of this incredible community as he heads into surgery.  If you can chip in any amount towards the family's expenses, thank you.   If you'd like to support the family in other ways, please get in touch with us, or reach out to Doris directly.

Thanks again,
the Mullen Avenue family

The Block Party:

José's birthday party:

José enjoying the finer things in life: