GLIDE joins with many in the Bay Area and those across the nation in mourning the passing of Richard Blum. GLIDE President & CEO Karen Hanrahan and GLIDE Co-Founder Reverend Cecil Williams remember the life and spirit of Richard:
“A truly remarkable individual, Richard was a change agent for radical inclusiveness, a social justice advocate, a former GLIDE Board member, and a longtime member and supporter of our community. We are deeply saddened by his loss.”
“A San Francisco business executive, philanthropist, and partner of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, for decades Richard was a steadfast champion of GLIDE’s work to help more people off the streets into stability and transform systems to enable equity for all and bring lasting change, not only to this city but to the world.
GLIDE holds his family close to our hearts, and we offer them our love, prayers, and support during this difficult time.”
Dear Friends,
I am excited to share some good news about GLIDE for the coming year! While we’ve been innovating and adapting during COVID-19, we’ve also been making headway on our plans to deepen and expand GLIDE’s impact and provide sustainable solutions to the growing challenges facing San Francisco. Below are a few highlights of what’s coming up in 2022:
Doubling our Reach Across San Francisco. GLIDE is planning to expand its reach by bringing integrated services to under-resourced neighborhoods across San Francisco to help more people off the streets for good. We will increase our mobile fleet of vans, pop-up service hubs, and community-based partnerships to bring expanded services, referrals, and linkages to South of Market (SOMA), Potrero Hill, Bayview Hunters Point and more areas of the Tenderloin. For both families and individuals, we will provide essential stabilizing services and resources to address immediate needs as well as those needs inherent in building stable, healthy lives, avoiding homelessness and building pathways out of poverty.
Modernizing our Facilities. GLIDE’s longstanding leadership in the Tenderloin and our commitment to provide hope and solutions for the community remain a top priority. To deepen our impact in the Tenderloin and across the city, we have begun exploring opportunities to upgrade our outdated headquarters at 330 Ellis. This month, we will submit a Real Estate Preliminary Project Assessment (PPA) to the City of San Francisco to examine the feasibility of upgrading our building into a new community services hub. This will allow us to remain an anchor in the Tenderloin with expanded service space in an enhanced, equitable, and more modern facility. This is a preliminary step to explore the feasibility of a multi-year development process with collective community input. (Visit our FAQ page for more details.)
Updating GLIDE’s Governance Structure. GLIDE has established a new structure that separates the governance and management of the GLIDE Foundation from Glide Memorial Church. GLIDE Foundation has updated its non-profit legal status to a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation to reflect the foundation’s longstanding – and growing – body of work on direct services, systems change and equity. Glide Memorial Church is now a legal subsidiary of GLIDE Foundation and designated as a non-profit religious corporation with its own board of directors. While we continue to operate with many shared values, this distinction between GLIDE Foundation and Glide Memorial Church provides long-needed clarity for our community and aligns with best practices on separation of religious from non-religious activities. (Visit our FAQ page for more details.)
Expanding Equity & Inclusion Programming. This year, to expand our efforts to evolve and influence institutions of power, we’re planning another transformative Justice Pilgrimage to Alabama. We begin the journey with a curated experience by GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice to open eyes and minds to our collective history of slavery and its modern manifestations. This sojourn adds forceful testimony to how racism is woven throughout our country via oppressive and unjust systems, policies, and laws – as well as within business models and practices. Along with our empathy-building programs with police, district attorneys, and healthcare workers, these initiatives create change agents who – upon returning to their professional alliances – drive more progress towards equity and inclusion.
From expanded integrated services to modernizing outdated facilities and governance structures to transformative racial justice work, these innovative efforts reflect how we are building the next generation of GLIDE. We remain rooted in our values and are steadfastly committed to helping more people off the streets, out of poverty, and bringing lasting change to our city.
I look forward to keeping you updated and engaged as a supporter and thought partner as GLIDE progresses. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with ideas and questions in the coming months.
In solidarity,
Karen J. Hanrahan President & CEO, GLIDE @KarenJHanrahan
Dear Friends,
As Black History Month comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on GLIDE’s role in shaping our collective future. As is well known, GLIDE celebrates Black History all year through the daily acknowledgment of achievements of Black Americans and their invaluable contributions to this mighty institution, to our beloved city and to our troubled, yet promise-filled nation. We also celebrate Black History Month every year by pausing more intentionally and more reverently to appreciate and learn from the often-overlooked achievements of Black leaders, trailblazers, scholars, artists, entrepreneurs, and advocates who represent the promises of our nation’s future.
