The Rev. Cordano, who is still recovering from a near-fatal bout of septic shock two weeks ago, has been good friends with the Schwabs for years. Charles Schwab, a financial broker, grew up in Santa Barbara and now lives in Atherton.

The 88-year-old Franciscan priest has been active in social service causes and an advocate of interfaith dialogue for more than six decades in Santa Barbara.

Father Virgil has a way of making everybody -- rich and poor -- feel welcome at the table and part of "our family," Sister Paule Freeburg, director of development for St. Vincent's, said in a statement.

The project itself is fitting to many of the causes the Rev. Cordano gave his to promoting, she said. St. Vincent's Affordable Housing Project, set to open this summer, includes 95 apartments for low-income seniors and 75 apartments for families.

The Father Virgil Community Building is a multi-purpose area that includes a large kitchen, spacious downstairs, community room, computer lab, offices and an upstairs mezzanine. The Schwabs gave $1 million toward that part of the project.

The donation brings St. Vincent's within $1.3 million of its $7 million fundraising goal. St. Vincent's operates under the auspices of the Daughters of Charity, the oldest continuously operating social service agency in Santa Barbara.

Members of the charity said it was fitting to bring the Rev. Cordano's name into the project. He has served many roles in Santa Barbara since arriving here in 1934, including pastor of the Santa Barbara Mission.

Named Santa Barbara's Man of the Year in 1988, he is also an author, teacher, volunteer and administrator. He has a chair of Catholic Studies named after him at UCSB, and was the subject of a recent biography, "Padre," by Mario T. Garcia.

The Rev. Cordano is currently recovering at Mission Terrace Convalescent Hospital after sustaining a fever of 107 degrees a few weeks ago.