County’s largest homeless services provider lauded for leadership, service and commitment to health of county residents.
In a ceremony this morning, County Supervisor Greg Cox declared today Father Joe’s Villages-Live Well San Diego Day, while commending the organization for its leadership, service and commitment to the health of San Diego County residents.
“Father Joe’s Villages has been serving this community for 65 years,” said Supervisor Greg Cox, County Board of Supervisors. “Their programs are consistently designed and delivered with the health, safety and wellbeing of their clients and the community in mind, which is what we are trying to achieve through our Live Well San Diego initiative.”
Father Joe’s Villages is San Diego’s largest homelessness services organization, supplying 40 percent of the county’s total beds. Their wide array of services include interim, transitional and rapid re-housing programs, medical and dental care, case management, meals, job skills training, addiction treatment, mental health services and therapeutic childcare.
“At Father Joe’s Villages we believe that every San Diegan deserves access to the tools for a healthy and happy life,” said Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages. “Ending homelessness is a sacred obligation and one of the keys to achieving that goal is assuring each and every San Diegan has the tools they need to not just survive, but to open a new chapter in life and thrive.”
San Diego is home to more than 8,500 homeless men, women and families, making it the fifth largest homeless population in the U.S. and the third largest population of homeless veterans. In 2014, Father Joe’s Villages provided services to nearly 15,000 people, served up to 3,000 meals daily to the homeless and working poor and helped seven out of 10 people served by Village programs to exit to permanent housing.
In 2010, the County of San Diego launched Live Well San Diego to improve the health, safety and well-being of residents. An important goal of the initiative is working with schools and businesses.
In addition to the work Father Joe’s Villages does to enhance and ensure the health of its clients, the organization also promotes active fundraising events, including the TOWERthon, San Diego International Triathlon and the Thanksgiving 5K. Both the TOWERthon and triathlon take place in June and there is still time to register.
For more information on these athletic events and Father Joe’s services and locations, visit neighbor.org.
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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: http://www.neighbor.org.
ABOUT LIVE WELL SAN DIEGO
Live Well San Diego is a comprehensive initiative adopted by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2010. This long-term plan combines the efforts of County government, community partners and individuals to help all San Diego County residents be healthy, safe, and thriving. The initiative includes three components. Building Better Health, adopted on July 13, 2010, focuses on improving the health of residents and supporting healthy choices; Living Safely, adopted on October 9, 2012, focuses on protecting residents from crime and abuse, making neighborhoods safe, and supporting resilient communities; and, Thriving, adopted on October 21, 2014, focuses on cultivating opportunities for all people to grow, connect and enjoy the highest quality of life.
