{"id":20327,"date":"2013-02-01T11:13:23","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=20327"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:00:46","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:00:46","slug":"sanctuary-san-francisco-church-opens-its-pews-to-the-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/02\/sanctuary-san-francisco-church-opens-its-pews-to-the-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctuary: San Francisco church opens its pews to the homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Huffington Post has a longer look<\/a><\/strong> at this project this week, but the San Francisco press has been covering it for a while. The undertaking is, in a word,\u00a0remarkable:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ornately painted ceiling, stained-glass windows, huge marble columns and organ pipes high above the wooden pews could make St.\u00a0Boniface Church<\/a>\u00a0a stop on any San Francisco tourist\u2019s must-see list. But the loud snores and incense burned to help cover pungent smells quickly indicate this isn\u2019t your standard\u00a0sanctuary.<\/p>\n

For the homeless people who enter the\u00a0Tenderloin church<\/a>\u00a0at 6 a.m., it\u2019s something even more sacred: a place to stretch out and enjoy hours of safe, uninterrupted\u00a0sleep.<\/p>\n

Project Gubbio was founded around Easter 2004 by activist pastor Rev.\u00a0Louie Vitale<\/a>, who retired several years ago. He named it after the town of Gubbio, Italy, where legend says that townspeople befriended a killer wolf who they realized wasn\u2019t dangerous at all \u2013 just\u00a0hungry.<\/p>\n

Like the city\u2019s response to homelessness itself, Project Gubbio has had its fits and starts. In 2006, it was nearly shuttered due to lack of funds, and its sleep hours were slashed from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. to 8 a.m.-noon.<\/p>\n

The project has regained some of its footing, in part due to a $100,000 gift from the Sisters of the Holy Family in Fremont. It\u2019s now open from 6 a.m.-1 p.m. every\u00a0weekday.<\/p>\n

But it has also seen an influx of people wanting to stretch out on its 76 pews, and those who run the program say it\u2019s because of the demolition of the old\u00a0Transbay Terminal<\/a>. In fall 2010, when the terminal was razed, Project Gubbio had an average of 54 sleepers. Now, it averages 90, and there are plenty of days when the total exceeds\u00a0100.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter (the terminal) closed, there were a lot of new faces that showed up,\u201d said\u00a0Dave Webber<\/a>, a hospitality monitor for the project. \u201cA lot of people didn\u2019t realize how big that complex was, and there were a lot of nooks and crannies where people could get out of the\u00a0wind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many homeless shelters close in the early morning and don\u2019t allow homeless people to stay during the day unless they have a medical condition that requires it. And the city\u2019s new ban on sitting or lying on sidewalks during the day means homeless people have to keep\u00a0moving.<\/p>\n

Bevan Dufty<\/a>, the mayor\u2019s new point person on homeless issues, said finding respite during the day is challenging. \u201cThat\u2019s a great service they\u2019re providing,\u201d he said of Project\u00a0Gubbio.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> <\/strong>for more. \u00a0And visit the Gubbio Project<\/a><\/strong> website for additional details.<\/p>\n

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Huffington Post has a longer look at this project this week, but the San Francisco press has been covering it for a while. The undertaking is, in a word,\u00a0remarkable: The ornately painted ceiling, stained-glass windows, huge marble columns and organ pipes high above the wooden pews could make St.\u00a0Boniface Church\u00a0a stop on any San Francisco […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[757],"class_list":["post-20327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-the-people-in-the-pews","tag-san-francisco"],"yoast_head":"\nSanctuary: San Francisco church opens its pews to the homeless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Huffington Post has a longer look at this project this week, but the San Francisco press has been covering it for a while. 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