Vincentian Stories

We plan to share the stories of our neighbors whom we serve throughout the year. The stories are of real people in need in our neighborhood. We do not have to travel far to find the face of Jesus in the suffering and the poor. 


Story 1

“I’d rather have patience ...” is a philosophy of life that helped guide a special neighbor for over a year– a philosophy that we can all learn from."   
Saint Vincent de Paul

On August 25, 2017, a father and mother of four children, two girls and two boys ages 9-14, were the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Their rented home was flooded and furniture, clothes, and car were lost. The trauma of the hurricane caused the parents to separate leaving the father to care for four children.

Before Harvey, the father owned a repair business and worked a part-time job. The business flooded but fortunately he was able to get full-time work on the formerly part-time job. In addition, a friend loaned the father a temporary car, which on occasion doubled as a place to sleep. The well-behaved children had to travel frequently with dad in the car everywhere he went.

FEMA paid for hotels until July 2018 when the funding ran out. At that point the father applied for and paid fees and rent for a 2 bedroom apartment. They were about to move in when his application was denied by the corporate entity, in part, because of the fire code. Subsequently, the application was approved but for a larger, more expensive 3 bedroom apartment. However, repairs were required in the apartment and the move in date was moved from August 1 to August 8.
 
As a Harvey victim, the father learned about many Harvey resources including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, so he inquired at the SVdP church office in late July. He had $85 in his pocket, needed $1,390.65 in additional fees for the 3-bedroom apartment, did not receive Food Stamps, and had no family or friends who could assist him because they too were Harvey victims.

The first step our Society of St. Vincent de Paul Parish Conference took to help the family was to pay for an additional 5 days at the motel where they were staying until their apartment was ready August 8.  During this waiting time, Dad was resourceful and contacted Bread of Life and the Christian Community Service Center to obtain pledges totaling $727.65. Then the SSVdP pledged $663 so that dad could pay the $1,390.65 for the 3-bedroom apartment on August 8 and move in.
 
Next day, August 9, the SSVdP visited the family in the new apartment, totally bare of furniture, to complete a Hurricane Harvey Furniture application for needed beds, dressers, tables and chairs. The request was received at the SSVdP Headquarters and forwarded to Gallery Furniture to be filled. In preparation for school, clothing vouchers for the SVdP Thrift store were given so that the children could get clothing for school.

A week and two days later, the father notified our SSVdP conference that none of the furniture had been delivered and that they were still sleeping on the floor. A check with the SSVdP headquarters indicated that the family was on the list at Gallery Furniture but there was a backlog due to workers being on summer vacation. Delivery date was now reported as being the week of August 20. The father was relieved that his name was in fact on the list, but delivery was delayed. His comment was, “Oh that’s good news! I just wanted to be sure I didn't drop the ball somewhere. I’d rather have patience than regrets.” In the meantime, the SSVdP stepped in and provided inflatable mattresses and linens for 5 twin sized mattresses.
 
Needless to say, the father was very grateful, relieved that furniture was coming and is a terrific role model for his children. August 24, Gallery furniture delivered 5 beds, 5 dressers, table and chairs, a sofa and armchair. In addition a $300 Bed Bath & Beyond gift card was given to the father to obtain bedding and towels. The father has also found a second temporary job doing irrigation work to supplement his income. Everything seems well with this family right now as they are just beginning a new life of hope.

Story 2

“The kingdom of God is peace in the Holy Spirit; He will reign in you if your heart is at peace. So, be at peace, Mademoiselle, and you will honor in a sovereign way the God of peace and love.”  Saint Vincent de Paul

Her story was one of loneliness and the cross. At almost 70 years old she lives in a home inherited from her deceased mother, has concern over a brother with severe emotional needs,
and her only help paying bills is from the little money that her son earns mowing lawns.

She called because she was about to lose water service. Water leaks in her home had persisted for over a year and resulted in large bills.

