Central Downtown Food Basket

This non-profit organization started its mission to feed the elderly and low-income in 1983. Today it is still going strong, feeding more than 2,000 families and nearly 1,000 seniors each month. The program collects more than $2 million in food donations every year and operates with an extremely low overhead. It distributes groceries and commodities four times a month from St. John’s.

St. John's Shelter Program for Women and Children

This program focuses exclusively on women with children -- the most vulnerable of the homeless population. Since 1985, it has provided a safe and supportive haven to more than 23,000 displaced women and children. In 2004, St. John’s expanded its role from being an emergency shelter to offering a program that strives to reintegrate homeless women with children into the community as self-sufficient and productive citizens. To that end St. John’s created an After-Care Program in 2007.

Francis House

Francis House is a resource and counseling center for the poor supported by 17 churches, including St. John’s, and the community at large. Each year about 20,000 men, women and children receive personal attention and care for their problems. More than 85 percent of Francis House resources are given directly to the poor in the form of vouchers to cover such things as emergency transportation and shelter, or to provide direct counseling and hospitality services.

12 Step Programs

St. John's hosts numerous meetings of 12 Step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous ("AA") and Narcotics Anonymous ("NA") that independently provide a path to recovery to those seeking help from addictions. Please visit the AA and NA websites for more information about these organizations.

Lutheran Social Services

Lutheran Social Services responds when people are vulnerable because of homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction or victims of disaster. It provides support services and compassionate guidance, helping both individuals and families to stabilize their lives and to become self-sufficient. It currently serves more than 2,000 clients in the region. It is funded by gifts from individuals and corporations, through government contracts and grants, and by the support of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California

“Set Free to Serve.” That is the theme of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California (LOPP), which was founded in 1984 under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Robert Romeis, then pastor of St. John’s. The LOPP's mission is to apply social statements, messages, and policy resolutions of the Evangelical Church in America to the public policy issues in the state. The focus is on poverty, human rights and the care of all of God’s creations. The LOPP is a partnership ministry of the ELCA’s Church in Society Program Unit and the Sierra Pacific, Southwest California and Pacifica Synods. An advisory council is appointed by the bishops of the three synods and a representative of the Lutheran Social Services of Northern California. Funding is provided through the ELCA, primarily through its Hunger Program, which employs the LOPP director, Mark Carlson. Other support comes from the synods, the Southwest California Women’s Organization, from congregations, and from individuals. The LOPP is located at St. John's Lutheran Church.