The Tenderloin district is an area of San Francisco hard hit by poverty, homelessness, and crime.
Hope is hard to come by, for young people in particular.
The De La Salle Christian Brothers and Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who together conduct Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco, plan to provide young people in the Tenderloin with a safe and nurturing place in a new coeducational middle school serving grades 6-8, scheduled to open in fall 2001. The school will open for the first class of 6th graders at the former Saint Boniface School site at the parish of the same name, headquarters to numerous Catholic social outreach programs, through the Saint Anthony Foundation. The goal of the school is to bridge the educational deficits of low-income students who are far below grade level in basic skills, so that in three years' time they can comfortably compete in the most demanding high school programs in San Francisco. De Marillac will be operated in a 'spirit of gratuity', making Lasallian education available particularly to those who are underserved and economically disadvantaged. De Marillac is named for Saint Louise de Marillac , Foundress of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul , and Patron Saint of Social Workers.