University of Southern California

St. Vincent de Paul Village, San Diego

Successful homeless services and rehabilitation through the Continuum of Care model, community collaboration, and capacity building

Organization: St. Vincent de Paul Village, a member of Father Joe's Villages San Diego, CA

Why St. Vincent de Paul Village was selected as a Promising Practice: St. Vincent de Paul Village represents an effective and innovative provider of homeless services. First, it has been a ground-breaker in programming, pioneering what is now widely referred to as the Continuum of Care model. Next, it has successfully widened its scope through meaningful collaboration with other community organizations in both the public and private spheres. And recently, it has been a leader in leveraging the capacity of other faith-based organizations through the Village Training Institute, a Compassion Capital Fund based initiative. Thus, St. Vincent de Paul Village offers many features that have proven to be effective, can be replicated by other similar organizations, and hold promise of attracting stable public and private financial support.

Overview
St. Vincent de Paul Village (known as "the Village") began as a soup kitchen in the early 1950s and has since grown to become one of the largest and most comprehensive homeless rehabilitation centers on the West coast. Utilizing a "one-stop shopping" approach in its provision of services for homeless individuals and families, the Village is now comprised of a variety of facilities on a one and a half block campus. These facilities include: The Joan Kroc Center, an 110,000 square-foot residential building that is home to 300 homeless family members and the site of children's services; the Bishop Maher Center, a 24,000 square-foot transitional housing facility for 150 single men; and the Paul Mirabile Center which provides short-term housing to 270 men and 80 women nightly, medical clinics, adult education classes, and a kitchen that serves 2000 daily meals.

The Continuum of Care
The Village is lauded for being the first to develop the model that has become known among homeless service providers as the "Continuum of Care." The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) adopted the Continuum of Care approach in 1994, considering it a blueprint by which communities can effectively collaborate to create long-term solutions to homelessness. The Continuum model is based on the idea that to adequately address homelessness, efforts must go beyond simple management of the problem. Instead, a comprehensive solution requires that all points along the journey into and out of the homeless condition must be addressed. As such, the Continuum of Care includes such elements as outreach, intake and assessment, emergency shelter, transitional housing, counseling and addiction services, non-formal education, and permanent housing with supportive services.

The model is illustrated in the Village's personalized approach to its clients, each of whom is regarded by the Village as a "guest." The goal is to customize care for each client based on his or her needs. Thus, upon intake, clients receive counseling from a case manager who then refers them to a number of different services including vocational training, long-term case management, life skills training, counseling, parenting classes, addiction treatment, and so on. In addition, the Village has established an elaborate Children's Services Program including childcare, after school programs, tutoring, and leadership training for teens and pre-teens.

The ultimate goal of the Continuum of Care approach, of course, is to ultimately end the complex cycle that leads to homelessness. Notably, the approach has proven effective even among the Village's clients, many of whom may be termed "chronically homeless." Often reflecting acute mental health disorders, the chronically homeless are an especially needy and growing population toward which national homeless policy attention is increasingly being focused. Matthew Packard, Vice President of Father Joe's Villages, notes the Continuum's effectiveness by citing that of the Village's clients currently residing in its permanent housing facilities, 85% are graduates of its transitional housing program. Further, 75% of these clients have remained in permanent housing units for at least one year and 50 % for at least three years.

The Solutions Consortium
A by-product of The Village's efforts and unique approach is an innovative community collaboration known as the Solutions Consortium, a coalition of 15 agencies that have mobilized together to more effectively offer services to San Diego's needy. The consortium was formed in 1995 in a natural response by the Village to HUD's call for collaborative solutions to community problems. According to the Village's Anthony Griffin, "HUD has recognized our consortium as an exemplary collaborative organization Communities nationwide look to us a model for developing their own inter-agency efforts." Griffin continues: "By working together, Consortium members have saved taxpayers thousands of dollars, significantly reduced the duplication of services in San Diego, and organized a centralized service network. The various agencies have expertise that complements what other member organizations do." Today, the Village oversees $2.6 million annually in three separate HUD funded Solutions projects (in addition to managing $1.5 million in HUD funds supporting three separate residential programs within the Village).

Members of the Solutions Consortium include:

  • Catholic Charities
  • San Diego Youth and Community Services
  • County of San Diego
  • The Salvation Army
  • Jewish Family Services
  • Travelers Aid
  • Lutheran Social Services
  • UCSD Residency Program and Psychiatric Department
  • Pathfinders of San Diego
  • Volunteers of America
  • San Diego Rescue Mission
  • YMCA
  • San Diego Urban League

In addition to the Consortium, The Village maintains extensive links with other public city and county agencies, such as the Department of Social Services, mental health crisis centers, city and community colleges, Social Security Administration, and drug and alcohol treatment centers.

The Village Training Institute
Due to its innovation and success, the Village has been the regular subject of interest by others wishing to replicate its approach; as a result, it has frequently offered tours and overnight stays. Consequently, the Village was considering starting a training institute at about the time that the U.S. Office for Faith Based Initiatives announced its Compassion Capital Fund grants grants designed to build capacity by enabling selected intermediary organizations to train and award sub-grants to smaller organizations. The Village was one of only 21 recipients nationwide, and as result established the Village Training Institute (VTI) in 2002. VTI provides free workshops and mentoring in addition to offering sub-grants that average $30,000 to help build and expand the capacity of smaller recipient organizations. Over 50% of the $660,000 received annually through the Compassion Capital Fund grant (now in its second year) goes to providing such sub-awards. Roughly 15 organizations have benefited from the Village's VTI grants, including Point Loma Nazarene University, All Congregations Together (ACT), and the LA Free Clinic.

Father Joe's Villages
The Village is a member of Father Joe's Villages, a San Diego based multi-campus outreach providing a range of services to needy populations locally and beyond. Some of the other members of Father Joe's Villages include the National AIDS Foundation, Toussaint Youth Villages, PromiseLand Ranch, Padre Luis Jayme International Outreach, and Martha's Village and Kitchen.

Contact Information:

Matthew Packard, Vice President
Father Joe's Villages
3350 E Street
San Diego, CA 92102-3332
Phone: 619-446-2126
Email: mpackard@neighbor.org

St. Vincent de Paul Village
1501 Imperial Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-233-8500
www.svdpv.org

Village Training Institute
Phone: 619-687-1078
www.villagetraininginstitute.org

By Robert A. Filback, Research Assistant, and Peter Spoto, Research Associate
Center for Religion and Civic Culture