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Father Joe’s Villages responds to the extensive and expanding homelessness problem in California by building affordable housing units for vulnerable residents. This creative model is being met with significant charitable support.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic wanes, many Americans remain in a constant state of emergency and basic need—particularly in California, where a new federal report has indicated that California’s homeless population, already hovering around 150,000 individuals, increased by another 7% at the start of 2020.

This pressing problem has been a long-time inspiration for the efforts of Father Joe’s Villages, a San Diego nonprofit working to end homelessness in their city. With the average apartment in San Diego renting for $2,600 per month, limited housing supply, and high housing demand, San Diego’s homeless population has little chance at present of ever securing a safe, stable, and affordable place to live.

Enter Father Joe’s Villages affordable housing communities, the latest of which is the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, a 407-unit community that will provide over 500 of San Diego’s most vulnerable residents with homes of their own. Created through an innovative funding model combining state, county, and city sources, as well as commercial lending and private philanthropy, the Villa will be self-sustaining once opened, generating enough rental revenue to cover the cost of all building operations and residential supportive services. Of special importance to the community is its proximity to Father Joe’s East Village campus, where Villa residents will have access to life-changing services including employment assistance, behavioral and physical health care, benefits assistance, life-skills training, and more.

Father Joe’s Villages announced its Hope Lives Here campaign on April 12th during a milestone in the construction of the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa. This campaign will celebrate the generosity of major donors, whose names will be recognized on the Villa premises, while also bolstering and improving the services, infrastructure, and legacy endowment of the organization—funding that will benefit every San Diegan impacted by the work of Father Joe’s Villages. The goal of the campaign is to raise $15 million, of which nearly $11 million has already been raised.

We’d like to congratulate Father Joe’s Villages on the construction of the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, which will bring their total affordable housing in San Diego to 1,169 units, and wish them luck with their latest campaign. Their success is evidence that, step by step, America’s nonprofits are providing sustainable solutions that are helping to solve our country’s biggest structural problems.


Has your nonprofit had recent success experimenting with new funding models, created a new social enterprise, or reached another organizational milestone? At Philanthropy Daily, we love highlighting the innovation and resilience of our readers and their nonprofits. Send me a note at esammon@americanphilanthropic.com so that we can feature your success story.


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