The vision that the friars had when they started was for the community to live an intentional lifestyle with an emphasis on prayer, poverty and witness. It was a desire to experience the Franciscan vocation of poverty and brotherhood with the poor. The vision for the ministry was to respond to the current needs of the poor. The plan was to establish a drop-in center, a dining room for the poor, a thrift shop, and a shelter in the Kensington neighborhood.