Renee Morris, Executive Director

St. Francis House Service Center The St. Francis House, St. Johns County's sole facility for providing shelter and feeding programs for homeless and needy individuals, recently contracted to purchase a vacant industrial manufacturing facility as its new home. The property will replace the existing St. Francis location which has been in business on Washington St. for more than 25 years.   The property, located on Dobbs Rd., near SR 207 is close to both the Greyhound Bus Station and the Salvation Army Food Bank. The building complex is approximately forty thousand (40,000) square feet in size and occupies three acres of land. Of that eleven thousand (11,000) square feet is in an existing industrial/warehouse building.

Phase One

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Preliminary plans for the site include a twenty-nine thousand (29,000) square foot multiple use facility to be known as the St. Francis House Service Center providing: an expanded dining center administrative space for the St. Francis House nine individual offices for the other entities who now or wish to provide services to the  target  population on site sixty three (63) beds for men and twenty seven (27) beds for the women who require initial services to begin the change from the street to a viable, self-supporting life style.

In addition, twenty six (26) single room occupancy (SRO) units will be rented to clients who are one step removed from sustainable entry back into society. The industrial warehouse building will be used to create job opportunities on site, as part of on-going job training programs, as well as offering lease space for other users. The objective is to build a single facility where individuals and agencies can establish a synergistic partnering network to collectively meet the needs of target populations: veterans, elderly, disabled, mentally ill, and recently released incarcerated persons.

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As part of that objective, the focus will be on program integration of existing and emerging services in a single location, connecting programs and support services built on the philosophy that each individual and family being served by the Center shall be provided with a specific and individualized action plan to move them from their current circumstances into stable life conditions.

The process is designed to move people first into an environment of respite from the stresses of street life, then establish a specific plan of action, provide job training and personal life skills, and ultimately, relocation into affordable permanent housing.

An optional second phase for the project includes the possibility of the removal of the warehouse building and its replacement with a permanent housing structure designed to accommodate eighteen (18) single bedroom apartment units, and twelve (12) two bedroom units.

The total cost for Phase One acquisition and the renovation of the building complex is estimated at six million ($6,000,000) dollars. A major fund raising program is being developed - with initial emphasis on raising $3,000,000 for project acquisition.

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