The Gubbio Project

Gubbio Vision: A community where everyone has a safe and sacred space to rest and be.

Mission Statement: 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.

Goals: 

1) To provide a clean, beautiful, quiet, and safe space for people to sleep and rest during the day 

2) To attend to the physical, social, psychological and spiritual well-being of homeless guests who share the sanctuary spaces

3) To nurture a sense of understanding and shared responsibility in the broader church, school, and neighborhood communities

Sanctuary and Sacred Sleep

Sacred Sleep: The Gubbio Project’s core program is Sacred Sleep that provides an average of 325 individuals/day with a safe, beautiful, clean place to sleep every weekday. They rest the pews of St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin from 6 am to 2 pm and on mats in the sanctuary at St. John the Evangelist Church in the Mission from 6am—12 pm. No questions are asked when our guests walk into the church; in an effort to remove all barriers to entry there are no sign-in sheets/intake forms. No one is ever turned away; all are welcomed, respected and treated with dignity. The spaces are ADA accessible. Two full-time Hospitality Monitors are in the churches at all times maintaining cleanliness, managing the services, creating a safe, welcoming, calm atmosphere, and building relationships with guests. They receive training on a regular basis on topics pertinent to working with a homeless population. It is important that our monitors are able to empathize with homeless guests, therefore, most are peers who have had experience with the Tenderloin and Mission communities, homelessness and/or substance abuse in the past.  Programs and Supplies: In addition to the guests who sleep at the churches, the Gubbio Project serves additional guests who enter the sanctuary to use the bathroom, ask for help, talk with a Hospitality Monitor or Chaplain, or find basic survival necessities such as blankets, hats/gloves/socks and hygiene kits.  

At St. John's, the guests can daily receive coffee and pastries and weekly, a free massage, free foot care, and breakfast on Friday which are homemade and served by several rotating volunteer groups. Both sites have chaplains available on a drop-in basis for deep listening and accompaniment.