Elaine is a Tokudo ordained priest and a BCSF Minister Assistant. She taught meditation and Buddhist teachings in the San Francisco jails from 2008 -2019. She presently serves as president of the Japanese American Religious Foundation (JARF), an interfaith consortium of churches and temples founded in 1948 in the SF Japantown area. She’s also a founding member of the BCSF LGBTQ+ group. Elaine is grateful to work as a Night Minister for the San Francisco Night Ministry, providing chaplaincy and "the ministry of presence" to unhoused folks living on the streets of San Francisco.