This year, during this month of cultural representation and affirmation, I am keenly aware that we are surrounded by opportunities to make history and to shape our collective future. 69% percent of the clients we serve are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. In San Francisco, 37% of the city’s unhoused population is Black and 40% of Black children in San Francisco County live in poverty. On top of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black Americans, there are legislative attempts to limit access to polls for voters of color, challenges to framing Black history as American history, and more. This rising political vitriol and the deepening divides across geography, politics, race and culture are fueled by fear and are limiting our potential as a nation.
What we do now – collectively – will define our future and either keep us divided or bring us together. We are a nation that needs healing.
We must bridge the divides that weaken us by finding common understanding and game-changing solutions, or we will all lose.
GLIDE is leading the way with a clear vision for systemic change and healing across both public and private spheres, along with daily acts of justice and reconciliation that are driving equity in our city and beyond. GLIDE is not just part of – but a leader in – achieving lasting, transformational change for our nation. For the past five years, GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice has been building innovative empathy-building and racial reconciliation programs that are driving and inspiring systemic change near and far. Our powerful racial justice pilgrimages take healthcare workers, business leaders, academics and corporate leaders to the birthplace of slavery to look head on at the metastization of systemic racism in America. Participants gain a deeper understanding of unjust laws and policies that continue to undermine Black vitality and Black potential. Upon returning from GLIDE’s Alabama Justice Pilgrimages, these individuals become powerful change agents who return to their institutions inspired and empowered to influence reforms.
The biggest question on everyone’s minds today is…What does healing look like?
To achieve sustainable and transformational outcomes, we start with individuals who work in powerful institutions and systems, and we alter their world views. We give them the knowledge and tools to drive change in their lives and the systems in which they work. These change agents are already reforming disparities in health outcomes, criminal justice, and corporate practices. We know on the deepest level that enduring cohesion will come to our city and our country when we ALL summon the courage to look head-on at the most challenging stories of our time – systemic racism, gender inequity, economic and health disparities, and more. Healing must start with an unflinching examination of the root causes and attitudes underlying these collective limitations, and from the hard work required to make meaningful, inclusive change across the systems that impact our daily lives.
GLIDE will continue to lead this change, with all of our partners and allies, so we may shape our collective history, together.
In Solidarity,
Karen J. Hanrahan President & CEO, GLIDE Twitter: @KarenJHanrahan
Dear Friends,
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
As we pay tribute to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr, it is evident that his message of justice and equality remains as pressing today as it was during the Civil Rights Movement. Despite the progress that has been made over the years, systemic biases, food insecurity, poverty, health disparities, and issues surrounding homelessness continue to afflict our society, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King’s call to action for an end to racial segregation and discrimination inspired a generation to stand up for their rights and fight for change. His belief in equality for all continues to inspire individuals around the world.
However, with recent tragedies, it is clear that the struggle for justice is far from over. There are still numerous instances of racial profiling, police brutality, and economic inequality that disproportionately affect people of color. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the deep-seated health disparities that exist in our country, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
Since joining GLIDE in 1963, I’ve made it my mission to create a radically inclusive community. Where everyone is embraced regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, denomination, or views. Our programs- daily free meals, rental assistance and education, Men in Progress, Janice Mirikitani’s Family Youth and Childcare Center to name a few were founded to help those that have fallen on hard times and neglected by society.
Along with community partners like UCSF, SFDPH, Code Tenderloin, SFCHC, and others we’re addressing health disparities head on. Since the start of the pandemic, 24,295 COVID tests have been administered and 5,522 vaccine shots, helping the Tenderloin reach a vaccination rate of more than 90%.
“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
It is our duty to carry on Dr. King’s legacy and work towards a more just and equal society. This involves speaking out against injustice whenever and wherever it occurs and working towards systemic change that addresses the root causes of these issues. It also involves advocating for policies that promote equality and opportunity for all. Our Center for Social Justice not only hosts open discussions around tough issues impacting our community but also actively participates in advocacy work with policy makers to address the root causes of bias.