Two Vincentians visited her home to offer compassion, hope and assistance. One Vincentian brought tools and went on hands and knees to diagnosis the extent of the problems. The needs were so significant that he took pictures to show a plumber.

We contacted two other charities to assist us in paying her bill, after spending many hours confirming with the city water department the extent of her expenses owed.

We thank Terrell Sword of Sword Plumbing Company, for his complimentary service of three
home visits to remedy our client’s water leaks. Terrell said that he was so very grateful to have had the opportunity to help an individual in such need.

We also advised our client about Social Security benefits that she was entitled to receive, and helped her obtain free legal advice which she needed.

The conclusion of our client’s story is that water resources have been saved, expenses reduced, the living environment of her home has improved and she is getting the legal and financial assistance that she needs. We offer sincere gratitude to the parishioners of our Church and to Sword Plumbing Company for helping us put into prayer and action the plea of St. Vincent de Paul: “Bear the pains of the poor together with them, doing all you can to give them whatever help they need, and remain in peace.”

Please call 713-664-5350 if you are interested in membership in our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference. Your prayers for Jesus in the suffering and in the poor and donations to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are humbly and gratefully appreciated. 

Story 3

“It is better to go beyond the limits of charity than to fail in it.”
Saint Vincent de Paul

We came to the family’s meager apartment, to respond to a request to provide a dining table and chairs to replace the broken table retrieved from a dumpster. We found little furniture, most of which was obtained from a dumpster. The living room couch doubled as a bed and the lamp did not work. Upon realizing that we would provide a table, chairs and furniture to replace what we were sitting upon, the mother began to weep. We asked what more we could do. She said that she and her husband and a very young daughter slept on mattresses on the bedroom floor. We observed that the mattresses were in a condition unfit to sleep upon.

The mother works as a dishwasher at a Houston hospital and her husband struggles to stay employed. Her eight year old daughter’s birthday went un-celebrated last week (the mother told us that her daughter pleaded with her to understand that all was well). Her son withdrew from his Fall semester of classes because he was unable to pay the $300 tuition expense. Her son is now working a part-time job to pay for next semester’s tuition. The mother is taking English classes and studying to obtain her US citizenship next year.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. A $1,000.00 parishioner donation to our Conference was received ten minutes before leaving for our home visit, thus easing our budget guidelines. We were able to order economical new beds and used furniture from the Vincentian warehouse for this family.

Throughout the home visit, the mother gently smiled and never once asked for anything, other than the dining table. All additional offers for assistance came from our inquiries and observations about what more that we could do for her family.

The closing prayer took place in English and Spanish, simultaneously. As we thanked God for the honor to be with her that afternoon and for strength to continue to care for her family, she prayed the following: “Thank you, Jesus, for the gifts coming to me today. Thank you for bringing me friends to help me. Please bless my friends for having shown mercy on me, and please bless all those whom they will continue to serve. Please let me be able to help others someday, as they have helped me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.”

The Vincentian home visit is the core of our ministry. The visit is more than the validation of need. The visit is to share time and establish a relationship with people in need. We pray and feel God’s presence.

Our SVdP Parish Conference extends humble and heartfelt gratitude to Monsignor Bill and the parishioners of our Church, for your overwhelming charity in helping us care for Jesus in the suffering and in the poor. Your prayers for, and donation checks made out to our SVdP Parish Conference are greatly needed and humbly appreciated. For information on joining us in our mission of holiness and charity, please call and leave a message at 713-664-5350.

Leviticus 25:35 - "And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you."

Story 4

“To be faithful is to persevere in the service of God right to the end, for without
perseverance, all is lost.”
Saint Vincent de Paul

The following story reveals the faith and perseverance of a young man who trusts in the power of God to successfully complete the work entrusted to him. He has had the courage and grace to be faithful to God and God’s will for him.

A young man recently called our Society of St. Vincent de Paul Parish Conference for rental assistance. A car accident in July caused him to lose one week of work, and ultimately his job in medical research. He still has pain in his wrist and was diagnosed with a twisted rib. In November, he starts a new job in diagnostic radiology work at a major research hospital.

