St. Joseph Center

St. Joseph Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation working with working-poor families and people experiencing homelessness. Founded in 1976 by two Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sister Louise Bernstein and Sister Marilyn Therese Rudy, it began as a small grassroots effort to serve the poor and has operated for more than 50 years. Its headquarters are in Venice, California, and its work spans Los Angeles.

The organisation delivers services through four core pillars: Outreach & Engagement, which connects individuals, youth and families experiencing homelessness or poverty with support; Housing, which places people into safe, permanent accommodation; Mental Health, which provides healing-centred care addressing immediate needs while building pathways to long-term stability; and Education. It also runs Bread & Roses Cafe, a programme providing hot meals to those in need. Nearly 2,500 individuals and families are placed into safe, permanent housing each year, and more than 29,000 mental health services are delivered annually.

St. Joseph Center's stated mission is rooted in community care as a foundation for social justice, serving all people without regard to religious affiliation. The organisation describes its approach as healing-centred, combining direct services with partnerships and advocacy to advance human dignity. Its fields of work cover homelessness services, housing and homelessness prevention, mental and behavioural health, poverty alleviation, education and self-sufficiency services, and food and nutrition provision.