65-year old organization signals new era in its mission to end homelessness.
Today, Father Joe’s Villages, San Diego’s largest homeless services provider, unveiled a new brand identity, including a new logo and website. This move signals a new chapter for the 65-year-old organization in its quest to end homelessness, one life at a time. The new identity formalizes Father Joe’s Villages as the name that represents all of the nonprofit’s services and locations, including those available through its affordable housing developments, St. Vincent de Paul Village, Toussaint Academy and Josue Homes. While the brand is new, the organization remains steadfast in its mission to end homelessness.
“As we turn the page in our organization’s history, we proudly reveal a new symbol reflecting who we are, what we do and what we believe,” said Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages. “As Father Joe’s Villages, this new symbol speaks of our collective effort on behalf of San Diego’s neighbors in need, representing our united commitment to prevent and end homelessness. Our new logo illustrates the very best of what we do and the higher calling to which we aspire.”
The logo, created by long-time Father Joe’s supporter and local marketing leader, Mires Ball, was chosen for its rich symbolism and representation of the organization’s essence. Like the services Father Joe’s Villages provides, the image functions on many levels. As a whole, it can be seen as a star; a beacon of hope; the symbol of a new and brighter future.
According to Deacon Jim, at the center lies the cross, a call to service that continues to inspire and influence all that the organization does. The eight points represent the biblical number for wholeness, the organization’s wish for all those it serves. Each point within the image is shaped like a home. Individually, the homes represent the nonprofit’s goal of safe and stable housing for each of its clients, and collectively, the homes represent a village and a community that responds with compassion to those most in need among them.
To allow the new logo to shine, Father Joe’s Villages also launched today its new website with easier-to-use navigation, simplified language and updated website interactivity. The organization will continue to roll out its brand with a new annual report, new commercials, banners for its campus downtown, expanded website features and in other ways.
“For almost 20 years, Mires Ball has volunteered with and supported Father Joe’s Villages in its mission to end homelessness, so this task was close to our hearts,” said Scott Mires, partner and creative director at Mires Ball. “Ending homelessness is important to our community and our work led us to a brand that we feel perfectly captures the mission and passion of Father Joe’s in a new and forward-focused way.”
Father Joe’s Village’s five buildings dedicated to affordable housing include 16th and Market Apartments, Boulevard Apartments, Village Place, 15th & Commercial and Villa Mandel. At these locations, the organization provides below market rate housing to over 700 individuals a year. Approximately 40 percent of the units are set aside as permanent supportive housing for formerly chronically homeless tenants with special needs. A little more well known, Father Joe’s Villages’ St. Vincent de Paul Village is the organization’s downtown location that provides interim, transitional and rapid re-housing programs and an extensive array of services including medical and dental care, case management, meals, job skills training, addiction treatment, mental health services and therapeutic childcare. A few streets away, Father Joe’s Villages’ Toussaint Academy serves homeless youth ages 14-24. The organization’s Josue Homes provides short and long-term housing for those living with HIV and AIDS.
Videos from the conference can be found on Father Joe’s Villages’ YouTube channel.
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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 1,500 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. 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.
