St. Francis Center History

Officially, our name is The St. Francis Center of Redwood City, but the people we serve simply call it “La Casita” – The Little House. This nickname reflects spirit of our work. We strive to make the St. Francis Center a place of hospitality: warm, clean, inviting and even pretty. While we provide many services to thousands in our local community, we are not a huge, impersonal institution. Our facilities are a cluster of houses and small buildings located in the heart of the neighborhood where our people live. We hope to be of, for, and with the people…a house, a home, “La Casita.”

From its very inception, the St. Francis Center has been a place where miracles occur regularly but are not taken for granted. In 1987, Sister Monica Asman, PhD, at geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley, was planning her “second” career. She was looking for a way to alleviate the suffering of the poor. A year later, she opened the St. Francis Center with the goal of helping needy families to live in dignity and become self-supportive members of the community.
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In 1996, with the help of Federal Housing Funds, we purchased a 24-unit apartment building adjacent to the Center. Renamed the “St. Clare Apartments”, this building provides affordable housing for very low income families. The Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition managed the St. Clare facility on behalf of the St. Francis Center. It is now managed by Prodesse Property Group.

In 2000, Sr. Christina Heltsley, EdD, joined the Center as our new Executive Director. In 2001, we opened Holy Family School in a remodeled modular unit. Gracious donations of money, furniture and curricular materials, and a grant to help pay for a certified teacher allowed us to begin teaching twelve kindergarten age children, along with their mothers as our first class of students. In 2007, we were proud to graduate this special class of students, all of whom were offered the opportunity to continue their education at nearby private schools. In the Fall of 2007, our second group of students began their kindergarten year.

In 2002, we leased a lot across the street that was being used as the neighborhood dump. With the help of our volunteers and several local organizations, we converted the lot to a community garden with 23 raised planting beds where our families could grow food and flowers. Our efforts on the community garden earned the Mayor's Beautification Award in 2003.
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Two years later, we were honored with another Mayor’s beautification award for remodeling the St. Clare Apartments, located next door to the St. Francis Center. This 24-unit complex received a complete makeover with new windows, paint, fresh landscaping as well as new patio areas, open-air barbeques and a sport-court! For its role in providing low income housing in an atmosphere of safety and dignity, the St. Clare apartments received the 2007 Housing Industry Foundation Public Service Award.

2007 was a busy year, with the addition of new GED and ESL classes for our clients. We were also honored to receive the Catholic Charities Award for our “commitment to making life better for our brothers and sisters in need” as part of the Catholic Charities 100th Anniversary celebration.
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2008 brought big changes to the Center as we opened the doors of our brand new building at 151 Buckingham. Nicknamed “La Casa”, the goal of this beautiful facility was to expand our ability to serve our clients while retaining the intimacy that has been the hallmark of our relationship with our clients. Among the many blessings of our new home are dedicated spaces for food storage, clothing display and holiday gifts, as well as new office and administrative areas. Our classroom space doubled along with a new computer lab and a new area for adult learning programs. We also included three units of low income housing on our top floor – a 12.5% increase in our rental stock. La Casa is beautiful and functional, but it is also environmentally friendly. Designed to merit the LEED Silver rating, our building uses sustainable materials, promotes water and energy efficiency and provides a healthy indoor environment. We are grateful to our architects, Ratcliff Architects and Associates, our builder, W.L. Butler Construction and the many donors who made our dream of a new facility, a reality.
Also in 2008, we started the Folklorico Parents Dance Troup and completed a stunning new mural. The Second Harvest Food Bank recognized us for “treating people with respect and fairness” with their 2008 Agency Award.

The most important part of our history is the opportunity we have had to provide services to the individuals and families in our community. God calls on all of us to serve others, and with His blessing and the generous support of our donors, volunteers and staff, we look forward to continuing our mission for many years to come.