Family & Child Empowerment Services (FACES) SF provides families who live and work in San Francisco with high-quality early childhood education and enrichment; job support, training and placement and comprehensive family support services and referrals. Our mission is to empower families who live and work in San Francisco to transform their futures through evidence-based education and economic opportunities.
Where We Work
We currently work from four sites throughout San Francisco, in addition to managing a network of nearly 40 home-based childcare providers throughout the city. The four main sites are:
- Bayview (Whitney Young Circle), where we have an early childhood program and extended-day and camp program serving 80 0- 5 and 50-75 6-12 year olds
- Haight Ashbury (Page & Masonic), where we have both our administrative offices and the Masonic early childhood program with four classrooms.
- Hayes Valley (Buchanan and Haight), which has two infant and toddler classrooms
- Visitacion Valley (1099 Sunnydale) where we offer workforce development and other community services
Our Values
We are community caretakers who listen to, support, and empower our families. We value the diverse identities and unique potential of our families, staff, city and all who share our world. FACES SF is a community built on strong relationships, where everyone has a voice and everyone belongs.
We are customer focused. We treat those we serve with respect and a personalized touch that goes the extra mile to create satisfaction and delight. Our service approach is friendly, fast, open to feedback, and focused on getting across the finish line.
We are committed to quality. We work with integrity and intention, and we engage in continuous professional learning and improvement in order to build a proud legacy we can leave to the generations who follow us.
We are collaborative creators and innovators who strive to build a team culture marked by the sense of joy and justice that comes from our freedom and the freedom of others.
Our Legacy
FACES SF is an institution with more than 10 years of serving San Francisco’s most disadvantaged children and families. We represent the combined legacies of Florence Crittenton Services and the Whitney Young Child Development Center — two longstanding San Francisco non-profits. We proudly continue to provide their critical services today.
Florence Crittenton Services
Charles N. Crittenton established Florence Crittenton Services (FCS) in 1882 after the death of his daughter, Florence, to scarlet fever. Though a tragic beginning, FCS established an invaluable service providing crucial and tangible support to women across the United States. In 1890, Crittenton founded a FCS home in San Francisco. This aid offered by FCS has evolved with the needs of women over time. At its conception, FCS predominantly focused on the ‘redemption’ of women who had children out of marriage. As society evolved FCS adjusted its emphasis and by the 1960s the Florence Crittenton Mission worked with teenage mothers studying trends in unplanned and adolescent pregnancies. By 2004, FCS in San Francisco provided a wide variety of services including childcare, job development, family services and referrals. FACES SF remains part of the National Crittenton Family of Agencies.
Whitney Young Child Development Center
The Whitney Young Child Development Center (WYCDC) was established in 1953. Originally known as the Christian Welfare Society, it was founded by Rosie Lee Williams, a local San Franciscan who recognized the need for greater support in the Bayview Hunters Point area for low-income families. The center provided licensed, full-day childcare for toddlers and preschool children of working parents, and half-day enrichment for K-6th graders. In 1977, under the leadership of Careth B. Reid, the organization changed its name to the Whitney Young Child Development Center. The WYCDC developed a reputation for providing excellent child care and a stellar education, with specialists, artists, and therapists on staff. In 1999, WYCDC expanded and moved into the ‘Mansion’ in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood to provide more families with comprehensive child development services.
