Innovative service helps people to rebuild lives - services for battered women and others at San Diego, CA St. Vincent de Paul Village

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 12, 1997 by Joyce Carr

SAN DIEGO -- Genevieve Cervantes used to cringe as her abusive husband hurled beer cans and plates of food at her. Today, free from his control, she looks relaxed and confident as she works to become a medical assistant.

Her chance for a new start is made possible by the 10-year-old St. Vincent de Paul Village in San Diego, which offers long-term shelter and an array of social services and training for the homeless. The Village opened in 1987 as an operation of the San Diego diocese under the late Bishop Leo T. Maher. It has since become nationally recognized as a stellar example of a transitional service that helps hundreds of people move from destitution on the streets to productive lives.

At the center of the operation is Fr. Joe Carroll -- called Father Joe -- the hustler who has begged hundreds of thousands to care about the homeless and whose resume now is accompanied by four pages listing local, state and national awards and acknowledgments.

Cervantes, 34, is one of the beneficiaries of Carroll's hustling. She is one of five women at the village who began classes in May at the local Kelsey-Jenney College. They each received a $10,000 scholarship from the college, which is celebrating its 110th anniversary of providing business, medical and legal instruction.

During 11 years of marriage, Cervantes tried in vain to please her spouse, who slapped and criticized her. "I didn't consider myself a battered wife," she says. "There were no scars." But when her husband gashed their 9-year-old daughter's head, Cervantes left with the children for the third and last time.

After her husband was jailed, Child Protective Services took her five children -- the youngest only three months old -- and she felt victimized again. She moved into the St. Vincent de Paul Village, and the children were placed in her mother's home nearby, where she visits them almost every day.

Cervantes, now divorced, calls the other scholarship winners her Kelsey-Jenney sisters. Lois Gordon, a 45-year-old Navy veteran with an associate degree in electronics, hopes to earn a diploma as a computer technician, which she is confident will lead to a promising career.

The Village opened its doors to Gordon after she suffered a series of setbacks, including a divorce and losing her job after receiving a work-related electrical shock in 1993.

Just as ambitious is Jami van Amerongen, 34, who received a GED, the equivalent of a high school diploma, in March. She hopes her 9-month scholarship will lead to a job that will enable her to pay for a second year at the college so she can earn an associate degree and support her 3-year-old son, who lives with her at the Village.

As in so many cases here, poor decisions and bad relationships led her to the St. Vincent de Paul village last October.

These women, along with Monica Carranza and Sandie Shinkle, were chosen for the scholarships because of the motivation and potential they demonstrated in rehabilitation programs.

They live at the Village's Joan Kroc Center, the first of six complexes completed in 1987. It was named after a major donor and provides care to 310 guests, primarily families and single women. The two-story Spanish-style structure includes an interfaith chapel, community room, dining room, and areas for day care and preschool programs. The center partially encloses a courtyard, complete with a decorative fountain and donated state-of-the-art playground equipment.

This building and the other five complexes, built at a cost of $27 million, house 855 guests. During a stay of two or more years, residents can receive case management, counseling, job and life skills training, and medical and dental services -- delivered by 250 staff and some 1,000 volunteers and designed to prepare residents for self-sufficiency. "We wanted a village that stresses the dignity of the person," Carroll said.

Haunted eyes

Cervantes and Van Amerongen credit the rehabilitation programs for their promising future. "I've dug myself out of a hole," Cervantes says, referring to counseling in self-esteem and anger management, support groups for battered women and computer training. "I had learned helplessness. Now I can succeed at anything," she says.

Gordon recalls "looking in a mirror at haunted eyes. I felt worthless and embarrassed to be homeless. I can't believe the good fortune that's happened to me since coming to St. Vincent de Paul."

Van Amerongen too has emerged from "low self-esteem and fear of failure." She participated in the Village's chemical dependency programs and says counseling helped her make decisions on a rational instead of an emotional level. "I'm stronger, independent and have better parenting skills. I have nothing to fear. I can achieve whatever I want to do."

The Village also operates the Paul Mirabile Center,completed in 1994, which provides overnight lodging on weekdays and 24-hour shelter on weekends. It has separate dormitories for 270 men and 80 women who sleep on bunks in carpeted cubicles. Guests can receive meals, counseling and education during a maximum stay of six months. Its dining a maximum serves about 1,200 daily lunches to non-residents.