North Fair Oaks Youth Center Opens

Nearly 500 people attended the dedication Saturday of a $4 million gym and study hall in North Fair Oaks, the latest addition to the list of family-oriented services provided by the St. Francis Center in the heart of gang territory.

The 10,000-square-foot Siena Youth Center is a “miracle,” said Sister Christina Heltsley, executive director of the St. Francis Center.

She told the crowd that her favorite song includes a line that says, “I believe in miracles.” She then blushed slightly and said the next line contains something about being “sexy,” but added quickly that the gym, which features a mural that runs across the interior back wall, can be viewed “as sexy.”

The new facility will provide a safe haven “for children to work and play," she said, nodding toward an office overlooking the gym floor which she said "belongs to the sheriff.”

“We’re excited to win the hearts and minds of this neighborhood,” she said. “Before they are attracted to the negative influences of life.”

The building will be a boon to the neighborhood, and the combination of safety, security and role modeling will work toward keeping youth out of jail, said Sheriff Greg Munks.

“Once they enter our jails, turning around becomes extraordinarily difficult,” said Munks who, like sheriffs throughout California, must deal with the court-ordered release of 40,000 inmates from state prisons. He said previously he expects 360 of those prisoners to end up in San Mateo County’s already overcrowded jail.

In addition to the on-site Sheriff’s office, the Siena building has a kitchen, laundry and an apartment to “house future stewards,” according to literature from the youth center that was headlined “A True Thanksgiving.”

Those attending Saturday’s ribbon-cutting include Fred and Pam Tavernier, 20-year volunteers at the St. Francis Center.

“When we first started coming here, no one in the area would work with the police,” said Fred Tavernier, 70, a retired Redwood City firefighter. “It’s not like that now.”

Pam Tavernier has seen miracles here, she said.

“I remember a man who came in and wanted a suit to attend his mother’s funeral in San Francisco. We didn’t have one but then someone came along and donated a suit that was his size.”

Every six years the nearby St. Francis Center selects 12 students to study together from kindergarten through fifth grade. Meantime, the center helps the parents acquire needed job skills as well as conversancy in English.

The center’s other services include 28 units of low-income housing, a take-home food box program, shower and laundry facilities, and a 7,500-square-foot community garden.

The people it serves call the center “La Casita,” meaning the little house, said Sister Heltsley. The motto is “compassion, not judgment.”

The center, which opened in 1986, has always been “a place of miracles,” she said.

The biggest miracle could be that its funds come from hoped-for private donations and grants.