Our Mission & Values - Dorothy's Place

Our mission:

With love, respect and compassion, the Franciscan Workers of Junipero Serra provide essential services and transitional support to people experiencing the injustice of homelessness and extreme poverty.

We do this through our four programs: Dorothy’s Kitchen, the Drop-In Center, Streets to Homes, and House of Peace Transitional Residence. It’s our highest priority to serve the people of our community who are struggling to get on their feet because of issues they may not have been able to control. When those experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty are taken care of, our community and society becomes a better place and more value is added to the economy.

We believe our efforts are bringing long-term change.

We stand on these core values:

We value the dignity of every person with respect for individual worth and human potential.

We promote collaboration in moving toward common goals. We are a community committed to caring and supportive relationships with each other, Dorothy’s Place guests, and other service providers.

We commit to becoming culturally competent by respecting differences and equal rights and freedoms. We implement pluralism, gender responsiveness, and inclusiveness.

We serve with integrity, professional excellence, accountability, and responsible stewardship, because we are committed to maintaining the trust of those who support or utilize our services.

We respect each person’s agency, self-determination, and timing.

We are committed to social justice, advocating for individual opportunities and systemic change.

As an innovative organization, we are receptive to new ideas.

We believe in the power of mutual healing, recovery, and restoration of self.

We are grateful.

We recognize that deep-seated trauma is pervasive in our community and is the root cause of chronic homelessness. Everything we do in service to our community is trauma informed.