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Envisioning a place to call home

What would it take to offer a quality living environment to the most disenfranchised population in our community? Reverend Cecil Williams and his wife Janice Mirikitani helped develop the answer. Cecil believed that if you made people feel as if they were worth investing in, residents would take pride in their living environment and help take care of it. The Glide Housing communities that resulted from this vision really are “A Place to Call Home,” as Cecil would say.
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Many Strengths to Meet Many Challenges

A mixed population is both the challenge and the strength at each Glide Housing property. We 4 have dual- and sometimes triple-diagnosed residents living with some form of mental challenges and substance abuse. One third or more of the population lives with a diagnosis of HIV or AIDS, and one third of the population is low-income (30% AMI) families with children. Many of the children have grown up at one of our locations and are now teenagers. The Tenderloin is not a playground for our children, especially teens. Recovery is hard because the streets are cluttered with dealers, users, and people with untreated mental illness. According to the latest San Francisco homeless count over 60% of the City’s homeless live in our neighborhood.
Cecil Williams

Rev. Cecil Williams

Co-Founder, GLIDE

Rev. Williams was the founding board member of GCH and GEDC, with no affiliation with GLIDE.
For over 50 years, Reverend Cecil Williams has expanded the limits of spirituality, compassion and diversity as Co-Founder and Minister of Liberation of GLIDE Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. As minister, author, social activist, lecturer, community leader and spokesperson for the poor and marginalized, Reverend Williams is respected and recognized as a national leader on the forefront of change and in the struggle for civil and human rights. His ministry underscores his roots in liberation theology.
Janice Mirikitani

Janice Mirikitani

Co-Founder, GLIDE

Janice Mirikitani was the founding board member of GCH and GEDC, with no affiliation with GLIDE. Both serving independently as husband and wife.
Mirikitani is the Co-Founder of GLIDE, in partnership with her husband, Reverend Cecil Williams. Together they have achieved worldwide recognition for their groundbreaking organization, which empowers San Francisco’s poor and marginalized communities to make meaningful changes in their lives to break the cycle of poverty and dependence. Over five decades they built 87 comprehensive programs that provide education, recovery support, primary and mental health care, job training, housing and human services. Mirikitani's passion has been to create programs for women and families as they struggle with issues of substance use, rape, incest, domestic violence, the AIDS crisis, single parenting, childcare, health/wellness, education, and jobs development.
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Two Organizations With a Single Commitment

Because various limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are tied to specific properties in the overall Glide Housing portfolio, our two constituent non-profit organizations—Glide Community Housing and Glide Economic Development Corporation—must maintain their autonomy. But in working together, they have found strength in tapping into the expertise and vision they share.
Both GCH and GEDC continue to work with the Glide Foundation, which is the founding organization and provides “back office” support to GCH. The John Stewart Company is the Property Management Company (JSCo) manages Glide Housing properties and our Executive Officers work closely together in managing the property management company.

Glide Community Housing (GCH)

Glide Community Housing (GCH) was formed in 1997 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation to build and manage Glide’s first supportive housing building. The Cecil Williams Glide Community House (CW House), named after the Rev. Cecil Williams, was completed in 1999 and was one of the first supportive housing projects in the City of San Francisco. CW 5 House is a 9-story, 52-unit building, located at 333 Taylor Street, that houses a mixed population in units of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. Ellis Gardens at 350 Ellis Street, which has 96 1- bedroom and studio units was added to the GCH portfolio in 2016.
GCH strives to create a healthy community by offering effective services that foster holistic healing in an environment of cultural integrity and diversity. An array of supportive housing services on site includes an infant day care center. In 2010 GCH began offering supportive services onsite at GEDC’s 149 Mason Street property, including medical and behavioral health services and case management.

Glide Economic Development Corporation (GEDC)

Glide Economic Development Corporation (GEDC), is a 501(c)(3) California non-profit public benefit corporation formed in 2000 by Melvin Carriere, under the leadership of Rev. Cecil Williams, Board Chairman, to foster economic development, to encourage neighborhood improvement, to create jobs for the neighborhood and most importantly to develop and create affordable and low-income housing for individuals and families in the Tenderloin. GEDC’s central mission is to provide homes and economic stimulus to the neighborhood where GLIDE’s ministry and programs have been so fundamental to the Community.
© 2024 Glide Housing.
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