CRM - Empowering Leaders

In a City often characterized by its magnificent bridges, the San Francisco InnerChange team seeks to be a bridge between the Church and the Poor.  In the spirit of St. Francis, for whom our city was named, we reach out in true solidarity and friendship with the marginalized, empowered by the love of Jesus.  Gang members, drug dealers, “gutter punks,” and the homeless are our friends, and have been God’s instruments in transforming our lives, even as we seek to be messengers of hope in theirs.

In the wealthiest city in the US, we seek to be a prophetic presence, helping local churches find pathways to accompany those left out in the cold.  In a system that disempowers, we seek to be agents of empowerment, so that God might “raise the poor from the ash heap to seat them among the princes of the people.”  In a fractured and divided city, we seek to be instruments of peace and reconciliation.  We are Latino, White, and African-American, Protestant and Catholic.

The San Francisco InnerChange Community was established in 1986.  Currently we have two principal teams.  The first is a multi-faceted ministry called Comunidad San Dimas, based out of St. Peter’s Catholic Church.  The San Dimas Community is a ground-breaking effort (begun in 1992) focused on young Latinos caught up in the worlds of gangs and drugs, and the Juvenile Justice system. 

The second is the Outer Circle ministry based out of First Baptist Church.  This ministry to homeless youth on the streets of the Haight Asbury District befriends the “gutter punks”, sharing Christ’s love with them on their turf.  Pioneered by Darren Prince and Samantha Baker Evens in 1999, the team is currently led by Paul & Mariah Nix, and includes Claire Howard and Matthias Giezendanner.