Homeless Shelter Named for Late College Governor Henry and Carol Zeiter

At a December ribbon-cutting ceremony in Stockton, California, Dr. John Zeiter heralded the imminent opening of a state-of-the-art shelter for the city’s homeless families, named for his parents: Carol and Dr. Henry Zeiter — stalwarts of the local community, champions of the poor, and devoted friends of Thomas Aquinas College. 

“My parents helped build the first Family Shelter for the homeless nearly 20 years ago, as, prior to its construction, only single men and women were offered shelter,” says Dr. Zeiter. After the couple spearheaded the facility’s construction, Carol served on the Board of the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless for many years. The Family Shelter provided refuge to many homeless families over the years, but it began to deteriorate over time, and the space became too small to accommodate local needs. 

“My parents helped build the first Family Shelter for the homeless nearly 20 years ago, as, prior to its construction, only single men and women were offered shelter.”

Its replacement, the soon-to-be completed Carol and Henry Zeiter Navigation Center, is built to house 17 families at a time in private rooms, double the number the previous shelter could host. In addition, the new building will provide a Navigation Center where the homeless will be triaged to the various other buildings on campus. The public-private venture aims to help families find permanent housing, offering a temporary place to stay, classes on résumé building, and other essential and educational services, all with the goal of supporting families in need. “California has an enormous homeless population,” says Dr. Zeiter. “We’re trying our best to get them off the streets and into a safe environment until they can get back on their feet.”

The Navigation Center is named for Carol and Henry Zeiter in recognition of their decades of support for the people of Stockton, having helped not only to establish the city’s original homeless shelter, but also reinstating the Stockton Chorale and Chamber Music Group. Dr. Henry J. Zeiter was a world-renowned ophthalmologist, generous philanthropist, and a lover of philosophy and the liberal arts. In 1986, he was elected to Thomas Aquinas College’s Board of Governors, on which he served for over 34 years until his death in 2020. In gratitude for their magnificent generosity to the College, he and Mrs. Zeiter were named to its Order of St. Albert in 2010.

Dr. John Zeiter told the Stockton Record it was “very nice” for organizers to name the Navigation Center in his mother and father’s honor. Following his parents’ example, he and his family are still deeply involved in the community. “We do this because we love the people of Stockton, and we support many nonprofits in the area because there is such a need here,” he said. “There is a large population of homeless people and more homeless people than there are shelters … we’re not going to be able to shelter everybody that’s homeless, but we can sure try.”