Cementing the future of Valley Family Center's services in San Fernando and the surrounding valley, dozens of staff members and supporters of the nonprofit professional counseling and learning center participated in a ribbon-cutting for their new building Oct. 12.

"We're gathered today for a very special occasion for Valley Family Center and for the area here with the extension of our services into the future," said Religious Sister of Charity Carmel Somers, VFC executive director. The 14,000 square foot building addition accessing VFC's existing 10,000 square foot facility at 302 South Brand Blvd. will be used for expanded parenting programs, domestic violence group classes and children's after-school tutoring.

"We commend what the VFC has been doing throughout the years, providing these special programs to low income families to assure their health and well-being," said VFC benefactor, Guillermo de la Viņa, who, along with San Fernando Mayor Nury Martinez, cut the yellow ribbons threaded through the double doors of the downstairs reception area.

"This is such a beautiful addition to what San Fernando is about," added Martinez, "not only architecturally but what it symbolically means in terms of providing the very necessary services to the neediest families in our community."

Building committee chair Steve Pellegren, addressing guests in the spacious second floor multi-purpose room following the ribbon-cutting, spoke of the challenges of erecting a building during skyrocketing costs and labor shortages.

"In a climate that is typically a 3 to 4 percent inflation rate, we experienced 20 percent one year, 30 percent the other year," said Pellegren, vice president of pre-construction services at Bernards Construction Company. "It has been devastating to our economic plan. We made a bold, courageous decision to go forward with the construction, but we need a lot of help to pay those bills and keep the doors open."

Bank refinancing has allowed VFC to continue with the building expansion in spite of project cost overruns in excess of $2 million. Currently, 48 percent of VFC's programs budget is provided by sliding scale fees for service, with 52 percent coming through fundraising efforts. VFC board treasurer Jay Goldberg pointed out each unfurnished room of the new building has a wish list of items for donor contribution consideration.

"We took a leap of faith and trusted in Divine Providence. We believe God is behind [the project] and that things will work out," Sister Somers told The Tidings during a press tour of the facility.

"It's been a long journey, 22 years. But it's been a very faith-filled one, a glorious one, because we have a lot to show," said Religious Sister of Charity Una Connolly, VFC foundress and staff therapist. "This place is a sanctuary, where people come to be healed, an extension of the church --- but a very human extension."

Started at Santa Rosa Church in the late '70s with the encouragement of then-parish administrator, Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Tom Rush, VFC moved in 1992 to larger facilities at the corner of Mission and Mott Streets near San Fernando Elementary School. This building was where de la Viņa started his money transfer services company, Sigue, in 1996 just a few months after VFC relocated to its present South Brand Boulevard location. The entrepreneur was impressed with the steady stream of people who came to his business looking for VFC.

"I felt like there was so much good [at Valley Family Center]. Something was happening there that was so big and so blessed. I think we rode that coattail of yours all those years," said de la Viņa. Now the largest employer in San Fernando with over 1,000 Sigue employees, de la Viņa has pledged $500,000 over a five-year period toward VFC's capital campaign.

VFC staff therapist Rebecca Peterson described the counseling center as a place "with a lot of heart. The client is really treasured as we try and help them choose to make changes in their life that are going to be beneficial for everybody. A lot of our work is with domestic violence, so we try and break that intergenerational pattern that's handed on, family member to family member, by giving them the information and tools they need."

Holy Cross Sister Mary Sullivan, a San Fernando Mission Cemetery staff member, said VFC's new building is a blessing in the community. "It's a sight for sore eyes. It's just beautiful. They're dealing with the poor here, and the poor should have nothing but the best."

Editor's note: For more information on the many bilingual (English/Spanish) programs at VFC, including individual and family therapy, parenting classes, children's after-school tutorial programs, and classes for victims as well as perpetrators of domestic abuse, call the center at (818) 365-8588 or e-mail: valleyfamilycentersf@hotmail.com.