A New Year for Neighbors in Need
Throughout this year, your gifts to St. Vincent de Paul CARES helped hundreds of men, women, and children find their way to new lives of stability and promise.
You might remember these neighbors from our earlier writings. They are people whose lives you helped change when they lost their livelihoods – and their hope.
- Ed, an ex-Marine, lost everything after his mother died and his business collapsed. Left with nothing but his backpack and his German shepherd, Arrow, he was sleeping under a tarp in a Walmart parking lot when someone from SVdP CARES found him.
- James was unable to work when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. His wife, Wandanet, was caring for him at home, but his fixed income wasn’t enough for them and their grandson, Davion, to survive. A family shelter referred them to SVdP CARES.
- Docilia and Doyle were forced to support themselves and their teenaged daughter on 15 hours of wages per week. Even a second job wasn’t enough to keep a roof over the family’s heads. SVdP CARES gave them shelter and support.
Your year-end gift to SVdP CARES will give a hand up to more men, women, and families in crisis. With your help, homelessness in our community can be rare, brief, and one-time.
Ed, James, and Docilia and Doyle all enrolled in the Rapid Rehousing program and began rebuilding their lives in a stable environment. Thanks to you, they all have a lot to look forward to in their new year.
“It was an awesome boost to become established,” James tells us. Ten months after transitioning out of the Rapid Rehousing program, he and his family are still in the same house and maintain a strong friendship with their case manager.
“My life is finally back on track,” says Ed. A temporary position managing prevention and restoration services in areas hit by hurricanes have given him a solid financial foundation. As he looks forward to becoming a permanent employee, he has successfully exited the program and plans to move in with a friend next year.
“SVdP CARES helped us every way they could,” Docilia says. Still enrolled in the program, both she and her husband are working again and their daughter is doing well in high school.
Every gift you make helps SVdP CARES provide the practical tools and encouragement people need to develop skills, strength, and resilience … so they can exit the program and start independent new lives! With a new year ahead, we have 1,185 current open cases.
Just one more gift in 2020 will help these struggling people start 2021 strong.
Thank you for providing housing and other compassionate care to so many people this past year and giving them a path forward in the year ahead. Click here to read a special letter from Michael Raposa, CEO of SVdP CARES.