Developmental Child Care

Based on its heritage, Guardian Angel Settlement Association continues striving to meet the needs of children living in poverty. This can be seen throughout the agency's accredited and licensed developmental child care programs, available at two sites on the fringes of downtown Saint Louis. Our child care services are provided to families on a sliding-scale fee basis.

DeSales Child Care Center (2652 Iowa Street) is licensed for 90 children, including preschoolers aged 2-5, plus an after-school and summer program for school-age youth ages 6-15. DeSales also houses an Infant/Toddler program, licensed for 16 children from birth to age 2.

Gabriel Childcare Center (818 Cass Ave.) is licensed for 43 youngsters, and is dedicated to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Both of our child care centers are open 6:30 AM - 5:30 PM weekdays year-round, except for holidays. We provide daily breakfast, lunch and snacks. Most important, we are staffed by caring and competent professionals in child care.

Social Services

From our Hosea House site at 2635 Gravois, our Social Services staff provides emergency and direct assistance to families, seniors and individuals. Using a case management focus with the benefit of client contracts, our programs deliver a variety of human services to residents of the agency's services areas.

Senior Services
This comprehensive effort reaches out to seniors aged 55 and over as well as the disabled – those people most at risk of falling through the cracks – with an appealing variety of made-to-order service. These activities include transportation for shopping trips, social get-togethers (including bingo) with prepared lunch, plus various outings to the movies and theater, fishing trips and apple picking. Seniors may also arrange appointments for rides in the agency's vans to and from doctor visits and meetings at government offices for Social Security and Food Stamp programs.

Youth Employment Program
Since 1980, Guardian Angel Settlement Association has participated each summer in a Youth Employment program for young adults. This innovative effort is sponsored by Nestlé Purina Petcare Company, a valued corporate member of our neighborhood. Area businesses such as AG Edwards, Nestle Purina, St John's Mercy, the City of St Louis, and Community Alternatives employee these students as interns for the summer, but Nestle Purina pays for all of the students' salary and benefits. The group meets weekly to discuss topics ranging from resume building to budgeting to etiquette. The goal of the program is to give youth a head start in their career direction and to assist them in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty that many of them have experienced.

Food Pantry
Our food pantry at Hosea House is open weekdays to provide emergency food assistance to those in need in our service areas.

Thrifty Boutique
Our thrift store operates at Hosea House weekdays from 8:30am-4:30pm, allowing our needy neighbors to shop for clothing and household items at nominal cost.

Christmas Program
Jointly sponsored by Saint Vincent dePaul Catholic Parish, Kingdom House, and Guardian Angel Settlement Association, this program coordinates the "adoption" of 750 families and 500 seniors for food, clothing, and gifts during the holiday season.

Youth Programs

The Learning Club
An after-school tutoring program that through the discipline of persevering in a specific, long-range, incremental plan which is broken down into step-by-step, structured activities and methods assists school age kids in being successful in school.

Angel Art
This program uses art and gardening to explore community issues and the power of creativity. From learning the basics of colors and shapes to the principles of art to working in a community of art makers we provide a positive environment that focuses on conflict resolution and interpersonal skills as well as art.

Tutoring Program
This program at Hosea House was begun several years ago by volunteers and operates year round with children attending once a month on Saturdays and twice a week during the summer. The children establish a long term relationship with the volunteers who seek not only to tutor and teach computer skills, but challenge the children to further education beyond high school.