With the commitment to assist Neighbors in Need, Fr. Joe Carroll began outreach to the homeless in San
Diego. This virtual event gathered friends and donors of Fr. Joe’s Villages to celebrate the past 70 years
and to look ahead to the next years. A timeline of events is posted on the Fr. Joe’s Villages website. It
began with St. Mary’s Wayside Chapel and thrift store in 1962 that moved to the Gaslamp Quarter and
then merged and became the St. Vincent de Paul Center at 4 th and Market Streets. The Center moved to
1550 Market Street and was dedicated by Bishop Leo Maher on May 11, 1981. Fr. Joe Carroll took over
as head in 1982 and began the tradition of handing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to those
experiencing homelessness and poverty. They broke ground for a new St. Vincent de Paul Center and
with the help from the Helen Copley Foundation and Joan Kroc, the St. Vincent de Paul Joan Kroc Center
was dedicated in 1987. The decades have passed and buildings have been added. The mission remains
the same: To prevent and end homelessness, one life at a time. The creed is: Compassion; Repect;
Empathy; Empowerment; and Dignity.
