About Our Founder

Msgr. Robert Slattery spent his career working for Catholic Charities of St. Louis. He worked for St. Vincent’s Orphanage, Child Center of Our Lady of Grace, and Cardinal Ritter Institute before becoming the Executive Director of Catholic Charities in 1981. During his tenure, St. Patrick Center, St. Martha’s Hall, and Queen of Peace Center were founded. Msgr. Robert Slattery is remembered as being an advocate for the St. Louis community. He is survived by his loving family who continues to keep his mission and vision alive. His nephew, Jeff Buchek, is Queen of Peace Center’s Manager of Donor and Community Relations.

Queen of Peace Center History

Queen of Peace Center began serving the community in June of 1985 as an affiliate of Catholic Charities of St. Louis to support women recovering from substance use disorders. The primary diagnoses at the time were alcohol and cocaine. It opened with 17 beds for residential women. In the beginning, Queen of Peace Center was solely reliant on private funding.

Today, we serve over 1,000 women a year, along with their families.

The agency opened its CSTAR program in December of 1991. The CSTAR program expanded our funding and allowed us to expand our services, including a focus on pregnant and post-partum women. This program was also crucial because it allows children to receive services and live here with their mothers. CSTAR was the catalyst for developing the family-centered model that we utilize today.