Glide Memorial Church was established by Methodist philanthropist Elizabeth “Lizzie” Helen Glide (1852-1938) in honor of her husband, Joseph Henry Glide (1835-1906).

Beginning in the 1930s, Glide provided safe and affordable housing for women working in the city, and starting in the 1960s, the Glide Urban Center developed pioneering programs that supported, stabilized, and sustained underrepresented minority communities in San Francisco, including people of color, LGBTQ people, the homeless, low-income seniors, and people suffering from addiction.