A church in California is welcoming 300+ homeless people inside every night, giving them a quiet, warm, and safe place to sleep. It is called the Gubbio Project and this church is leading the way in offering a safe place for the homeless in their community to have a dry and warm place to sleep.
This church has been opening its doors to the homeless for the past 15 years.
The Gubbio Project got its name after a legend that the people of an Italian made peace with a wolf with the help of St. Francis. They have been serving and helping those in their community since 2004. It was founded by Shelly Roder and Father Louis Vitale who noticed that the area was seeing an increase in homeless people looking for shelter and decided to open their doors.
Their mission is simple, “To be in community with and to provide a sacred space and sanctuary for unhoused people in need of safe, compassionate respite during the day.”
They have two locations, in the Tenderloin neighborhood at St. Boniface and at St. John the Evangelist in San Francisco, California. Volunteers and staff members help serve those who walk through their doors and are passionate about helping those in the community.
The Gubbio Project welcomes everyone inside.
The Gubbio Project offers a safe place of refuge to hundreds of people every night who do not feel safe sleeping in the streets. The homeless are treated as guests are shown respect and care.
“No questions are asked when our guests walk into the churches; in an effort to remove all barriers to entry, there are no sign-in sheets or intake forms. No one is ever turned away; all are welcomed, respected and treated with dignity,” their website says.
The project also aims to build a sense of community and understanding. Over one hundred people volunteer to help make the space more comfortable and welcoming to those in need. The church’s doors are open at all times, allowing the homeless to stay during daily mass. Their goal is to build the relationships and understanding between those with homes and those who do not.
They provide services and supplies to the homeless.
The church gives out blankets, socks, and hygiene kits and they have volunteers who provided services such as foot care and massage therapy at no charge. They sleep with blankets on the pews of the church. Many homeless people express the concern that they do not feel safe and are afraid of having their few possessions stolen.
Having a warm, comforting, and dry place to sleep every night allows them to get the rest that they need. Many homeless people suffer from a lack of sleep, and the Gubbio Project is working hard to help those rest and recover. This church has a beautiful and welcoming system in place to help those in their community.
They are living examples of treat others as you would want to be treated.
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