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Glide

Glide Community Housing built two magnificent apartment buildings for the very poor in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, providing homes outside of shelters, as well as badly needed support services to help people get back on their feet.

Website link: www.glide.org

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Why we love the company

When people talk about “fixing the homeless crisis,” they can sometimes see it in a very simplified way, thinking if we just get “them” off the streets and find them housing, the homeless crisis would be resolved.

In reality, finding housing is just the beginning. Many people who have endured months or years on the streets have to adjust to being housed. And there can be many barriers that get in the way. As a result, formerly homeless people will often struggle to keep their long-term housing.

Glide Community Housing sponsored the construction of two high rise apartment buildings for the very low income residents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, as well as managed or collaborated on others. The compassionate brain child of Reverend Cecil Williams and his wife Janice Mirikitani, Glide Community Housing became a collaborative project with partners including Millennium Development Group, The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, UCSF (nursing staff), and the Mayor’s Office of Housing in San Francisco.

Elizabeth joined the Board of Glide Community Housing and the Glide Economic Development Corporation very early in the project’s conception. She served proudly on those boards for 13 years, and succeeded Cecil Williams as the Chairman of the Board in later years.

Glide Memorial Methodist Church is a social justice movement– truly one of San Francisco’s most influential and incredible organizations. Glide is much more than a Church. It is one of the largest providers of support services for the poor in San Francisco. In Glide’s own words:

GLIDE reaches those most in need, providing food, housing assistance, healthcare, and family services. We meet basic needs, stabilize lives, create pathways out of poverty, and work for systemic change. Our work is grounded in our values of radical inclusivity, unconditional love, truth telling, and celebration. We work on the front lines of poverty, look everyone in the eye, turn no one away, and transform lives.

Glide Community Housing built, managed, and provides support services for multiple high-rise residential buildings, with a total of over 200 apartment units. While the buildings have varying populations, all have a target population of the very poor, such as those living on less than 15% of the city’s median wage.

The building Glide Community Housing built at 125 Mason Street has 81 units, many with 2 or 3 bedrooms, designed for low-income families. By contrast, the building at 149 Mason Street is an 8 story building with 56 studio units for the chronically homeless– single adults with mental or physical disabilities. Glide Community Housing also manages the Cecil Williams House at 333 Taylor Street.

With child care, a rooftop garden tended by residents, and free meals at Glide just around the corner, the Glide Community Housing buildings create a safe, healthy environment to support the residents in building their way out of poverty.