How a Santa Barbara volunteer stylist and the Ladies of Charity bring free haircuts to guests of the Fr. Virgil Cordano Center.
How Daughter of Charity Sr. Oanh Tran turned a cosmetology license into a ministry of dignity at the Fr. Virgil Cordano Center — as told by Global Sisters Report
The beloved Franciscan priest whose spirit of welcome lives on at the center that bears his name.
What Case Management Means Here At the Father Virgil Cordano Center, case management begins before any form is filled out. It begins the moment someone walks through our door, with a conversation: listening to someone’s story, understanding the weight they’re carrying, and building enough trust…
Weekends Used to Be a Gap. Now They’re Covered. At the Fr. Virgil Cordano Center, our members can drop in Monday through Friday for a meal, a shower, a haircut, a moment of rest. But when the doors closed on Friday afternoon, many of…
For a few hours, they can safely relax, get a hot meal, and be welcomed exactly as they are.
This year, our Early Childhood Education Center passed re-accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) — a rigorous, five-year renewal process that fewer than 10 percent of child care centers, preschools, and kindergartens in the United States ever achieve. For…
For more than fifteen years, Claudia Lash and Pat Lupo — known affectionately as “the basket ladies” — have created the legendary silent auction baskets at the heart of St. Vincent’s Santa Barbara Fashion Show & Luncheon. What began in 2009 as a small gathering…
Every weekday morning, Irma and her ten-year-old granddaughter Erma walk out the door together. Erma is headed to Hope School, just down the road. Irma is headed to the YMCA for strength training three mornings a week, restorative yoga on the other two. It is…
The kitchen filled with the scent of sautéing vegetables and Japanese seasonings. Around the counter, twelve mothers chopped, stirred, and laughed—some tentatively trying techniques for the first time, others confidently sharing tips from their own cooking traditions. For two evenings in March, the usual stress…