Our Services
In Downtown San Francisco, we directly engage with those experiencing homelessness, distributing essentials and offering no-judgment counseling. Over time, we help clients set and achieve personal goals, connecting them with vital resources like housing, jobs, education, and healthcare through partnerships with other organizations.
Our History
ATC was founded in 1997 when Rob Gitin and Taj Mustapha were awarded Echoing Green Fellowships to create a program for underserved homeless youth in San Francisco. They spent months exploring different neighborhoods in the city and talking with young people on the streets about the kind of support they wanted and needed. Based on these conversations, Rob and Taj designed a program to bring services directly to the streets.
Since then, ATC has grown significantly, and has worked with over 8,000 people experiencing homelessness across San Francisco . Our services have expanded and evolved over the years, but they have always been centered around the needs of each individual client.
Our Clients
We work with people experiencing housing instability and poverty who are disconnected from support that could make their lives healthier and more stable. We approach our clients without an agenda and without judgement, and focus on empowering each person to define their own goals at their own pace. Our clients are some of the most resilient and remarkable people we’ve ever met, and we strive to help them build the lives they want.
Our Demographics
Our Philosophy
We focus on the most disconnected young adults
We prioritize young adults who do not access traditional services like housing, shelters, drug programs, or drop-in centers. These individuals have either been kicked out of other programs, or never even made it through the front door. Many of these young adults are not stably housed, but do not identify as “homeless,” and therefore do not seek help from programs directed towards “homeless people.”
We make it as easy as possible to work with us
Through daytime and nighttime street outreach, we bring our services to our clients, rather than making them come to us. We don’t approach our clients with a pre-determined agenda for “success.” Instead, we help each of our clients find their own unique path to health and stability.
Our support is unconditional
We have never kicked a client out of our program since we began in 1997. We don’t impose time limits on our work, and we don’t stop working with someone if they transition off of the streets. By offering consistent, long term support, we cultivate trusting and in-depth counseling relationships with our clients.
Our Philosophy
We Focus On the most disconnected young adults
We prioritize young adults who do not access traditional services like housing, shelters, drug programs, or drop-in centers. These individuals have either been kicked out of other programs, or never even made it through the front door. Many of these young adults are not stably housed, but do not identify as “homeless,” and therefore do not seek help from programs directed towards “homeless people.”
We make it as easy as possible to work with us
Through daytime and nighttime street outreach, we bring our services to our clients, rather than making them come to us. We don’t approach our clients with a pre-determined agenda for “success.” Instead, we help each of our clients find their own unique path to health and stability.
Our support is unconditional.
We have never kicked a client out of our program since we began in 1998. We don’t impose time limits on our work, and we don’t stop working with someone if they transition off of the streets. By offering consistent, long term support, we cultivate trusting and in-depth counseling relationships with our clients.
Our Core Values
Prioritizing the needs of our clients first.
Supporting Empowerment
Making services as accessible as possible
Respecting Individuality