MEDIA ADVISOR

Regional Director of U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services to Visit St. Vincent’s
HHS Will Monitor Village’s Use of $673,000 Faith-based Initiatives Grant

President of St. Vincent de Paul Village, Fr. Joe Carroll, will give a tour of his facility to Josh Valdez, the regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services today at 1:30 p.m. at the organization’s 1501 Imperial Avenue location.

Last month, HHS awarded $30 million in grants from the department’s Compassion Capital Fund to religious organizations as part of the Bush administration’s faith-based initiative. St. Vincent’s was the recipient of $673,000 in funding from the program and the only organization on the west coast to benefit from the allotment.

Valdez, who will monitor St. Vincent’s use of the grant on behalf of HHS, is taking the tour to familiarize himself with the many programs and services the Village offers to assist homeless children, families and single adults regain their self-sufficiency.

Fr. Joe says the grant will be used to train smaller homeless-services organizations on the intricacies of offering outreach to the needy.
"The funding is earmarked to assist those faith-based agencies that may not have the necessary experience and know-how to operate their non-profit efficiently," Fr. Joe says. "We will not only provide training, but the grant also allows us to provide funding of up to $30,000 to agencies that complete the training program at St. Vincent’s."

For more information on today’s tour, call (619) 525-1608.

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