History of StarVista
Since 1966, StarVista programs have transformed the lives of children, youth, families and the communities where they live. StarVista became what it is today through the extensive merging of local agencies throughout the county, all dedicated to helping individuals overcome life’s challenges.
StarVista began as Peninsula Suicide Prevention Inc in 1966 in San Mateo County. The agency was one of the first crisis lines in the country, providing suicide and crisis prevention services through immediate, 24-hour assistance to people in need. Peninsula Suicide Prevention Inc. soon changed its name to The Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Center of San Mateo County and merged with Youth and Family Assistance (YFA) in 1997, bringing together crisis intervention/suicide prevention and youth development services.
In 2003, YFA merged with another agency, Family and Community Enrichment Services (FACES), to create Youth and Family Enrichment Services (YFES). Together under the name YFES, these programs provided critical services to individuals facing substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, relationship and communication issues. Many StarVista supporters remember the early days of our agency under this name.
Shortly after, another merge proved to be useful in providing a wide variety of services under one agency. Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that provided a program many people know today as The Children’s Place, merged with YFES in 2007. Legacy Foundation brought prevention services for children of parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.
YFES recognized that, while its reputation and services proved to be strong, there was a lack of brand presence in the community. In 2011, YFES changed its name to StarVista, in the hopes of bringing about awareness to the agency, its values, services, and support it offers to the community.
In 2017, Pyramid joined the StarVista family and added highly specialized services in the area of alcohol and other drugs, including mental health/counseling, prevention, outreach, and treatment to StarVista’s service areas and its programs. Along with it came a commercial property located in Pacifica, now acting as a sub-headquarters and client service area for staff and the community. In 2017, Pyramid was the last agency to merge with StarVista.
After its final merge with Pyramid, StarVista underwent another rebrand, this time modernizing its look with a new logo, colors, and an updated website. The logo you see today on StarVista’s website, social media, flyers, and videos, came from this rebrand of the agency.
As we reflect on more than five decades of service and remarkable growth, StarVista proves to be the premier thought leader and service provider addressing early childhood development, mental health, youth homelessness, recovery services, and suicide and crisis intervention in San Mateo County. The future is bright for our agency and the clients we serve, and we cannot wait to celebrate more milestones with you!