Episcopal Community Services (ECS)

Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco helps homeless and very low-income people every day and every night obtain the housing, jobs, shelter and essential services each person needs to prevent and end homelessness.

Episcopal Community Services' Core Values:

DIGNITY and RESPECT: ECS believes in people, their inherent ability to make choices, and recognizes the worth of each person: clients, employees, board members, community.

INTEGRITY: We act fairly, we work hard, we develop sound practices, and we are a good employer, service provider and steward of resources.

COMPASSION: We see potential in each person and meet them where they are. We care about the people we employ and the people we serve.

DIVERSITY: ECS cultivates a diverse group of stakeholders. We appreciate the value of having everyone represented at the table.

COMMUNITY and COLLABORATION: We are part of a larger community and a larger world. These relationships inform our work, benefit out clients.

VISION and LEADERSHIP: We approach our work with enthusiasm and passion, developing best practices, and nourishing leadership throughout ECS.

FLEXIBILITY, INNOVATION, MOVEMENT: We do dynamic work with responsiveness to both needs and opportunities.

CONTINUUM, HOLISTIC APPROACH: We believe there is no wrong doorway for seeking our services and we maintain a connection with comprehensive resources in the San Francisco Community.

TOOLS and EMPOWERMENT: We seek to equip people with support, knowledge, essential services needed to attain their goals.

Episcopal Community Services (ECS) developed from two separate streams of charitable impulse. The first, Canon Kip Community House, started in the 1890's as a settlement house, helping the poor and recent immigrants settle into the community, by providing childcare, food, and other services. As needs in the community shifted so did Canon Kip and by the 1970's it functioned primarily as a senior center for the South of Market neighborhood serving Filipino Americans.

In the early 1980's, homelessness as a social issue seemed to arise out of nowhere to quickly become a major phenomenon in San Francisco and other cities. Then Mayor, Dianne Feinstein, called Episcopal Bishop, William Swing, and asked his support to house people temporarily. The first shelter, in the basement of Grace Cathedral, was quickly outgrown - so a more permanent shelter needed to be found. The Episcopal Sanctuary was relocated at Canon Kip Community House for a few years until permanent site at an old bath house at 8th and Howard Streets was secured 1986. The Sanctuary continues to operate at that site today, providing 200 people each night with a warm bed and two meals.

In 1989 Canon Kip and the Sanctuary merged to form Episcopal Community Services. Since that time, through our extensive experience with homeless people, and the contributing factors leading to homelessness, ECS has developed a four-pronged approach that empowers the success of individuals to find and keeping housing:
Emergency Shelter; Supportive Housing; Skills and Vocational Center; and, Senior Day Program.