Delancey Street

What Delancey Street does

Delancey Street Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit residential self-help organization founded in 1971 in San Francisco by Dr. Mimi Halper Silbert and John Maher with four residents and a $1,000 loan. It serves substance abusers, ex-convicts, the homeless, and others who have 'hit bottom' — typically individuals who have been hard-core drug addicts for an average of 16 years, dropped out of school at the seventh grade, and been institutionalized multiple times. The core methodology is an extended-family model in which residents govern themselves with no paid staff, no government funding, and no professional clinicians; residents teach each other through the 'each-one-teach-one' peer education model, progress through vocational training in revenue-generating social enterprises, and commit to a minimum two-year (average four-year) residency during which they must remain drug-free, alcohol-free, and crime-free.

The foundation operates 12+ vocational training enterprises that double as revenue sources: a highly acclaimed waterfront restaurant and Crossroads Cafe by the Bay, the largest independent moving company in the Bay Area (5,100+ jobs annually), full-service catering and venue rental in SF, LA, and New Mexico, a THX-certified screening room, landscaping, handcrafts (bark planters, ceramics, custom furniture), a digital print shop, an advertising specialty sales division, a corporate coach service, paratransit (25-year City of San Francisco contract), and seasonal Christmas tree lots. Its proprietary platforms include the Life Learning Academy charter high school for juvenile-justice youth (90%+ graduation rate) and the Institute for Social Renewal, which licenses the model externally at $150/day per trainee.

The business model rests on four revenue streams: (1) social enterprise operations across B2C and B2B channels, (2) training institute fees from organizations seeking to replicate the model (e.g., Singapore SCORE, UK Tomorrow's People, South Africa, Italy's San Patrignano, Alaska Chanlyut, Hawaii MEO/BEST, Virginia Gemeinschaft Home, Texas 2000 Roses), (3) private donations of money, products, and services, and (4) explicitly no government funding. The foundation has seven domestic facilities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Massachusetts) plus international influence through replication, and has built a 400,000-square-foot waterfront complex on the San Francisco Embarcadero entirely with resident labor.

Name

Delancey Street

Legal name

Delancey Street Foundation

Website

https://delanceystreetfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Delancey Street Foundation is a 501(c)(3) residential self-help nonprofit, founded 1971 in San Francisco, that rehabilitates substance abusers, ex-convicts, and the homeless through a no-staff, peer-governed extended-family model funded by resident-run social enterprises (restaurant, moving, catering, paratransit) and private donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Residential Social Services / Nonprofit Rehabilitation

NAICS

Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities (62322), Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Services (611), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (624310)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Peer Support, Recovery Coaching & Sober Living Services (HLAFACAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Charter Alternative & At-Risk Schools (Continuation, Credit Recovery, Juvenile) (EDAJACAE), Court/Community School Programs (Diversion, Probation-Linked, Community Day Schools) (EDAJAEAI), Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

Keywords

• Residential rehabilitation services
• Vocational training enterprises
• Substance abuse recovery
• Social entrepreneurship programs
• Community reintegration services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Social Enterprise Operations: Revenue-generating businesses including restaurant, café, moving & trucking company, catering services, Christmas tree lots, handcrafts, printing, landscaping, paratransit, and advertising specialty sales. All proceeds support resident housing, food, clothing, education, and training.
2. Training Institute Fees: The Institute for Social Renewal charges $150/day per person for training; $300 per person for two-day sessions; $125/day for groups of 5+ from one location to train organizations on replicating the Delancey model.
3. Private Donations: Community donations of money, products, and services from doctors, dentists, businesses, and individuals who support the mission.
4. No Government Funding: Delancey Street explicitly operates with no government funding, charging no fees to clients, and no professional staff - funded entirely through social enterprises and private donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Delancey Street Foundation provides no-cost residential rehabilitation to substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless individuals, and others who have "hit bottom," using a peer-driven "each-one-teach-one" educational and self-governance model with no paid professional staff. The organization funds its operations through a portfolio of vocational training enterprises (restaurant, café, moving and trucking, catering, handcrafts, printing, paratransit, coach service, Christmas tree lots, and advertising specialties) where residents gain marketable skills. It also offers the Life Learning Academy charter high school for juvenile justice-involved youth and the paid Institute for Social Renewal training program for organizations worldwide seeking to replicate the Delancey model.

