Rancho Santa Fe Inn event takes guests to Havana to raise money for at-risk youth
Father Joe’s Villages takes you on a trip to Cuba for its 2016 Children’s Charity Gala: A Night in Old Havana presented by Witt Lincoln. The island getaway will take place on Saturday, May 21 at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe and raise money for Father Joe’s Villages’ youth support programs, including therapeutic childcare services for children ages zero to 12.
“Children who are homeless are four times as likely to have developmental delays and twice as apt to repeat a grade in school. Over half will not finish high school,” says Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages. “By offering programs like those through our therapeutic childcare and Toussaint Academy, we provide young people the tools they need to help prevent homelessness in their adult lives.”
Proceeds from the gala help these youth obtain the tools they need to break the cycle of homelessness, including safe housing, medical and dental services, mental health support, nutritious meals, solid guidance toward life and scholastic goals and opportunities for their parents to work toward self-sufficiency.
The evening will begin with a VIP reception at 5 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. social hour and silent auction, with hosted bar and cigar lounge. Honorary chairs Kimberly Hunt and Billy Ray Smith will preside over an exquisite dinner and program, including a live auction and dancing to San Diego’s favorite band, Atomic Groove.
At the event, Father Joe’s Villages will also make two special award presentations. Jerome’s Furniture and the Navarra family will be honored with the Pierre Toussaint Award. Danny Martinez, a UFC champion, will be presented with the Father Joe’s Villages Award, which recognizes the honorees’ contributions to Father Joe’s mission to end homelessness, one life at a time.
An estimated 1.6 million kids in America are homeless, and the number is growing. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that there is 550,0000 unaccompanied youth up to age 24 and 380,000 of those are under the age of 18, 2,000 of them in San Diego. Most come from families in poverty where stable housing was already in jeopardy, are fleeing abuse-physical, sexual, emotional, domestic violence, or neglect, are leaving child welfare services or juvenile justice system or are dealing with homophobia within the family of origin.
Tickets and sponsorships are available here or by calling 1-800-HOMELESS.
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ABOUT FATHER JOE’S VILLAGES
As San Diego’s largest homeless services provider, Father Joe’s Villages has been empowering people to achieve self-sufficiency for 65 years. What started as a small chapel serving San Diego’s impoverished has grown into a cutting-edge provider of effective housing programs and services. Father Joe’s prepares up to 3,000 meals and works with more than 1,700 individuals every day—from infants and adolescents to adults and seniors. This includes over 200 children and over 200 military veterans. As an industry thought-leader, Father Joe’s offers solutions to address the complex needs of the homeless, regardless of age, race, culture or beliefs. The organization’s primary goal is to transform lives and end the cycle of homelessness for the more than 8,700 homeless individuals in San Diego County. To this end they provide housing, healthcare, food, clothing, education, job training and child development in an internationally modeled “one-stop-shop” approach. This mission is made possible only through the efforts of compassionate staff, dedicated volunteers, and generous public and private donors. For more information, please visit: https://www.neighbor.org.
