|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The St. Francis Center announced it hired Kate Young as its new executive director, succeeding Sister Christina Heltsley, who was instrumental in transforming the North Fair Oaks neighborhood.
Young, a Redwood City resident, has helped run a low-income housing project for Alta Housing, a nonprofit organization in Palo Alto, for over a decade, according to a press release.
Heltsley left in May of 2023 to lead the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation in Wisconsin, to which she was elected, according to the Madison Catholic Herald.
“After completing an exhaustive seven-month nationwide search, facilitated by the executive search firm Vanderbloemen and led by a search committee that included St. Francis Center staff, board, and community members, we were fortunate to find Kate in our backyard,” said Michael Pierce, St. Francis Center board of directors president, in a press release.
Young led a team that provided food security and weekly youth empowerment and wellness programs that spanned over 900 low-income families, according to the release.
“Kate’s strong service background and success at Alta Housing are a perfect match for our ongoing work to help families in need become self-supporting members of the community,” Pierce said in the release.
Young is left to fill large shoes as Heltsley raised the funding to build hundreds of affordable homes, transformed a neighborhood trash site into a garden, eradicated gang violence, and provided clothes, food, and showers for those in need in unincorporated areas of San Mateo County, according to St. Francis Center’s website.
In May, after Heltsley’s departure, the St. Francis Center Board of Directors created the Sister Cristina Legacy Fund to honor her efforts and continue to raise funds for a modular apartment building that Heltsley had started working on. The project is estimated to cost around $20 million, according to the St. Francis Center website.
“As a Redwood City resident, I have a vested interest in building a more compassionate and equitable community,” said Kate Young in the release. “Over the next few months, my goal is to listen to and learn from the staff, volunteers, board, and community about unmet needs and gaps in services.”
The St. Francis Center began out of a small home in the Fairoaks neighborhood in 1986. Its goal was to provide food, clothing and essential services to the working low-income families in the community. Since then, it has had a new 10,000-square-foot center, a youth center, a school, and eight apartment buildings for low-income families, according to its website.
Visit the St. Francis Center’s website for more information.
