COVID-19 Crisis Response - GLIDE - San Francisco: serving the people of the Tenderloin and San Francisco since 1963

In the ever-changing landscape of the Coronavirus pandemic, GLIDE continues to innovate to meet the growing needs of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Powered by our dedicated staff, community supporters, and creative partnerships, GLIDE has modified and expanded essential services to address rising unemployment, food insecurity and other vulnerabilities among unhoused and extremely-low-income people. Stepped up efforts across GLIDE’s family services, meals distribution, harm reduction outreach, integrated case management and violence prevention programs are helping thousands of individuals and families through a deeply precarious and challenging time, while also helping them establish foundations for meaningful change.

GLIDE in the News Latest Announcements Resources

Increasing Meal Distribution

GLIDE’s Daily Free Meals program is now providing 15,000 nutritious meals weekly, including on-site in the Tenderloin and, since the onset of the pandemic, to individuals and community partners across the city.

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Expanding Mobile Integrated Services

GLIDE’s OPT-IN mobile outreach program is providing integrated care and services—including food, water, hygiene kits, HIV and Hep C testing, and COVID-19 screenings and referrals—to thousands of unhoused San Franciscans at encampments, SROs and community-based organizations across San Francisco, including the Tenderloin, Bayview / Hunters Point, Chinatown, Mission, Embarcadero, China Basin, SoMa and Civic Center neighborhoods.

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Meeting Needs of Families and Children

GLIDE’s Family Youth and Childcare Center is supporting its 400 enrolled families with a range of online educational resources and classes for children and parents, as well as with online case management, and basic necessities available for pick-up including healthy meals, hygiene kits, diapers, and art and activity supplies for the kids.

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Putting Life-Changing Programs Within Reach, Online

Adapting to the need for physical distancing at this time, GLIDE has piloted online delivery of case management, family support services, violence intervention classes, and school enrichment programs—all in an effort to continue meeting the critical and evolving needs of our community during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Providing Spiritual Support and Celebration

While the GLIDE community cannot meet in person at this point in time, Celebration Livestreams bring us together in community every Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00 am online. Most of the Church’s Congregational Life Groups are now meeting online as well.

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GLIDE Voices

"The enormous amount of love and support that has poured in from the community has been the fuel for our front-line staff. Community members have ordered lunch for staff, purchased face masks, sent emails, called and stopped by. GLIDE staff come to work selflessly, many with families at home, to serve the community. Their dedication provides me with so much strength and perseverance. I have never felt prouder to be part of this team."

Joselyn, Culinary Manager, Daily Free Meals program

“GLIDE’s services might be limited but our love and compassion has only grown.”

DeMarco, Housing Case Manager, GLIDE Walk-In Center

"After operating for over a month during the shelter-in-place there’s definitely an exhaustion that has set in for staff. Clients are understandably confused as services are constantly changing in order to adapt to new guidelines and protocols, and they have less available resources which makes their lives more challenging than it already was. Despite these difficulties, one of the great things about the Tenderloin is the community aspect. Information about COVID has traveled quickly and clients understand why we’re taking these precautions. This crisis has shown how creative and adaptable we all are.”

Ali, SAS Coordinator, Harm Reduction