During a walk‐in visit we came to know this special person and learned about his journey, and some of the obstacles he has overcome on the path to success. He is the oldest of nine siblings who grew up in a poor neighborhood in the Midwest. Statistics indicated that he and his siblings did not have much chance to break the cycle of poverty. His grandmother and mother challenged and prayed for him and his siblings to overcome life’s obstacles. He earned a scholarship to play on a Midwest NCAA Division 1 football team. His team was highly ranked and one year they won a BCS bowl game. Several of his teammates now play in the NFL. He is one credit hour away from finishing a degree in communications, and he is also pursuing a medical degree specializing in radiology. He moved to Houston earlier in the year to continue his education and begin a career in medicine.

He is the first in his family to graduate from college. His siblings are following in his path and the next three are in college. His ultimate ambition is to attend medical school. He is active in his faith and has become involved in a local church.

There are many types of people and many different situations which result in people who need help. We were glad to help this special person overcome an obstacle on the road to success.

Our SVdP Parish Conference extends humble and heartfelt gratitude to Monsignor Bill and the parishioners of our Church, for your overwhelming charity in helping us care for Jesus in the suffering and in the poor.

Your prayers and donations to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are greatly needed and humbly appreciated. For information on joining our SVdP Parish Conference, please call and leave a message at 713‐664‐5350. 

Story 5

“New works, however holy, do not develop unless they have a promoter who follows them closely.” Saint Vincent de Paul

A Boy Scout was recently looking for ideas for his Eagle Scout project. His father is a Vincentian with our Society of St. Vincent de Paul Parish Conference, and the son asked to learn more about the Vincentian ministry and their needs. He visited their Gulf Freeway Resale Store and learned they had the ambition to set up an eStore. He realized he could help them realize their vision. The scope of his project was to create the processes to: find, sort, value, post and ship items for sale online. The scope included cleaning out and organizing the store room, jewelry room and eStore office. He consulted with a successful Society of SVdP store in Wisconsin and learned from their experience.

The project ran smoothly. More than 200 hours of service work and $3000 in donations helped give the eStore the momentum they needed to get started. The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul is excited to have this new opportunity and expects sales to grow to more than $5000 per month. The eStore will target people who are looking for special items such as musical instruments, sports memorabilia, jewelry, antiques, silver, china, art and vinyl records. The eStore will reach people worldwide. The eStore is also expected to increase awareness of the retail store and generate additional in store sales. The revenue generated will benefit the poor.

Let us pray for the success of the new eStore and the continued success of the young man as he not only pursues fulfilling the requirements to earn his Eagle Scout award, but also fulfills the words of Saint Vincent de Paul that “Love is inventive, even to infinity.”

Story 6

"If the world takes something from us on the one hand, God will give us something
on the other."
Saint Vincent de Paul

The mother of seven children, she had worked hard all of her life – sometimes two jobs consuming thirteen hours of her days. At seventy years old, she works in housekeeping to support herself, and to continue to give to her children and grandchildren. A recent stroke now finds her unable to return to work until more healing has taken place. Thus, she is unable to pay her September rent.

Her daughter opened the door as we entered her apartment. The elderly woman stood quietly behind her dining room table watching us, and then proclaimed of a vision she narrated as we entered. She saw one of us with an angel beside her, our Vincentian who would lead the Spanish home visit. She saw the other of us with a man behind, carrying a large staff. He stopped to hug the Vincentian beside him, and gave her his staff. At the conclusion of the home visit, the woman wanted to know who the man would have been to hug her. The angel had guided us to her, and Jesus as the Good Shepherd entrusted the care of His flock to us.

