FATHER JOE’S TOPS OFF NEW BUILDING
Father Joe’s Villages unveiled an inspirational banner and a new fundraising campaign at its East Village campus Monday morning as the homeless service provider celebrated a milestone in the construction of its largest housing project.
“This is a momentous day for us,” Father Joe’s Village President and CEO Deacon Jim Vargas said about the topping-off ceremony for the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, a 14-story building that will provide housing for more than 500 homeless people, doubling the number of units the nonprofit has in five other buildings. It is on schedule to open next February.
Topping-off ceremonies mark when the top floor of a construction project has been reached, with crews next working on the interior. The building has been slowly adding to the East Village skyline since construction began at 14th and Commercial streets in January 2020.
Vargas and other leaders of the nonprofit gathered on the rooftop of the Paul Mirabile Center, one of the buildings at the Father Joe’s Village East Village campus, to watch the unveiling of banner that reads “Hope Lives Here.”
“When people who believe in the power of hope come together, that’s when we truly make a difference,” Vargas said. “Together we can build a place where hope can live.”
The banner covers about four floors and it is on the south side of the building, but in about a month it will be moved to the more visible north side facing Petco Park.
Vargas also announced the new Hope Lives Here fundraising campaign to support repairs and upgrades to aging facilities on the campus, strengthen and expand client programs and services, and expand the legacy endowment that supports many services.
The campaign will include opportunities for naming rights to various elements of the building. On the low end, a $2,000, $3,500 or $7,000 donation will pay for an engraving on pavers of various sizes on the promenade outside the 14th Street entrance. Naming rights to the family courtyard are available for $750,000, a fitness center and urban garden can be named for $250,000 each, a secondstory pavilion can be named for $100,000, and community rooms on each floor can be named for $50,000 each.
Donations of any amount can be made at my.neighbor.org/hopeliveshere. The site also has a virtual tour of what Saint Teresa of Calcutta will look like when complete. .
The name Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa was selected by philanthropist Terrence Caster, founder of the Caster Group, who donated $10 million. He and his late wife, Barbara, founded Serving Hands International to help poor people in 1983, and they supported Mother Teresa’s Mexico ministry, helping to build an orphanage and shelter for homeless people in Tijuana.
The full cost of the project was $145 million.
During Monday’s ceremony, Vargas also noted that the day was Father Joe Carroll’s 80th birthday.
“He gave over 30 years to this building, and it really was a labor of love on his part,” Vargas said of Carroll, who retired 10 years ago after leading what then was called the St. Vincent de Paul Center.
“He built it to what it is, and I’m privileged to carry on his legacy,” Vargas said. “We’re building upon what he established for us many, many years ago.”