St. Anthony Foundation

St. Anthony Foundation provides a network of life-sustaining services to San Francisco's poor or homeless veterans, seniors, immigrants and others, and works on long-term solutions to homelessness and hunger.

Why do we exist?

When Franciscan Friar Alfred Boeddecker founded St. Anthony Dining Room on October 4, 1950, he opened the doors to a community where people from all walks of life could break bread together, be surrounded by kindness and re-establish the human connections that make us whole. On that first day, Fr. Alfred served 400 meals to his hungry and homeless Tenderloin neighbors with a vision of ending hunger and creating a society in which everyone also had housing, medical care, and gainful employment. Today, St. Anthony Foundation remains committed to honoring the inherent dignity of every human being. We seek to serve all who come through our doors with compassion, love and respect. Our mission is twofold: to provide basic services to those in need and to advocate for change in the social structures that create and sustain poverty. In the words of our mission statement, we seek to "feed, heal, shelter, clothe, lift the spirits of those in need, and create a society in which all persons flourish."

What have you accomplished?

In April of 2003, we served our 30 millionth meal in St. Anthony Dining Room. The 30 millionth meal of Beef Bourguignon was served to Mark; a 53-year-old disabled man who was homeless for six years before moving into a single room occupancy hotel in 2000. A San Francisco resident for over 35 years, Mark spends between two-thirds and three-fourths of his income on rent and often needs to eat in St. Anthony Dining Room when his food funds are expended. We marked the serving of our 30 millionth meal in St. Anthony Dining Room with mixed emotions. While we celebrated the many gifts of time, talent, and treasure that have enabled us to provide services to our friends in need for over fifty years, the day was also a solemn reminder that much work has yet to be done to overcome the problems of hunger and homelessness in our community.

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