Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.

2002-2003 Annual Report

Our Lady of the Angels Region


The program at Angel’s Fight includes outreach, counseling for youth and families, recreation, case management, aftercare and referrals.		Angel’s Flight, the only shelter in Los Angeles that accepts 10 to 12 year old runaway and homeless youth, is also one of the few local shelters to provide extensive services for youth who speak Spanish.

Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women in Los Angeles operates: Languille Emergency Shelter for homeless, single women; temporary housing for 30 homeless women at Hawkes Transitional Residence; and Mother and Child Residence, a shelter designed to provide the basic needs of homeless mothers and their children for up to six months. The three residences supplied over 104,000 client services last year.

Metro Area

At “My Club”, a street outreach program operated by Angel’s Flight Runaway & Homeless Services in South Los Angeles, youth, ages 10 through 17, may take advantage of case management, counseling, recreational and educational activities, peer support groups and referrals.

With the support of a Neighborhood Action Program (NAP) grant from the City of Los Angeles, El Santo Nino Community Center in Central Los Angeles offers an Early Learning Program for 70 children, ages 3 to 5 years, in order to increase the school-readiness of neighborhood, non-English speaking, pre-school children.

El Santo Nino Community Center in Central Los Angeles held adult education and literacy classes for over 1,200 individuals. Clients took part in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, GED high school diploma preparation and computer training, and they also developed reading skills.

St. Mary’s Center, located in Central Los Angeles, provided basic needs assistance to over 29,000 individuals and families during fiscal year 2002-2003. This number represents an increase of more than 85% from the previous year.

More than 200 individuals, ages 18 through 24, received job coaching and mentoring services funded by the Los Angeles County Youth Intervention Program at El Santo Nino Community Center.

All People’s Christian Center and El Santo Nino Community Center collaborate on L.A. Bridges, a gang intervention program which helped 50 young people, ages 10-14 years, to stay in school and avoid gang activity.

Staff from St. Mary’s Center offered educational seminars to 9,000 Los Angeles residents. Funded by the State of California Children and Families Commission’s First 5 Program, families with children under the age of 5, learned about health and safety issues affecting young children.


Angel Guardian Home, part of Good Shepherd Center’s Women’s Village, has 13-units of long-term housing in a supportive community for homeless mothers, with special needs, and their children.		Children who are enrolled in the Archdiocese Elementary School Time Enrichment (ADESTE) before-and-after-school childcare program engage in age-appropriate activities which offer experience in areas of verbal, cognitive, social, creative and emotional development.		Catholic Charities partners with Communities United for Meals at Home to provide hot lunches delivered to the elderly in their homes.

Western Area


In addition to food assistance, St. Peter Claver Center provides emergency shelter vouchers, case management for low-income and homeless people, substance abuse programs for children and adults, and case management for recently incarcerated individuals.		Many of the families who come to St. Margaret’s Center in Lennox use an average of 75% of their income for rent. The center’s Permanent Housing Program provides low-income and homeless households with case management services designed to help them transition from homelessness, or substandard housing, to suitable permanent housing.

The ADESTE program offers an affordable option to parents who must budget for rent, food and other living expenses in addition to child care.

St. Peter Claver Center, which serves the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, distributed emergency and supportive aid to over 8,700 low-income clients last year. Many were families with children under the age of 5. The center’s Household Program helps families secure infant and toddler clothing, blankets, car seats, strollers, cribs and other nursery essentials.

The Archdiocese Elementary School Time Enrichment (ADESTE) program at St. Anastasia School in Westchester, operates an after-kindergarten program for 5 year olds, in addition to after-school child care for elementary students. ADESTE provides low-income, working-poor families a safe place to leave their children during the day.

During a three-month period in the 2002-2003 fiscal year, St. Margaret’s Center in Lennox supplied: food to 16,145 persons; household items to 9,783 individuals; and emergency shelter, rental assistance and utility payments for 458 individuals and families. The center experienced a 20% increase in unduplicated clients, a reflection of the continuing difficulties faced by low-income families living near Los Angeles International Airport.

Since St. Robert’s Center in Venice began a Weekend Program nine years ago, in collaboration with seven area Catholic churches, the staff have served over 92,000 bag lunches to more than 25,000 individuals and families on Saturdays and Sundays.

As part of the intensive case management program funded through a Neighborhood Action Program (NAP) grant from the City of Los Angeles, St. Peter Claver Center offers substance abuse services such as counseling, school outreach and public education workshops.

Over 50 families have taken advantage of the Food Stamp Assistance Program offered at St. Margaret’s Center. Begun in March 2003, the program helps clients complete food stamp application forms and offers support and follow-up assistance if needed.


St. Robert’s Center distributes food, hygiene products and clothing to low-income and homeless people living in Venice, Santa Monica, Mar Vista and the surrounding areas.		At St. Margaret’s Center, families may apply for low-cost and free health insurance programs. Health services for children are provided monthly by Cedars Sinai Hospital, and eye exams are offered quarterly, at no cost, by the UCLA/Jules Stein Mobile Eye Clinic.		The goal of case management services offered at St. Peter Claver Center is to help people become more self-reliant and make them less dependent on neighborhood emergency services.

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