We came to encounter and bring mercy to Jesus in the suffering and in the poor. In turn, the poor woman called us God’s instruments. She had never been in a situation of needing help from others, but accepted the blessing that she was receiving because she believed that it came from God. She believed that we had helped thousands of others like herself, and proclaimed that one day Our Lord would welcome us with exceptional love. What the woman did not realize, was that she was the Presence of Christ welcoming our love at that moment.

We asked to pray with the woman and her daughter at the end of the home visit. She wanted to sing for us, and proceeded to chant words of praise, adoration and gratitude to God. We left her in tears, yet a strong and holy faith radiated through her smiling presence.

Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul travel in pairs to make home visits to the poor in our area on a daily basis. Each home visit takes approximately one hour of our time. We work to alleviate the concerns of the poor, struggling to overcome loss of employment, illness or family emergencies. We help pay their rent, electric and medical bills and provide food, furniture and clothing, working to help the poor help themselves. Our job referral ministry looks to end the cycle of poverty.

If you are interested in membership in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, please call (713) 664‐5350. Your prayers and contributions are humbly appreciated and very much needed. 

Story 7

"If temptations are necessary for everyone, they are also a source of merit for those to whom God grants the grace of turning all things to good." 
Saint Vincent de Paul

We came to visit a family of four in one of the very poorest apartment complexes in our immediate neighborhood. The family’s request for assistance with their electric bill was minimal, compared to the need of the mother of two daughters to share her trials and triumph of faith with others. Her ten year old daughter had just finished her fifth bone tumor removal operation on her left ankle. As a young girl eager to be with her friends who enjoyed being active and playing sports, her surgery was a great adjustment to now living a life apart from all that she had previously enjoyed. The two new tumors on the little girl’s right ankle were still unknown to her, since her mother could not bring herself to face the outcome of another surgery, which would require telling her daughter of the necessity to face many months ahead in a wheelchair.

The mother’s faith reached far beyond the problem of paying medical bills for her youngest daughter, and her husband’s struggle to pay their rent with a job working for a cleaning contractor. “We have had to live in shelters, and now appreciate what it means to have a roof over our heads. I want to teach my girls to give back, and never bother of the outcome of sacrifice in being generous to others. I take care of my neighbor’s children, and drive their children to school along with my own. This is my only way of giving back.”

The mother has continued to give back beyond our home visit, in a way that has strengthened our faith along with hers. Every few days, we receive a scripture reflection from her – “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

We travel as Vincentians to bring hope to the poor. Our gift from God is to encounter Jesus in their faces. Your prayers and donations to our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference are always needed, and humbly appreciated. Information on membership in the Society may be obtained by calling (713) 664‐5350. If temptations are necessary for everyone, they are also a source of merit for those to whom God grants the grace of turning all things to good.

Story 8

"I thank God for your willingness to do His Holy Will, no matter what the cost, with no regard for your own inclinations." 
Saint Vincent de Paul

A single mother with three children ages one year to seven years of age came to us for
assistance with her rent expenses, and multiple other problems present in her life. After our
Parish SVDP Conference helped pay her April rent and pledged to finance her residency/work permit applications, it was evident that much more assistance was needed. Within forty eight hours, the mother’s full May and partial June rent bills were paid through personal member donations, food was provided to feed her hungry family, four boxes of diapers and a high chair were donated when she had none, four hours of donated time regarding legal paperwork was contributed, and three housekeeping jobs became available through a network of neighbors in
our immediate Parish and Medical Center community.

The two‐fold mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is for members to grow in holiness and render service to Jesus in the suffering and those living in poverty. Pope Saint John Paul II instructed us: “We are not allowed to pass by on the other side indifferently; we must stop beside him. Everyone who stops beside the suffering of another person, whatever form it may take, is a Good Samaritan.” Let us remember that we all belong to one another.

Your prayers and donations are always needed, and humbly appreciated. Please call 713‐664‐5350 for information on how you can help the poor through our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference. 