Product overview

Delancey Street Foundation is a residential self-help organization operating multiple vocational training enterprises that serve dual purposes: training residents in marketable skills while generating income to support operations. The portfolio includes a highly acclaimed restaurant and café, a large moving and trucking company (largest independent in the Bay Area), landscaping, handcrafts (bark planters, ceramics, furniture, ironworks), digital printing, corporate coach service, paratransit, catering operations with multiple venues, a THX-certified screening room, seasonal Christmas tree lots, and advertising specialty sales. Additionally, the organization operates the Life Learning Academy charter school and the Institute for Social Renewal for training on model replication.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Delancey Street Restaurant: Highly acclaimed public restaurant located at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, serving American bistro cuisine. Training school for residents in culinary arts and hospitality.
• Crossroads Café
• Delancey Moving & Trucking
• Institute for Social Renewal (ISR)
• Life Learning Academy

Products and services

• Delancey Street Restaurant A resident-run training school and acclaimed restaurant located on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, offering American bistro cuisine with ethnic influences to the general public; functions as a vocational training enterprise for residents learning culinary arts and hospitality.
• Crossroads Cafe by the Bay A student-run cafe training school and bookstore located at 699 Delancey Street in San Francisco, serving specialty coffees, teas, juices, smoothies, breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, and wines; serves approximately 120 meals daily.
• Delancey Moving & Trucking A full-service moving and trucking company training enterprise operating across six U.S. states, providing full-service moves including packing, crating, piano/safe moving for residential and enterprise clients; clients include The Gap, San Mateo County, and the San Francisco Giants.
• Delancey Landscaping A commercial and residential landscaping training enterprise in Greensboro, NC providing mow and trim contracts, and clean-up services.
• Delancey Handcrafts Handcraft production and sales enterprise creating bark planters, ceramics, sand paintings, wood products, custom furniture, and ironworks; sold wholesale and retail through facility locations and nurseries.
• Delancey Print & Copy Shop Digital printing and silk-screening training enterprise offering poster, banner, brochure, and business card printing, along with custom framing and matting services.
• Delancey Coach Service A private corporate car service training enterprise with contracts for The Gap, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and law firms; provides limousine driving skills training for residents.
• Delancey Paratransit A paratransit group van service training enterprise under contract with the City of San Francisco, providing transportation for handicapped, elderly, and disabled residents unable to use public transportation.
• Delancey Catering A full-service catering and event training enterprise offered at San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Mexico facilities for wedding receptions, business seminars, and specialty dinners; provides full event planning and decorating services for up to 500 guests.
• Delancey Screening Room A THX-certified multimedia screening room with ergonomic seating for 146 guests, hosting Director's Guild screenings, Academy screenings, and industry events; available for hourly rental.
• Delancey Christmas Tree Lots and Decorating A seasonal Christmas tree lot and commercial holiday decorating training enterprise operating at all locations; offers wreaths, mistletoe, decorations, tree lights, and commercial decorating for banks and corporate headquarters in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• Delancey Advertising Specialty Sales A sales training enterprise selling imprinted items including college bookstore merchandise, corporate recognition gifts, service awards, and sales incentives to businesses, military, and college bookstores.
• Life Learning Academy A San Francisco Unified School District charter high school on Treasure Island for students involved in the juvenile justice system; offers project-based curriculum with vocational majors (Fire, Air, Earth, Water); maintains 90%+ graduation rate and over 40% of graduates continue to higher education.
• Institute for Social Renewal A 'think and action tank' that provides paid training and technical assistance in replication of the Delancey Street model; covers job development, self-governance, drug-free community living, and social entrepreneurship for government agencies, nonprofits, halfway houses, and faith-based organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3x lower recidivism rate for Choices Program graduates
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• South Carolina STRONGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Sustaining, Teaching, Rebuilding Our New Generation - 501(c)(3) replication in North Charleston. Three historic plantation homes leased from Noisette Company. Training schools: catering, furniture restoration, moving, nursery/landscaping, and historic restoration/green construction. Became official Delancey Street Residential Education Community in 2015.
• Time for Change / Various Programs (South Africa)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Multiple programs outside Johannesburg copying Delancey model for trafficked/abused girls, street kids, orphans, and grandmothers. Programs doing 'little miracles' with hydroponics gardens, baking, sewing producing T-shirts and products. Exchange visit by Delancey residents to deepen program implementation.
• Gemeinschaft Home (Virginia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Traditional halfway house being transformed to Delancey model. Founded by Mennonites; transformed under new leadership with technical assistance from Delancey. Added auto detailing business, replaced professional staff with peer residents, instituted 'each one teach one', developed academic/GED programs.
