CSM's History
Catholic Street Missionaries was born not from a boardroom but from one woman's encounter with Jesus, and her refusal to keep that encounter to herself. CSM continues to develop young adult lay missionaries to reach out to the margins of society and continue spreading Jesus' compassion to those who need it most.
From Silence comes God's Call to the Streets
In 2015, Mildred Moy — CSM's founder — travelled to the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California, for a 30-day silent retreat. It was there, in the quiet, that she heard God's confirmation of something that had been stirring in her heart for years: a call to build a community of full-time young missionaries who would go together to the margins of Vancouver.
On June 3, 2016 — the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Year of Mercy — Catholic Street Missionaries was officially incorporated as a B.C. registered charity, with the blessing of Archbishop Michael Miller. It was a fitting birthday. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is, after all, a heart that burns for the lost, the broken, and the forgotten.
CSM is proudly endorsed by the Archdiocese of Vancouver, with Archbishop Emeritus Michael Miller serving as our Spiritual Director.
Mildred Moy was born into a Catholic family in Hong Kong and attended St. Mary's Canossian College before immigrating to Vancouver with her family in 1985. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Computing Science from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the University of British Columbia — building what looked, from the outside, like a very successful life.
But something was missing.
Despite a thriving career, Mildred felt a deep, unbearable emptiness. Then, by God's grace, she had a conversion experience that changed everything. From that moment, she made a decision she has never walked back: to follow Jesus, no matter the cost.
In 2003, she heard God's call clearly — and answered it radically. She left her high-paying job at IBM to devote her life to serving Jesus in the prostituted women and the addicted on Vancouver's streets.
The Woman Behind the Mission
From Parish Ministry to a Movement
In 2004, Mildred founded St. Mary's Street Ministry, a parish-based outreach at St. Mary's Parish in Vancouver and a precursor to Catholic Street Missionaries. What began as one woman's obedience has grown into a thriving community of approximately 50 active volunteers (as of 2026), supported by hundreds of intercessors — including the sisters of St. Clare's Monastery and the Queen of Peace Monastery — praying daily for the missionaries and those they serve.
In 2009, Mildred responded to yet another call — this time to go deeper in prayer. She joined a contemplative charismatic community, spending 40 hours per week in silence. It was in that silence that her longing for the streets only grew stronger. After a year of discernment with her spiritual director, it became clear: God was calling her back out. She returned to St. Mary's Street Ministry and continued her work among the prostituted women, the addicted, and the homeless.
In 2013, Pope Francis recognized Mildred's decades of service to the poor by awarding her the Benemerenti Medal — a papal honour presented to her by Archbishop Michael Miller in November of that year.
And still, she felt God asking for more.
Mission for the Marginalized
The longing that had grown in Mildred through years of street ministry, silence, and prayer was a longing for companions — young missionaries who would walk the streets alongside her, full of faith and full of love.
Catholic Street Missionaries is the answer to that longing.
We exist because one woman said yes — and because we believe a whole generation of young people is ready to say yes too.