USD President's Report 2003

FATHER JOE CARROLL c lass o f 1970, co lle ge of arts and sc ie n ces

The letter was to Father J oe Carro ll ·70 (M.A.) . fo und er of the Sa n Diego charity Father J oL·'s Vi llages . Anto ni o's yo un ger brother, J ose. \-\·as stri cken "·ith ca ncer last yea r, and Ca rroll se nt money for treat111L·nt. When J ose died. a few weeks bcforL' C hri stmas, Carroll aga in se nt funds , this time to help w ith fun eral costs. Moreno 's wo rds of appreciatio n arc ec hoed dai ly by thousands of ot hers helped by Carro ll , w ho created w hat has become a model progra111 for helpi ng the hom eless. Carro ll recen tl y was visited by someo ne to w hom he had, yea rs ago, give n ;1 lawn111ower from th e orga ni zation's thrift shop. Th e boy rl'turn cd as a man in a tru ck beari ng the logo of th e landscaping busin ess he created. Another visit ca111c from th e owner of a hi gh-ri se vv indow was hin g co111pa11 y, w ho as a boy was hL·d Carro ll 's thrift shop w indows fo r pocket change . " No 111atter w here yo u go with him , it'll happen ," says Keith McKay, vice president of the rl'tai l division of Father J oe's Villages. ''You don't wa nt to go w ith hi111 if yo u're in a hurry, beca use he' ll always get tied up talking to someone." The story began in I982 . ThL· Sa n Diego Diocese's bishop . Leo Maher, ass igned C 1rroll to a j ob Ca rroll didn 't want - runnin g the St. Vin ce nt ck Paul Center. Ca rroll , w ho had been co ntent as a parish priest, began by handi ng ou t peanut butter sa ndw iches to th e ho meless at 8 a.m .. ope nin g the mail and cl osin g up by mid-morn in g. Ca rroll con1plain ed to Maher the effo rts were 11 't eno ugh. Ca rroll in sisted he wa nted to create a co111prehensivL' "one- stop shop ping" progra111 to offer ho usi11 g, basi c m ed ica l ca re, j ob training and other services. His co ncept was ce ntered arou11d w hat he learned while earnin g a master's degree in secondary education. At USI) , Ca rro ll says he leJ rn ed about the stages of growth in which people need basic necessities, like food, before all else. " Thar's w hy here, it all begim w ith a m eal,'' Ca rroll says. "Unless yo u' re fed, yo u ca n't think about ;1 bed o r abou t ed ucatio n. Then. as you so lve the food and ho usin g problem ,

you ca n move toward self-a ctuali zati o n, o r w hat we ca ll dignity. w hi ch mea ns knowing yo u ca n go o ut i11 the world and succeed. It all ca me from my experien ce at USD. I rook that co ncept to soc ial work and it's w hat mad e us different .., Carroll th o ught the idea wo uld be so a111bitio us that Maher would refuse to go alo ng and get someo ne else fo r the job. H e guessed wrong. In fac t, Maher encouraged Carro ll to take o n the perso na of w hat the bisho p ca ll ed the " hu stler priest." Ca rroll obli ged, findin g in himse lf a well of tale nt fo r persuasion that al lowed him to culti vate donors and voluntee rs. In time , St. Vincent de P aul Vi ll age became the flagship of Father J oe's Villages, a network of seve n assistance ce nters througho ut Southern Ca li fo rnia w here those in nCL'd ca n recc i\'L' three meals a da y. every day of the year. Th ey ca n m eet with case manage rs, ea rn GEDs, train 0 11 computers. find jobs at employment fairs and receive m edi ca l and dental care . C hildren arc served by 011-site county-run elem entary and hi gh schools. Numbers tell th e rest of th e sto ry: 1.5 mill io n mea ls served annuall y; residential fac ilities fo r mo re than