The Center for Social Justice (CSJ) team (inc. from L to R: Karl Robillard, Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, Eleana Binder, Policy Manager, President & CEO Dr. Gina Fromer, and Naeemah Charles, Senior Director), visit the nation’s capital to promote GLIDE’s mission
Dr. Gina meets with United States Representative Barbara Lee, representing California’s 12th Congressional District
Dr. Gina’s story is an American story. She is a sixth generation San Franciscan who broke the cycle of poverty in her family and ascended to leadership roles through determination, hard work, and education. She relied on crucial programs like GLIDE to realize her family’s dream of upward economic mobility.
CSJ team navigating the House of Representatives
In a whirlwind tour of DC, our team from GLIDE shared a new strategy we call GLIDE Forward to ensure Dr. Gina’s experience of breaking cycles of poverty will be available for generations to come. This strategy connects gaps in our social safety net in San Francisco with broad and ambitious plans from the federal government (and other funding partners) to ease the impact of poverty and marginalization across the country.
Our plan calls for GLIDE to launch a new behavioral health and wellness hub, deepen our commitment to combat the overdose epidemic, create housing as part of a GLIDE campus model, formalize re-entry services to prevent recidivism in our criminal justice system, and launch a set of integrated mobile services in the Tenderloin and underserved neighborhoods across San Francisco.
GLIDE President & CEO Dr. Gina Fromer meets with Congressman Adam Schiff (L) and with Damon Smith, Acting Deputy Secretary and General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (R)
Dr. Gina and our GLIDE team shared important information about what we are seeing on the ground in San Francisco to inform elected officials’ and federal agencies’ priorities.
We also discussed legislation related to housing, food access, substance use treatment, and mental health to advocate for progress and increased funding to help break down barriers we see our community facing every day.
We are grateful for our government partners who met with us to think big on the best ways to turn this vision into reality. We know that by working together we can close gaps in services that lead to extreme poverty and marginalization in San Francisco and across the country.
Special thanks to the Elected Officials, Staffers, Nonprofit partners, and Federal agencies who took time to meet with us:
- Representatives Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee, Andrea Salinas, and Nanette Barragán
- Vice President Kamala Harris’s office
- The White House Office of Public Engagement
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Justice, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - The National Alliance to End Homelessness
The decisions made in DC affect the lives of GLIDE’s clients, staff, and community. When GLIDE brings our message of unconditional love and radical inclusivity into these conversations, we infuse our values into policy and service delivery that impact millions of poor and marginalized Americans across the country.
Dr. Gina Fromer meeting with Steve Benjamin, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (L) and Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (R)
This is the first of many proactive efforts to engage leaders at the national level.
To become part of the movement, we encourage you to become a Social Justice Warrior with GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and follow our journey on social media at @GlideSF.
#GlideForward