A Peninsula woman has been a source of hope and help the homeless in northern San Mateo County for nearly 30 years.

Lisa Collins, director of the St. Vincent de Paul North County Homeless Conference, is in the kitchen at 6 a.m., boiling chicken to make soup that brings warmth and nourishment.

"It's more than the food. It's actually creating a community," she said, stirring the giant pot on the stove.

Collins has served as director for almost 30 years. She leads a program called Cafe Saint Vincent.

Collins, along with volunteers, pour a special blend of compassion on about 120 people who come to the cafe in South San Francisco each weekday morning.

They receive meals, clothing, hygiene products, and vouchers for gas and haircuts. And they get help securing jobs and housing.

"One of our homeless guys who comes in, every time he comes in, he always says the same phrase, 'Good to see you, nice to be seen.' That says it all. They just want to be seen, they just want to be heard," she said.

Collins first volunteered serving the unhoused as a college student in her native Ireland, after she encountered her first unsheltered person: a 13-year-old girl living in Dublin.

"I couldn't believe it. She was so young. And she was living by herself on the steps of the River Liffey," Collins described.

After working in magazine publishing in London for a decade, Collins came to the U.S. and volunteered with St. Vincent de Paul. Eventually, she accepted the job as homeless help center director and youth coordinator.

Anna-Marie Law comes to Cafe St. Vincent for food as she bounces from hotels to friends' homes for shelter.

Collins has helped her find employment, and has been her go-to person for support over the years.

"She helps with everything," said. Law. "She's wonderful. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her."

And there's nothing Collins wouldn't do for them.

She kept the cafe open during the pandemic. She documents their lives through photographs posted on Cafe St Vincent's walls. She became a therapist to help them through their trauma.

At one point, she co-founded a program, "Be a Dear, Donate a Brassiere" to provide free, clean underwear for those in need.

And she started a Christmas Giving Tree in the 1990s to fulfill wishes for some 120 guests each holiday season.

"Like, for Christmas, one man, all he wanted was a jar of mayonnaise, and he was so overwhelmed. Another man wanted a guitar, he got a guitar, and he played flamenco, it was really wonderful," Collins smiled.

Kevin Dempster is proof that people come back even after they've found housing. The retired ballpark concession manager returns for clothing, food and company.

He said, "I just like being part of everything. Makes me feel like I belong."

"And that's what we want to give them," Collins said. "We've been a home for so many who don't have a home."

For creating a community of hope and help for the unhoused at St Vincent de Paul's North San Mateo County help center, this week's CBS News Bay Area Icon Award goes to Lisa Collins.