VA LECIA ADAMS
VENICE When St. Joseph Center reopens in its new headquarters outside of Ocean Park this summer, it will be the start of a new era for the non-profit organization, led by new executive director, Va Lecia Adams.
A Culver City native, Adams took the helm at St. Joseph Center in March, replacing former director Rhonda Meister who ran the organization for 22 years, stepping down shortly before the opening of the new center, feeling it was time for change.
It was a time for change for both Meister and St. Joseph Center.
Enter Adams, a Stanford graduate who has worked in the non-profit sector for about a decade, a new director with big dreams and big plans.
St. Joseph Center was founded in 1976 in a small storefront on Rose Avenue in Venice, starting out small with just two programs and a modest staff of about 12 people. The organization grew during the next three decades, now staffed with 110 people who oversee about 10 programs housed in seven different Westside locations, including several in Santa Monica. The center serves about 7,000 people a year, catering to the homeless and low-income families.
Displaced while the state-of-the-art new center at 204 Hampton Dr. undergoes construction, central operations have been temporarily housed on the corner of Fourth Street and Pico Boulevard.
“My timing is wonderful because we have this new building and I’m looking forward to introducing St. Joseph to the neighbors here,” Adams said.
The 30,000-square-foot center, which will share a lot with St. Clement’s Catholic Church, features a new culinary art center and space for staff development activities. The move-in is projected to take place in the next several weeks.
With the new center and new director come new opportunities, a rich learning environment where clients will be able to develop the skills and tools to succeed at the next level.
“We hope to look at the center as a place where we can use it as an educational environment and enriching environment for all ages,” Adams said.
Raised in Culver City where she represented Culver City High School as Miss Drill Team U.S.A. in 1984, Adams attended the University of Southern California with the intention of pursuing a career in law, working as an intern for then-Mayor Tom Bradley.
“I started to think more about social services and what role I might play in affecting the lives of others,” Adams said.
She went on to receive her master’s degree in psychology at Ball State University, but it wasn’t until she started her doctorate program at Stanford that Adams began seriously considering non-profit work.
In Palo Alto, Adams worked at the Veterans Administration and at a convalescent center, gaining the experience with veterans and the elderly that would come to be necessary at St. Joseph Center.
After receiving her doctorate’s degree, Adams moved back to Southern California, working in Cerritos with high school students who needed help with the college admissions process, many of the kids being first-generation college prospects.
Six years ago, she was hired as the director of transitional living at the United Friends of the Children, an organization founded by Nancy Riordan, wife of former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan.
“My work at UFC changed my life and understanding of how supportive services … can help teach the tools to be self-sufficient,” Adams said.
In her first few months as executive director, Adams has been busy getting acclimated with St. Joseph Center, participating in the programs, working in the pantry in the early mornings, getting a sense of the clientele.
“There is a great understanding and sensitivity to the issues facing our population,”she said about St. Joseph Center.“I felt like (coming here) was the right next step for me.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.