On January 11, GLIDE celebrated with coalition partners as the San Francisco Police Commission voted to adopt significant changes to traffic stop policies to curtail the use of racially-biased traffic stops, also known as pretext stops. Black drivers in San Francisco are disproportionately stopped by police officers, making up 26% of all traffic stops but just 5% of the population. This inflicts disparate harms on our communities and compounds generations of trauma, just for trying to get to your destination. Over the past 18 months, GLIDE worked as a member of the Coalition to End Biased Stops to drive reform around traffic enforcement policies. On January 11, the tireless work of these 110+ organizations culminated in the Police Commission voting in favor for what is now the most comprehensive policy in the United States to address racially-biased traffic stops. I am proud and hopeful.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
As we honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, let us also commit to continuing his legacy and building a better future for all. Let us continue pushing and challenging the status quo for a more just and equal society for all.
In Solidarity,
Rev. Cecil Williams Co-Founder, GLIDE
Dear Friends,
In April of 2018, I walked the haunted and hallowed streets of Montgomery, Alabama. I was on the ground in the cradle of the Confederacy along with 85 people from GLIDE for the opening of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We were there with educators and activists, staff and board, old and young, to look head-on at the birth story and evolution of systemic racism in this promised, yet blood-soaked land of ours. Our days there were some of the most heartbreaking, soul-wrenching days of my life. Despite decades working amidst trauma and terror around the world, the images and stories of generations of racial terrorism in America brought me to my knees.
“Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on…I’m gonna board that big greyhound…Carry the love from town to town. Keep your eyes on the prize. Hold on, hold on…” Eyes on the Prize
I kept hearing the civil rights freedom song, “Eyes on the Prize,” that anchored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the myriad of activists and ordinary citizens who stood up and marched through Alabama for voting rights and justice. What kind of courage must it have taken to keep singing, “Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on, hold on,” as they were assaulted with billy clubs and hatred? How did they find the strength to keep marching when police unleashed attack dogs and pointed fire hoses at their children?
These days, I find myself thinking frequently about their fortitude and the power of their collective, non-violent action.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his wife Coretta Scott King (both center right), at a Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, civil rights march in March 1965. Among the group are civil rights activists Bayard Rustin (far left), a young John Lewis (third from left), Reverend Ralph Abernathy (fourth from left), Ralph Bunche (center), and Hosea Williams (right, with hand on child’s shoulder). (Photo by William Lovelace/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Today, as we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I cannot help but wonder at the courage and conviction he inspired in millions of people in one of the darkest periods of American history— and in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. What does it mean — today — to keep our eyes on a prize; to hold fast to his prophetic dream of a morally clear and courageous America in which systemic equality and empathy have taken root to heal our collective past and our divided present? Where everyone has a vote and a voice in our shared democracy? A dream in which we can all equally take for granted reliable systems that deliver basic human rights like housing, health care and equal treatment under the law?
We are experiencing hard times. The COVID pandemic has taken the lives of almost a million Americans, decimating families, and shining a bright light on the gross inequities that still surround us. Police and vigilante violence against people of color continues at an alarming rate. The terrifying attack on the Capitol Building by right-wing extremists was a wake-up call to an American democracy that is teetering and in need of desperate life-saving repairs.
As Dr. King stood in the vicious throes of the racist American south in the 1960s, he too faced staggering challenges. It would have been human to cave to fear, to capitulate to violence, to put his hands up and say to the naysayers, to the Klan, to the quietly racist, “You win.” And yet, King and millions of others swam upstream, endured violent attacks, stared death in the face, and painted a redemptive dream for this promised land of ours, a land whose full promise has not yet been realized.
King’s dream of an inclusive American democracy remains embattled, despite incremental progress. The challenges remain formidable. Yet, there is hope and promise, fulfilled every day by courageous people who have come after Dr. King and by a new generation called to meet the moment. Coretta Scott King said it aptly, “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”
In that spirit, GLIDE is here, standing at the corner of Ellis and Taylor, at the edge of the promises of Dr. King. For generations now, we’ve been a treasured home to thousands and a hub of national significance. And like Dr. King’s prophetic dream, GLIDE’s hope-filled and healing vision for our city and our country is a shared prize we seek, a prize of moral clarity and courage, of equality and equity for all with lasting change in our nation.
