Survival to success - Father Joe's Villages

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4 By Patricia M. walsh Village News, spring 2008 Father Joe’s Villages FAST He’s No. 1 Father Joe Carroll met his No. 1 man in church. And it’s probably not the guy you’re thinking of. It’s 48-yearold Rolland Vance, the first person Father Joe hired to be part of the St. Vincent de Paul Village team. “I was doing maintenance at St. Rita’s Parish and Father Joe approached me about starting a homeless shelter,” Vance says. “We went into a building by the El Cortez and it was a mess, and he asked me to clean it up.” So Vance put on his gas mask and went to work. “We had it done in less than a month – sterilized, repainted, carpeted, furniture set up and we opened the first shelter on April 1, 1983,” Vance says. “To this day when Father Joe needs a special project done right he comes to me for it.” Father Joe says, “I don’t know why we didn’t hire him sooner.” The six-foot-three Vance is the strong and silent type, who keeps three warehouses and two thrift stores in operating shape. “Rolland is a go-to-guy whose skills keep our facilities in great working shape. He’s definitely a large part of our successful operations,” says Keith MacKay, vice president of Retail Services for Father Joe’s Villages. Twenty-five years of working among the residents at St. Vincent de Paul Village has allowed Rolland valuable perspective. “I used to think all homeless people were winos, and then I learned that everyone is just a few paychecks away from being homeless,” he says. His dedication to Father Joe and residents at St. Vincent’s is evident in the quality of his work and the dignity with which he treats everyone around him. “I like working with my hands and helping people. It’s not a get rich quick job, it’s a job 365 days a year,” Vance says. “It keeps me in fishing money, so I can’t complain.” Shaugh McGinley celebrates in style. VILLAGE NEWS Patricia M. Walsh Rolland Vance was the first employee hired by Father Joe. VILLAGE NEWS Kate Wilson San Diego International Triathlon Bob Babbitt competes for 25th year By Patricia M. walsh Of all the triathlons, in all the cities in all the world, Bob Babbitt has never missed the San Diego International Triathlon. On June 29 Babbitt will do his version of “Play it once, Sam, for old times” when he readies his goggles, bike and running shoes for the 25th consecutive year. “It’s nice to go to a place and look back, and after all these years, the three of us are still standing in the same spot,” says the 56-year-old Babbitt. The other two are Father Joe Carroll and Rick Kozlowski, an athlete and owner of KOZ Enterprises, the race management company that has presented the triathlon since 1984 to benefit children’s programs at Father Joe’s Villages. “The sport has sort of grown around us,” says Babbitt, an Ironman Hall of Famer. “It’s exciting to watch were the sport was and where it is now.” According to Babbitt, the sport started on Fiesta Island in 1974 when the San Diego By Kate wilson FACTS St. Vincent de Paul Village Ladies Guild presented its annual luncheon fundraiser in February at the Mission Valley Hilton. Chaired by Joyce Ellison, the event was attended by more than 200 supporters and raised more than $10,000 to benefit Easter shopping for new clothes for children at the Village. Mistress of Ceremonies Laura Father Joe’s Villages provides support services for all the agency’s Villages. services include but are not limited to food service, security, maintenance, property acquisition and development, human resources, accounting, and general management. Track Club did a short version of the triathlon. For race information and online registration visit: www.kozenterprises.com or call 858.268.1250 From there, Navy Commander John Collins created the Ironman event on the island of Oahu while stationed in Hawaii. Babbitt was among the 106 men and two women who competed in one of the first Ironman Triathlons in 1980, along with Kozlowski. A Superman of endurance sports, Babbitt is a competitor, publisher and philanthropist. Kojima guided guests through the program, which included a blessing from Father Joe and performance by the Q4TAY Quartet. The quartet finished the program with the Benny Van Buren song that was the inspiration for the luncheon’s theme: “You Gotta Have Heart.” As the audience joined in song it was clear that the message struck a chord with all who participated. Bob Babbitt His Competitor Publishing empire publishes 16 regional fitness magazines monthly, he’s authored five books, and he cofounded Challenged Athletes Foundation along with Kozlowski and Jeffery Essakow. Dubbed “Ironman’s Greatest Ambassador” by Ironman.com, Babbitt also hosts a weekly radio show. And he still has time to compete. “He doesn’t separate business from personal,” says Lois Schwartz, Competitor co-publisher, who has been his business partner for more than 20 years. “He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he didn’t have an event to do.” Babbitt, who enjoys the San Diego International Triathlon for the way it showcases San Diego, takes a special appreciation in the triathlon’s bike ride past Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery to Cabrillo Monument. “When I’m riding along the gravestones, I think it epitomizes why those guys died – so we could live our life to the fullest and appreciate every breath we take.” Ladies Guild has heart luncheon raises over $10,000 for easter clothes program Committee members included Betty Andersen, Barbara Bixel, Nancy Brickson, Susan Bua, Marie Bueche, Dottie Cunningham, Rita Driscoll, Virginia LaMendola, Michelle Leon-Scharmach, Elaine Manos, Kathy McKinley, Janet Milliken, Rosalie Muns, Linda Rath, Elizabeth Utschig and Delia Werth. The guild celebrates 25 years of service to Father Joe’s Villages this year. See story, page 10.
