Franciscan Renewal Center

The Franciscan Renewal Center (the Casa) renews lives through spiritual growth, healing and transformation, and service to others.

During this time of social distancing, when we cannot offer on-campus services and activities, the Casa friars and staff are reaching out by email (sign up at thecasa.org) and by broadcasting daily and Sunday Mass, Holy Week liturgies, prayers, messages of hope, and community resources on youtube.com/TheCasaFRC and facebook.com/TheCasaFRC. Our website, TheCasa.org, provides updates and offerings as they become available. By sharing these opportunities with others, we continue to grow our reach and help those who are especially hurting in this time of uncertainty. Old friends and new, we are in this together.

We are also seeking ways to partner with and creatively support other institutions, while continuing to work and strategically plan to ensure the Casa is ready to welcome all once the COVID-19 health crisis is resolved. When that time comes, our ministries and services will be needed more than ever, immediately following a period of lost revenues that make our good works possible. As we help each other through this hardship, your financial support is greatly appreciated and crucial to fulfill our mission. Our friars and staff are praying for your health and happiness.

We look forward to the day when people of all faiths can return for gatherings of healing and educational programs, non-faith-based professional counseling, community outreach opportunities, nonprofit meetings and conferences, and joyful Catholic liturgies.

People like Don…

When Don first came to the Casa, he felt abandoned. He lost his business and his life savings. His home went into foreclosure, his marriage collapsed and he missed important years with his children. With no support system to turn to, he lost himself. Don needed help. He joined one of the Casa's support groups, and gradually, he felt a little lighter and started to look forward to seeing familiar faces. He attended a retreat-on a scholarship-and took time to reflect and heal. He attended Sunday Mass and rediscovered his faith.
Through these opportunities, Don built a strong foundation for renewal: He learned to reconnect with himself and the world around him. He regained his confidence, his spark and built a new life. And he found new purpose in volunteering to help others who have lost their way.

By God's grace, and with the support of friends like you, the Casa has helped transform countless lives for nearly 70 years. And because there are more needs each year, our work is never done.

Programs and services include:
• Donation-based, one-on-one licensed behavioral health counseling
• Support groups for grief & loss; depression & anxiety, separation & divorce, families with substance addiction
• Healing and educational retreats, workshops and classes (need-based scholarships are available)
• Private wellness retreats on 25-acres that include a healing garden, meditation chapel, labyrinth, desert walk and heated swimming pool
• Outreach ministries that assist the poor or vulnerable, care for the environment, empower individuals to improve their circumstances, and build community fellowship
• Joyful Catholic Masses that welcome all
• A wellness center for nonprofit organizations from around the world to rest, renew, and create, so they can go back out and serve their communities better

In 1951, the "Casa de Paz y Bien," or simply "the Casa" - began as a Catholic retreat center in Scottsdale. Now as a renewal center, we offer opportunities for spiritual growth, healing and transformation that move lives into the service of others. The Casa was founded by and is today an active religious community of the Order of Friars Minor - part of the worldwide Franciscan family, following the footsteps of SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi. It is a wholly owned entity of the Franciscan Friars Province of Saint Barbara, based in Oakland, California, that works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

Testimonials

"I began attending addiction recovery meetings here in 2009 and discovered all that the Casa offered was just what I needed. I experienced surrender many times during my decades of recovery, but nothing like I did during Holy Week in 2014. Little did I know it was preparing me for what was coming-six months later I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and aggressive colon cancer a few months after that. I found myself staring down a drink menu. If not for the Casa's friars and community holding me up and the strong spiritual foundation I built here, I might have thrown away all the beautiful things that come with sobriety, and well…I probably wouldn't be alive today." -Susan C.

"After 20 years of suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I decided things had to change. I was down so low and at a stage when I had to shut out my way of doing things and say YES to every opportunity to which I would normally say NO...