So we will continue to hold on, to carry the love and to keep our eyes on the prize, reminding all who come in our orbit that progress and healing are indeed possible, even in the face of insurmountable odds.
In Solidarity,
Karen J. Hanrahan President & CEO, GLIDE Twitter: @KarenJHanrahan
Media Highlights:
11/19 48 Hills, Live Shots: A joyful noise at GLIDE’s Annual Holiday Jam. Bobby McFerrin, Fantastic Negrito, Vernon Bush, more came to celebrate GLIDE’s social justice mission.
11/13 San Francisco Chronicle, “Bobby McFerrin and Fantastic Negrito to bring musical magic to Glide Memorial holiday event”
11/12 ABC7 Midday Live and Getting Answers, “GLIDE’s Holiday Concert: Thursday, Nov. 18 (Interview at 9:20 minute mark, approx.)
Media Sponsors/Ad Buys
San Francisco Chronicle
Five print ads ran in SF Chronicle Datebook Pink section and Daily news – 10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/16
Digital ads ran 11/3 to 11/17
San Francisco Business Times
Two quarter-page ads running October 29 and November 5
Media Coverage:
ABC7
11/12 Five-minute on-air interview with Karen Hanrahan to promote GLIDE and the Holiday Jam onMid-Day Live. The Karen interview aired on both the 11 am Midday Live and the 3 pm Getting Answers news programs. Checkout the Facebook link of the interview: It starts around the 9:20 minute mark The interview ran along with Fantastic Negrito’s video and several of the photos.
Holiday Jam to be highlighted in a segment that runs on Thursdays announcing events. (Date TBD)
Karen Hanrahan’s 15-minute interview on Today’s World aired 10/31, carriage included opportunities on all Bay Area Bonneville stations (KBLX, KOIT, 99.7 Now,) Listen here
10/12 Grateful Web, “GLIDE’S Holiday Jam Benefit Concert Returns to The Masonic with Bobby McFerrin And Fantastic Negrito” ( Also appeared in Daily Advent)
The city of San Francisco generates about half a million tons of material in landfill each year, a number that has grown significantly over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. At GLIDE, the waste didn’t go unnoticed. Members of GLIDE’s Family Resource Center (FRC) and Daily Free Meals Program observed how much plastic was being used to supply food to the community. “Everything was wrapped in plastic, including vegetables,” says Joselyn Barrera, Daily Meals Program Manager. “We wanted to take a different approach to address food insecurity and sustainability at the same time.” That’s why, this past summer, the two programs formed a partnership to introduce a Zero Waste Food Pantry, providing nourishing food in reusable and compostable containers.
Grains packaged up in compostable containers
An extension of the existing food pantry administered by FRC and Daily Meals, the sustainability-focused initiative serves an average of 40 families per week, including families who were not able to participate in the pantry’s normal Thursday and Friday distributions. Through targeted outreach, the FRC was able to identify gaps in families who were not being served by the pantry, while also recognizing an opportunity to introduce zero waste practices in the FRC’s food distribution.
Bagsof pantry items prepared and ready to be distributed to families
Each week, families receive menus featuring a list of nutritious food items they can select. The pantry team then packs the food items into reusable containers and distributes them to families, while collecting containers from the previous week to be used once again. Food items are mindfully sourced through local Bay Area vendors that reflect the food cultures of participating families. One of the primary vendors, Arcadio’s Produce, is the only Latinx-owned produce company here in San Francisco.
Bags with menus attached await pickup at the Zero Waste Food Pantry
GLIDE’s sustainability efforts started three years ago when the organization became a certified green business and started sorting waste seven days a week. These initial actions were initiated to align with the City’s Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance, which requires everyone in San Francisco to keep recyclables and trash separated. Through waste sorting, members of the Meals team quickly began to see environmental and financial benefits as well as a learning opportunity to distinguish how GLIDE’s food security programs could be more mindful and take a more sustainable approach to serving the community.
Communities that are affected by racial injustice are the same communities that are most impacted by environmental injustice. Integrating sustainable practices within GLIDE not only lightens our environmental footprint, it provides an important avenue for opening a conversation around sustainable practices within the communities that GLIDE serves.
