• Name: St. Francis Center
• Address: 1835 S. Hope St.
• City: Los Angeles, CA 90015
• Phone: 213.747.5347
• Website: http://sfcla.org/
• Contact Email: jill@sfcla.org, executivedirector@sfcla.org
• Counties Served:
• Basic Programs: Family Well-Being (Pantry Services, Senior Services, Resource Services); Homeless Well-Being (Served Meals, Health and Hygiene Services, Mail, Phone & Computer Access, Resource Services); Youth Empowered For Success (Sports Program, Enrichment Activities, Youth Summer Camp Program);
• Description: The mission of St. Francis Center is to feed, serve, and walk with the poor as a community of hope in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi. Family Well-Being - Pantry Services: To address the causes of food insecurity and poor nutrition for impoverished residents living within our service area, St. Francis Center has enacted a free “clients’ choice” program in which guests get the opportunity to “shop” weekly for an average of 45 pounds of nutritious groceries based on food preferences and dietary restrictions. Guests can visit the Pantry Service once a week on Thursday or Saturday between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. A similar program is open for referrals on Tuesdays. These guests must be active in case management with our local agency partners, including schools, hospitals, government service agencies, and other nonprofits. Upon their initial visit, referrals receive an emergency food basket excluding fresh produce. All registered program recipients must live in the neighborhoods surrounding the Center, provide proof of address, fill out an application with information used for our internal census, including household size, monthly income, age, education, rent, and if they are enrolled in CalFresh (formerly food stamps program) and health insurance, and re-register annually. Each registered guest receives a card with a bar code that is scanned upon each visit. Registered guests get to choose from a variety of items, including fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, rice, beans, and canned food. All items are presorted and organized by volunteers on shelves to replicate the grocery store shopping experience. The majority of the food and goods utilized in the program is donated by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Heart of Compassion Food Bank, Food Finders, Aramark, and Lucky Supermarkets. The Center also provides cooking workshops through two partners, “Network for a Healthy California” and “Cooking Matters.” Cooking class subject matter includes education on how to shop for healthy food at affordable prices, how to read nutrition labels, classes for Spanish speakers, diverse recipes that introduce participants to a variety of healthy foods outside of their cultural norms, and how to cook using ingredients distributed through the program. Senior Services: Through our Senior Services, we provide our guests age 60 and over a warm meal once a week on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and socially enriching activities such as Bingo and movie days. Our seniors come to St. Francis Center for much more than food; they also come to socialize with their peers. For many of our older guests, this program is the only social activity they will enjoy all week long. Homeless Well-Being - Served Meals: St. Francis Center provides the homeless with warm meals and sack lunches six days a week through our served meal service and traditional holiday meals. Unique to the Center, however, is our commitment to treating our homeless guests with dignity, first by greeting them by name and then serving meals “restaurant style” at round tables in our dining room.

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