STOCKTON – St. Mary’s Interfaith Community Services is honoring its roots and changing its name back to St. Mary’s Dining Room, with a motto of “St. Mary’s Dining Room ... more than meals.”
A new logo reflects that change and evokes the organization’s mission and diverse services.
“Through all of our name changes, we have always been known by our community as St. Mary’s Dining Room,” said Edward Figueroa, St. Mary’s Dining Room CEO. “So, after these many years, our board decided we should start calling ourselves by that name, too.”
The new logo of three interlocking people in the shape of the letter C is symbolic of the “clients” served, the “community” that supports St. Mary’s Dining Room, and the organization’s “commitment” to serve both. The “more than meals” addition signifies that an entire campus of programs is on site and designed to support people struggling with poverty and homelessness.
The Rev. Alan McCoy in 1955 began providing meals to the homeless community of Stockton in an abandoned bar and restaurant, which eventually turned into a not-for-profit organization named St. Mary’s Dining Room. By 1991 the St. Mary’s Dining Room had begun to offer medical and dental care and its board added “interfaith” to the name – St. Mary’s Interfaith Dining Room – to promote that while the organization began through the compassion of a Catholic priest, it is a an interfaith-based agency with services for people a wide variety of traditions and faiths.
In 2005, “community services” was added to acknowledge that St. Mary’s had grown into a comprehensive program of services for homeless and financially burdened individuals and families. The organization offered a dining room, medical and dental clinics, a center for clothing and hygiene, and a Head Start Pre-school. In 2009, a social services department was added.
The return to the name of St. Mary’s Dining Room honors the organization’s past, while demonstrating our commitment for future service to our clients and community.
