{"id":252126,"date":"2026-04-04T22:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/252126\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T22:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:04:19","slug":"the-security-guard-who-greets-everyone-in-mission-dolores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/252126\/","title":{"rendered":"The security guard who greets everyone in Mission Dolores"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Comic<\/a><\/p>\n

Read Mission Local often?<\/p>\n

Help grow our newsroom, joining the 3,250 readers who support us by giving below.<\/p>\n

On weekday mornings, the corner of 16th and Dolores streets bustles as parents escort their children to Holy Family Day Home, a Mission landmark that has offered early childhood education since 1912. <\/p>\n

Another landmark is Jose Oscar Hernandez, the school\u2019s security guard for seven years.<\/p>\n

Usually wearing a San Francisco Giants or Golden State Warriors cap, he stands near the entrance, greeting families as they head inside.<\/p>\n

\"Mission<\/p>\n

Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter below.<\/p>\n

Hernandez has become familiar not just to the Holy Family community, but to joggers, neighbors walking dogs, and people heading to Dolores Park or Whole Foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met a lot of people in the neighborhood, probably within a mile radius of here, and they\u2019ve all been really nice throughout the years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Small interactions often reveal bigger stories; news of engagements, pregnancies, jobs. One elderly man recently confided that his wife had died, assuring Hernandez he was still getting outside for walks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just kind of get to know them,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re passing by and you have someone that\u2019s greeting you with \u2018Good morning\u2019 or \u2018Have a good day,\u2019 it\u2019s a positive thing, and it\u2019s what Jose does every day,\u201d said Diana Parada, who works at the front desk at Holy Family Day Home.<\/p>\n

Hernandez knows the name of everyone he interacts with \u2014 plus their dogs \u2014 she said. \u201cHe\u2019s just such a joy to have around.\u201d<\/p>\n

An accidental career in security\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hernandez, 45, grew up in the Mission and has lived in Bayview for the past ten years. He calls San Francisco home, no matter the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my soil, so I\u2019m loyal. I can\u2019t help it. I just love this place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Galileo Academy of Science & Technology in 1998, he went to work washing dishes at a Mel\u2019s Drive-In, followed by a string of part-time customer service jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His mother offered blunt advice: \u201cYou need to find something permanent, Jose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after, he saw the Giants were hiring full-time security staff. At age 20, just months before his mother died, he landed the job.<\/p>\n

Over the next 15 years, Hernandez worked in a supervisory role, overseeing the team\u2019s camera rooms and coordinating security for events. Later, he became a scheduling manager for a private security company, assigning guards to client sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of those clients was Holy Family Day Home. Occasionally, he covered shifts and school staff liked him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in the day, the guards I sent would pretty much just stand around and make sure everything was okay. They didn\u2019t really interact with the families going to the school the way I do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The school hired him just before the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped daily routines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way everything had to be, that was challenging, but we all got through it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Security and beyond<\/p>\n

Emilie Struthers, the school\u2019s community outreach manager, said Hernandez supports Holy Family in a variety of ways,\u00a0from preventing unauthorized access and monitoring drop-offs and pick-ups to managing deliveries and providing a welcoming presence.<\/p>\n

During downtime \u2014 typically late morning to early afternoon \u2014 he\u2019ll head inside for hands-on projects, such as building furniture and setting up for events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone needs something, I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, let\u2019s make it happen. Even if I don\u2019t know how to do it, just explain it to me real quick, and I\u2019ll help,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Parada described him as the staff\u2019s go-to person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s super reliable. He has your back,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery time I need something, or one of the teachers needs something, he\u2019s always there to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otherwise, he stays at his post, AirPods in, listening to music or podcasts while watching the activity in the neighborhood. If anyone lingers near the school building\u2019s perimeter, he gently moves them along.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, one or two people [who seem to be] on drugs come by. For the most part, as soon as you tell them, \u2018Hey, there\u2019s a school here. You can\u2019t be hanging out,\u2019 they leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you show people a little time, respect, or just compassion, they\u2019re more open to being like, \u2018My bad. I\u2019m sorry. I\u2019ll take off.\u2019 You learn from your own mistakes about how to interact with others and get them to do what you want without escalating the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parada has seen him shift into a more serious mode when situations require it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to having to step up and defend the property, or do something about it, it\u2019s like he\u2019s another person. I feel like that\u2019s a good thing when it\u2019s needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The ripple of small gestures<\/p>\n

Outside of work, Hernandez values quiet time with family: Barbecuing, playing dominos, and visiting his daughter, who turns 21 this May and lives in Fremont.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had her when I was 25,\u201d he said. \u201cShe really turned my life upside down, but for the better. She\u2019s shaped me into who I am now: Family-oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children at Holy Family Day Home also shape his days, and he theirs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Hernandez takes the rare day off or temporarily leaves his post at the front entrance to do a perimeter check around the building, they take note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids will come in and say, \u2018Where\u2019s Jose? Why is he not here? Who\u2019s going to watch the front door?\u2019 They notice when he\u2019s not here, and they miss him,\u201d Parada said.<\/p>\n

He also has a knack for lifting kids\u2019 spirits.<\/p>\n

\u201cJose interacts with them, and they stop crying or they just start laughing. He has such a big presence with the kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For Hernandez, watching shy newcomers grow into expressive graduates who give hugs and promise to visit is one of the job\u2019s greatest rewards.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what keeps him rooted at the corner of 16th and Dolores, greeting everyone who passes by.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the best feeling, right there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really makes you feel good that they remember you and are thankful that you were there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AHernandez keeps watch over the intersection at 16th and Dolores Streets, helping ensure a safe arrival and departure for students throughout the day. Photo by JL Odom.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

3,300 readers keep Mission Local free. Will you join them?\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are no paywalls at Mission Local. We believe San Francisco deserves critical, high-impact reporting that belongs to all its residents, not just those who can afford it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But free to read doesn\u2019t mean free to produce. We\u2019re a small, independent newsroom rooted in San Francisco\u2019s communities that only exists because people like you invest in the reporting that our city relies on all year round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keep Mission Local free for all by becoming a donor today.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Read Mission Local often? Help grow our newsroom, joining the 3,250 readers who support us by giving below.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1556,18362,111984,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-252126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-mission","tag-people-we-meet","tag-people-we-meet-mission","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}