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Jerry Voorhis gave an opportunity to boys that
needed one and treated them as his own sons.
Photo courtesy of San Dimas Historical Society
Baptist Bible College. Following PCBBC’s
departure, the campus served Los Angeles
International Church of Christ for a few short
years, until Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation moved
in on October 28, 2004.

Registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization since 1985, Tzu Chi had opened
its first official United States office in Alhambra,
California, on December 9, 1989. Soon, the
organization was growing so quickly that the
small office was no longer sufficient, and its
headquarters relocated across town to Monrovia
on October 27, 1991. Thirteen years later, it
The new Voorhis Unit of Cal Poly opened settled on the historic San Dimas campus.
in September 1938, with just eighty students
and five faculty. It soon faced its own hardship. These first two Southern California homes
As many of the students were drafted to serve still remain in the Tzu Chi family. The Alhambra
overseas in World War II, the campus was forced facility was converted into Buddhist Tzu Chi Free
to close in 1943, but it reopened after the war, in Clinic on November 1, 1993; it became Buddhist
1946, with more than two hundred students. As Tzu Chi Medical Center precisely two decades
the student population rapidly doubled in the later on November 1, 2013. Every day, it continues
years that followed, Cal Poly relocated over the to treat those in need in the community with
hill in 1957 to the old Kellogg Ranch in Pomona, affordable and accessible medical services. The
where it remains to this day. second facility, in Monrovia, reopened as the first
Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool and Kindergarten
Even after Cal Poly moved to its new home on September 1, 2006. Like the Voorhis school
in Pomona, the Voorhis Unit continued to founded eight decades earlier, the school helps
serve as student housing until 1960 and as a bring about a brighter future by teaching young
conference facility and continuing education students—not only expanding their minds, but
center through 1971. It was in this period that also nurturing their spirits and developing their
the campus gained its greatest popular fame, character.
as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor—the
biggest movie stars of the day—filmed portions Tzu Chi’s approach to the local landmark
of The Sandpiper on campus in 1964. it calls home has always been to respect its
history by maintaining its architectural identity
With Cal Poly fully transferred to Pomona, while adding flourishes of Tzu Chi character and
a new tenant soon moved in. Just five years environmentally friendly improvements, such
after opening their doors in Orange to three as introducing a community recycling center
dozen students in 1967, Pacific Coast Baptist and conserving precious water by draining the
Bible College (PCBBC) took over the more pool and replacing wide swaths of grass with
spacious facility atop Walnut Creek Park in 1972 artificial turf.
to meet the needs of a rapidly growing student
population. Enrollment peaked in the late 1970s Today, more than a decade into Tzu Chi’s
with roughly five hundred students training to stewardship, this historic campus remains a
lead congregations throughout the western reminder of days past, as it also provides a
United States. spiritual home for U.S. Tzu Chi volunteers, an
educational facility for the community, and
In 1998, PCBBC moved to Oklahoma City, a warm welcome center for neighbors and
Oklahoma, where it was renamed Heartland friends.

Be grateful for the past, look forward to the future,
take advantage of the present.
Jing Si Aphorism by Dharma Master Cheng Yen

5 0 TZU CHI USA SUMMER 2015