• Maui Economic Opportunity / BEST Program (Hawaii)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Community action agency selected to replicate Delancey model. Building purchased for 25 residents. Training schools planned include culinary arts for Head Start programs, cultural arts/Hula program for resorts, native Hawaiian agricultural program. Received grant for taro farming.
• Tomorrow's People (UK)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002UK charitable trust helps people out of unemployment and homelessness into jobs. Multiple visits to San Francisco for training. Establishing 'The Junction' - 60-person residential program for male ex-offenders based on Delancey model with technical assistance. Met with Parliament members for public launch.
• Cook Inlet Tribal Council / Chanlyut (Alaska)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002Alaskan Native regional nonprofit developing replication under CITC umbrella. Established separate 501(c)(3) called Chanlyut (Athabaskan for 'new beginnings'). Mimi Silbert and residents visited Alaska; trained state stakeholders including police, mayor, probation, corrections, judiciary. Building purchased; program began with 15-20 men.
• 2000 Roses / FILO (Texas)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000Faith-based group dedicated to helping women re-enter society after incarceration. Renovating 14-bed home; running Rose Garden resale shop as business training school. Received technical assistance from Delancey Street to develop comprehensive educational, entrepreneurial, and residential program.
• San Patrignano (Italy)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1999International exchange program with Italian sister community for substance abusers. Residents exchange between programs, sharing techniques and building cross-cultural understanding. Alberto Colla spent a year at Delancey Street, creating antipasti dish still on menu. Delancey residents have visited San Patrignano.
• San Francisco Juvenile Justice Action PlancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997Delancey Street hired to write and implement master plan for SF's juvenile justice system. Developed 'Circle of Care' with six programs including CARC, Safe Corridor, Bayview Safe Haven, Life Learning Academy. Independent evaluations called model 'phenomenally successful' credited for major decline in juvenile arrests.
• Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1996Keynote speakers at National Council Against Drug Abuse conference for 280+ halfway house representatives. Two-week intensive training at Delancey for Singapore delegation. Multiple replications developed in Singapore based on Delancey principles, some faith-based, some government-run.
• Choices Program (San Mateo County Jail)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1993In-custody adaptation of Delancey model in male and female housing units. 190+ inmates participate. Operated by former Delancey graduates. Same rules: no drugs/alcohol, no violence. Community service projects creating cards, t-shirts, dolls, quilts. Evaluated as 3x less likely to recidivate.
• Building Trade UnionscoreOthersBuilding trade unions supported the vocational training program during construction of the 400,000 sq ft waterfront complex, providing skill training in all building trades to residents.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves15 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Homeboy Industries: Los Angeles-based nonprofit providing gang-involved and formerly incarcerated individuals with workforce development through social enterprises (bakery, café, merchandise, tattoo removal); most direct U.S. peer in combining trauma-informed rehabilitation with revenue-generating businesses.
• Gateway Foundation: Large nonprofit operating residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment across multiple states; competes for the same government and donor funding pool and serves overlapping populations, but is professionally staffed rather than resident-run.
• San Patrignano: Italian residential recovery community for substance abusers that operates an almost identical self-help, peer-run, social-enterprise-funded model; Delancey's flagship international exchange partner, sharing techniques and cross-cultural visits since 1999.
• Phoenix House: Large national nonprofit operating residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment programs across the U.S.; comparable in serving the same substance abuse/ex-offender population, though it uses paid clinical staff rather than resident-run self-help.
• Chrysalis: LA-based nonprofit providing workforce development and social enterprises (cleaning, landscaping, thrift stores) for individuals experiencing homelessness, former incarceration, and other barriers; very similar workforce-enterprise model with smaller residential component.
• The Doe Fund: NYC nonprofit operating 'Ready, Willing & Able' - a work-based residential program for homeless and formerly incarcerated men with social enterprises (street cleaning, commercial cleaning); parallels Delancey's combine training with revenue-generating work.

Regional players

• San Francisco Jail (Choices Program site): Direct replication partner: in-custody adaptation of Delancey's model running in male/female housing units at San Mateo County Jail, operated by Delancey graduates and evaluated at 3x lower recidivism.

Broad incumbents

• Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Centers: Operates over 100 residential substance abuse rehabilitation centers across the U.S. funded largely by thrift store social enterprises; broader in scale, geographic reach, and denominational mission, but very similar in marrying residential recovery with enterprise revenue.

Emerging players

• Chanlyut (Cook Inlet Tribal Council): Alaska Native replication of Delancey's model established as a separate 501(c)(3) for at-risk Alaska Natives; early-stage direct licensee demonstrating indigenous-community adoption of the model.
• Life Learning Academy (sister org): Founded by Delancey graduate Teri Lynch Delane, this SF charter high school implements Delancey principles with at-risk youth (90%+ graduation rate); the most direct educational spinoff and demonstration of model portability to K-12.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/152852691472369
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/delancey-street-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Delancey Street