Father Joe Carroll A legacy of leadership

During his lifetime, Father Joe Carroll touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in San Diego and helped tens of thousands of neighbors end their homelessness for good.
In 1982, Father Joe became the Director of the Saint Vincent de Paul Center and soon took San Diego and the country by storm with his charisma and determination. As a self-proclaimed “hustler priest,” Father Joe was able to grow the organization into what is today, the largest homeless services agency in San Diego offering comprehensive services and housing programs to address the complex needs of people experiencing homelessness.
He will be missed more than words can express.
Father Joe’s Villages is dedicated to honoring Father Joe Carroll’s legacy of preventing and ending homelessness, one life at a time. The organization sees a profound opportunity to carry forward this mission through Father Joe’s Villages’ Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa affordable housing community. Upon opening in 2022, the complex will end the homelessness of over 500 men, women and children through 407 units of affordable and supportive housing.
Situated adjacent to Father Joe’s Villages East Village campus, the residents of Saint Teresa of Calcutta will have access to comprehensive, life-changing services that will help them maintain housing for good, including employment assistance, integrated behavioral and physical health care, benefits assistance, life skills training and much more.
In addition to continuing Father Joe’s legacy of ending homelessness through housing and services, the front of the building will feature the Father Joe Carroll Memorial Promenade with landscaping, statues and interactive features honoring Father Joe’s decades-long devotion to building innovative housing solutions and comprehensive services that would best serve neighbors in need.
To recognize his impact, two plaques on the face of the entrance will honor Father Joe’s motto “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” and a commemoration of the Congressional Medal of Honor he received in 2013. Additionally, along the main sidewalk will be a path with a design that highlights Father Joe’s purposeful journey in providing compassionate care. Pedestrians can walk alongside his footsteps, joining Father Joe on the path to end homelessness, and, at the end of the path, carrying on his legacy where his footsteps end.
Now, Father Joe’s Villages is inviting all of San Diego to join us in honoring Father Joe’s legacy and support the continuation of services that help neighbors leave homelessness behind for good by reserving a paver in the Father Joe Carroll Memorial Promenade. With three different paving stone sizes, participants have this one-time opportunity to make themselves, their family or loved ones a permanent part of this special Memorial of Father Joe and the mission he cared so much about.
The three sizes of paver or a paver array are available to honor one’s family, organization or company with an arrangement of neighboring pavers. Reserve your paver today.
Visit my.neighbor.org/legacyofhope to fill out a brick reservation form, or call (619) 446-2112 for more information.