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In 1983, Mary Ann Finch established the non-profit Center for Growth in Wholeness in Berkeley, CA. Over the next few years, the center evolved into a professional school of massage with an emphasis on pastoral care for people suffering from HIV/AIDS. In 1990, Mary Ann took a sabbatical to Calcutta, India where she practiced hospice care alongside Mother Teresa at the Kalighat Home for the Dying Destitutes. At the end of her stay, she committed herself to the challenge Mother Teresa gave her, “go home and do there what you’ve done here: touch the poorest of the poor with your care.”

In 1993, Mary Ann renamed the non-profit to Care Through Touch Institute and in 1997 moved its headquarters to San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, known for drug abuse, crime, poverty, and homelessness. Women, the aged and dying, and those suffering from HIV/AIDS continue to be a special focus of CTI’s work, and we have expanded services to reach many who are low income, elderly, or ill.

Áreas de especialización

Massage, Homelessness, Poverty, Mental Illness, Elderly, Pastoral Care, Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, Healing Touch, Social Justice, Advocacy