As a compassionate instrument for the humanitarian tranditions of America, Saint Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center opened its doors in 1976 to join hands with many other churches, organizations, agencies, and individual sponsors across the nation to help the fortunate refugees who have come into this country to rebuild their lives.

Initiated by Rev. Samir Habiby, rector of Saint Anselm's Episcopal Church in Garden Grove, the Center received a grant from Church World Service - one of a few National Voluntray Agnecies (VOLAGS) - in April 1976 and was named Saint Anselm's Indochinese Immigrant & Refugee Center. Only a short time after its establishment by the rector of Saint Anselm's Church, the Center detached itself from the church, to become a non-profit, community-based agency.

Realizing the multitude of barriers facing the refugees in their brave efforts to resettle in this country, Saint Anselm's provided pertinent services addressing those barriers. Upon their arrivals in the USA, they needed to overcome the language barrier to communicate, Saint Anselm's offered them ESL classes of various levels, from beginning to intermediate; also, employment-oriented ESL in VESL classes. These classes were taught by credentialed instructors from Garden Grove Unified School District, Adult Education Program.

With the refugees' short period on welfare, they needed to be jump-started with new job skills so that they were able to get jobs and become economicaly self-sufficient. So Saint Anselm's job counselors trained them in employment preparation workshops, and actually placed them in their very first jobs suitable for their limited skills in language and employment. In this aspect, we were partners of Orange County Social Services Agency, West Orange County Regional One-Stop Center, Catholic Charities of Orange County, and the Cambodian Family Inc.

In 1983, the Center changed its name for the first time to reflect the scope of services offered to immigrants, refugees, and the community. It was Saint Anselm's Immigrant & Refugee Community Center. Then again in 1993, the name was changed to its current one. That is Saint Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center in recognition of new directions in development.

Since 1976, the Center has extended its services to tens of thousands of refugees, helping them in their resettlement and integration. In our self-initiated journey, we have experienced as many joys and challenges as the refugees themselves, but always with the benefits of the refugees and the community in mind, we force our way forward to implement our self-imposed mission "to assist and empower families of multicultural communities to reach their full potential."