For the citys homeless, San Franciscos St. Boniface Church is seen as a safe haven.
The nonprofit known as the Gubbio Project partners with the Roman Catholic church to let the citys homeless sleep on its pews during daylight hours, even during Mass, and provides a host of services to hundreds of those who are forced to leave when homeless shelters close in the morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
"Part of the craziness you run into on the streets with homeless people is drugs and alcohol related, but some is severe lack of sleep, which can cause psychosis," Rev. Tommy King, a pastor at St. Boniface told the Chronicle. "This helps them in terms of mental health."
Every weekday the program uses the sanctuarys rear 76 pews between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. while providing access to the churchs amenities like bathrooms, blankets, clothing vouchers and haircuts, executive director Laura Slattery told the Huffington Post in an email.