Village News, spring 2008 5 25 years in the business of human dignity Mary Case – the silent partner who helped build a village MILESTONES with an internal compass guiding her sense of duty, Mary Case has dedicated 25 years of her life to building the continuum of care one-stop model to assist the homeless and impoverished. “i have loyalty and pride to have a hand in all the things we’ve done,” says the vice president of programs at Father Joe’s Villages. Perhaps her strongest source of pride comes from the agency’s guiding principal, its CReeD. in 1988, Case saw the need to clarify the organization’s philosophy and values, and to provide staff guidelines so they could monitor their own behavior and decision-making when dealing with clients. so 75 staff went on an afternoon retreat, and when discussions were pared down at the end of the day to key words and phrases and reordered, they spelled out CReeD: Compassion: Concern for others and a desire to assist Respect: An act of giving particular attention or special regard Empathy: Understanding, an awareness of and sensitivity to the feelings of others Empowerment: Helping others to help themselves Dignity: Counting all people worthy of our esteem Other milestones Case takes great pride in include: • Moving the organization from counting activities, like the number of people who attend classes, to measuring outcomes. “Now,” Case says, “We ask, ‘what difference did we make?’ “ • Tripling the size of the medical clinic. • Expanding the Career & Education Center on one floor. • Offering VCARE … wrap around services for mentally ill adults and those with substance abuse. • Creating Bridges to Independence, the Village’s unique rehabilitation program, which incorporates the credithour system used by institutions of higher learning. WhenresidentscometotheVillage,alsoknownas“The University of the Human Spirit,” they receive a Bridges to Independence catalog that explains the courses they will take and requirements for graduation. • Creating a Culinary Arts Program (CAP) – Wanting to provide residents with skills that would translate into available jobs and above minimum wage pay, Case created the Culinary Arts Program patterned after the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University. “The program’s benefits proved two-fold – clients received training to earn a good wage and we got the manpower we needed to run the kitchen,” Case says. • Offering certified Recovery Services on site at the Village. • Building permanent affordable housing at Villa Harvey Mandel and Village Place, and the new housing currently under construction in North Park and downtown San Diego. • Implementing Assertive Community Treatment, through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. See story, page 6. WORKING WITH FATHER JOE Mary Case’s corner office is professionally furnished and devoid of frills. There are a few personal effects: photos of her nowgrown sons when they were younger – Matthew, Christopher, and Kevin, who works at the Village – and an aerial photo of her fourth “child” – the group of buildings that make up st. Vincent de Paul Village at 16th and imperial in downtown san Diego. Contemplating the years, she chuckles a little when she talks about Father Joe, who baptized her kids and performed her father’s funeral. “wOw… he’s a kick … he’s a character … He can be pretty unpredictable,” Case says, adding that he “usually lets me do what i need to do. we have a deal - i implement the programs and he raises the money. it’s a rare thing. i try to be prudent and cheap. But if we need to add a service, i have his support. “we’re on the same page – we’re here to serve the clients. we walk the talk. He’s proud of that. He’s a challenge. He has bright ideas … and he gives me the freedom to make them happen.” VIllAgE NEWS Patricia M. Walsh Mary Case proudly displays in her office a photograph of the group of buildings in downtown San Diego that make up St. Vincent de Paul Village. By Patricia M. walsh As a little girl growing up an Irish Catholic in Minneapolis, Mary Case lived right next door to the church and rectory in a house with her parents, brother and two sisters. Dinnertime usually included the company of priests. “They were always jumping the fence and coming over for dinner. It was no big deal,” Case says. Call it serendipity or divine intervention, but that familiar, not-just-on-Sunday interaction with the clergy was just as much an education for Case’s future as was her degree in social welfare from the College of Saint Benedict and her master’s degree in social work from San Jose State University. This October she marks 25 years at Father Joe’s Villages where she has quietly done her life’s work alongside perhaps one of the most accomplished and recognized priests in contemporary times, both pioneers and captains of industry whose business is not-for-profit, but for the most fundamental of all principals – human dignity. As much as Father Joe Carroll is the charismatic fast-talking front man, Case, who at just 4 foot 11½ inches disappears in a crowd, is the silent partner; a consummate professional who's short on words and long on deeds. In 1983 Case was in her late 20s running a Salvation Army shelter that was getting ready to close in downtown San Diego. She knew Father Joe had leased the El Cortez Travolator Motel to pilot the program plans for the Joan Kroc Center, so she made an appointment to see him. Their meeting went well, Father Joe,s Villages Case says, but Father Joe never followed up. So she continued to leave messages until he met her again. “I could see what he was doing, and I wanted to do more,” Case says. This time, after a power breakfast at Hob Nob Hill, where San Diego’s deals got done back in the day, he offered her a job and a raise. Father Joe’s version of the story is a little different. “She took me to lunch and said, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing,’ ” Father Joe says. “She was right. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I hired her. At the time I was asking other agencies what to do. Their attitude was I was stealing their ideas. So I stole Mary.” While the details of that fateful meeting are open to debate, there’s no arguing about what happened next – a soup kitchen serving peanut butter sandwiches grew into a village, and then “ Looking back it’s amazing … what we’ve done and how many people we’ve housed and helped … I just rolled with Father Joe’s ideas. Vice President of Programs Mary Case a village of villages and nationally acclaimed continuum of care that gives neighbors in need the chance for a new lease on life. Father Joe raised the money and Case implemented the vision and expanded the programs. “In 1983 we were seeing a surge of homeless families on the street. Faith-based agencies were providing emergency assistance and case management, but there were few shelter beds. So we provided meals and a bed for up to 28 days Continued on page 16
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