“I think this partnership with FRC is critical because we’re educating children and parents. It’s a multi-generational approach at teaching sustainability to the youngest and the oldest, who have different views about sustainability. In our community, it’s not something that we really talk about as minorities and people of color,” Joselyn reflects. “We just don’t talk about sustainability as much as we should. And I think that this is a perfect example of how you can impact both generations and I think it’s a great approach.”
GLIDE President and CEO Karen Hanrahan and Center for Social Justice Senior Director Miguel Bustos participated in the “What We’ve Learned” public lecture series at Manny’s Community Space located in San Francisco’s Mission District on September 29, 2021. The notable series invites leaders from all aspects of civic life to examine what we’ve learned so far during the pandemic.
Speaking to a crowd of in-person attendees and scores of others who watched the event via Zoom and on Facebook, their discussion “Keeping the Flame Alive: Finding Light in Dark Times,” addressed finding hope and inspiration after 18 months of the pandemic and how GLIDE has continued throughout the health crisis to serve those in need.
Hello GLIDE Community,
We are delighted to be part of the Latinx community during these 30 days acknowledging and celebrating National Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month and the cultural and historical contributions of those among us whose family heritages include Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America, and Spain.
Every day, we support, lift up and celebrate the people, voices, and issues of the Latinx community through acts of social justice and service. Our Latinx family extends from our innovative staff and bold leaders to our righteous community partners, generous donors, and resilient clients. We act and advocate in solidarity with coalitions that advance equity for Latinx communities throughout the city. We continue to walk in the footsteps of social justice warriors like Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. We draw inspiration today from activists such as Sister Norma Pimentel, honored for her unwavering support of migrants, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and the many other Latinx leaders who are pursuing justice for all in our society.
This month, we mark Latinx Heritage as American Heritage, with a legacy of cultural and historical achievements in the sciences, arts, literature, law, technology, economics, and government. There are more than 6,800 elected Latinx officials nationwide, and Congress is now, thankfully, more diverse, with six Latinx Senators in the U.S. Senate and 46 Representatives in the House. The fastest-growing population in the U.S., the Latinx community is also an economic driver. In 2019, the economic output of the Latinx community was $2.7 trillion, a nearly 60 percent increase over 2010. Eighteen percent of America’s middle class is now Latinx, roughly four times higher than in 1980 when it was predominantly white.
While we honor this heritage month, we also recognize the stark inequities facing many in the Latinx community. The criminalization of migrants and the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is abhorrent. This summer, there were nearly 200,000 migrant apprehensions and expulsions — the highest total in more than two decades. Additionally, the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on Latinx health, jobs, and families. Latinx people are diagnosed with COVID-19 at rates nearly twice that of whites, are hospitalized 2.8 times higher, and dying at a rate 2.3 times higher. The economic toll of the health crisis has been severe. The Latinx community accounted for 23 percent of initial pandemic job losses. Latinas continue to bear the brunt of this job loss, experiencing disproportionately high unemployment and dropping out of the workforce at higher rates than any other demographic group.
At GLIDE, we see the impact of systemic inequity on the Latinx community up close: • 20% of our clients are Latinx. • 75% of our Family Youth and Childcare Center families are Latinx — all are low-income. • 93 % of FYCC families surveyed reported income losses due to the pandemic. • 71 % of FYCC women surveyed said GLIDE helped them avoid hunger.
Every day, GLIDE is taking steps to overcome these challenges within our Latinx communities across San Francisco. We prevent homelessness, alleviate hunger, support women in the workforce, and intentionally address the systemic inequities that drive more Latinx people into our service lines. We are doing that through our transformative programs and expanded services across the city. In particular, our investments in Latinx women and families are stabilizing families and advancing the financial independence necessary to combat these economic inequities.
GLIDE is proudly part of the Latinx community. As we celebrate this month-long tribute to the community’s diversity, rich culture, and extraordinary contributions, we do so with gratitude for all the progress that has been realized and hope for all that is still to come.
August included Overdose Awareness Day and GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and Harm Reduction Services marked the observance with an inspiring panel discussion that clarified what harm reduction is and is not and focused on policies that help or continue to harm. Harm Reduction As Justice was moderated by Director of Harm Reduction Services Juliana DePietro, and included panel members CSJ Policy Manager Wesley Saver, Harm Reduction Services Program Manager John Negrete, and Code Tenderloin Founder and unofficial Mayor of the Tenderloin Del Seymour.
