Healing Where It’s Needed Most
a legacy of presence
For over 40 years, Care Through Touch Institute has provided free, trauma-informed massage to unhoused and marginalized communities in San Francisco. Through compassionate touch and consistent presence, we ease suffering, restore dignity, and strengthen human connection.
our mission is to be present with human suffering and
promote healing through human connection.
Meeting People Where They Are
CTI serves individuals in shelters, clinics, drop-in centers, transitional housing, and community spaces across the city. Our focused chair massage sessions relieve physical pain, regulate stress, and create moments of calm in the midst of daily hardship.
By embedding care directly within trusted partner sites, we reduce barriers and ensure consistent, relationship-based support for people often excluded from traditional healthcare systems.
We envision a world shaped by justice, kindness, and compassion—where stigma rooted in poverty, homelessness, racism, age, or gender is dismantled, and healing, dignity, and hope are available to all.
A Trusted Community partner
Through four decades of collaboration, CTI has become a steady presence within San Francisco’s social service and healthcare landscape. Our practitioners are trained in trauma-informed, culturally responsive care—ensuring every session is rooted in consent, safety, and respect.
We believe healing happens through relationship. Our long-term partnerships foster trust, emotional safety, and connection in communities facing chronic stress, isolation, and systemic inequity.
We honor the inherent dignity and sacred worth of every human being and advocate for integrative, compassionate systems of care that uphold justice and equity.
Diversity, equity & inclusion
CTI advances equity through a no-barrier service model. We provide care without requirements for identification, insurance, sobriety, or documentation—ensuring access for individuals often excluded from traditional systems.
We serve people of all genders, backgrounds, and lived experiences. Our commitment to ongoing trauma-informed and culturally responsive training ensures that every session centers consent, autonomy, and respect.