Story 9

“Hospitality in itself isn’t enough. It’s not enough to give a sandwich if it isn’t accompanied by the possibility of learning to stand one one’s own feet. Charity that does not change the situation of the poor isn’t enough. True mercy, which God gives and teaches us, calls for justice, so that the poor can find a way out of poverty.”
Pope Francis

In ten days’ time, God assisted the efforts of two anonymous Vincentians, volunteers and contributors from our Parish ministry “That Man is You,” and financial support from the parishioners of our Church to our Conference Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference, to fulfill the dream of a grandmother in advanced stages of cancer, and her single mother daughter of recent husband’s death with six children, ages 10 to 1 year of age.

The mother traveled from out‐of‐state to Houston to find a home for herself and her family, in order to help her elderly and sick mother. They all stayed in a hotel, until a low income home became available with nothing within but the walls upholding the structure. The daughter had taken on two home healthcare clients, to provide work for herself in supporting her family. Responding to the grandmother’s plea for assistance two days before their scheduled move into the house, three truckloads of furniture (including an oven/range, washer and dryer and microwave, kitchen table and chairs, a side painted table for the girls and a small wooden table for the little ones), an additional carload of appliances, furniture and linens (bedding, sleeping bags and set of 8 clay, Mexican hand‐ painted dinner plates and glasses), and a brand new air conditioner were delivered and installed. The prayer of St. John Paul II was fulfilled in this mission of holiness and charity: “Grow with a boundless spirit that is free and generous in self‐giving to Christ, Who waits among your needy brothers and sisters.”

In 1660 when asked on his deathbed what would he have done differently with his life, St. Vincent de Paul’s dying word was “more.” The family’s story continues. Help was given to adjust the children into their new charter school, and school supplies, uniforms and new tennis shoes were provided for all. Additional cash donations were made to supply basic incidentals and clothing that the family members were lacking, and a home cooked meal brought on one of the multiple days of visit. Two VISA gift cards were provided to buy silverware and additional household items. Most importantly, the family was guided into establishing a mentor relationship with a counselor from the THRIVE program, to help them with budgeting and life style needs going forward.

Our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference extends humble and heartfelt gratitude to Monsignor Bill and the parishioners of our Church, for your overwhelmingly charity in helping us care for Jesus in the suffering and in the poor.

Your prayers are greatly needed. For information on joining our Parish SVdP Conference, please call and leave a message at (713) 664‐5330.

Story 10

“The ones most in need are the ones who give us the Word of God.”
Pope Francis

We climbed the steep stairs to her one bedroom apartment, to find the front door open and an elderly poor woman awaiting our visit. A recent surgery left her unable to work, but using her time to help her daughter, care for her grandchildren, and interview for job opportunities that would not require her to be standing for any length of time. We helped pay a portion of her rent, after her contribution to pay the balance owed. At the conclusion of the home visit, we asked what she would especially like to pray for that afternoon. The woman looked at us with tired, downcast eyes and replied: “That I will learn to be the bigger person.” She then began to tell of her husband, incarcerated for multiple wayward paths of living. She had forgiven him of his betrayal and lies, and chose to pray that he would one day come to know his grandchildren. She prayed that she could continue to know forgiveness in her heart, and that her husband would one day be able to join his family again. The “bigger person,” whom we came to serve, showed us the path to be a servant to Jesus in the suffering and in the poor.

If you are interested in membership in our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference, please call (713) 664‐5350. Your prayers and donations are honored with humble gratitude. Your prayers bring hope to the poor, and your donations help finance their rent, electric, food clothing, medical, transportation and furniture needs, and obtain employment resources. 

Story 11

“I want to share my story. Franciscan Friars oversaw my education for eight years, Catholic Charities helped me gain asylum in the United States and obtain a Social Security card and work permit, and now you are here to help me. The Catholic Church has always shown me great love. I want to learn more about this man, Jesus Christ. I know that He is the Word of God. I know that He is the Spirit of God. I know that He lives in Heaven. But I want to know who He really is.”

This man came to us requesting assistance with his March rent. A refugee from Syria of the Muslim faith, he escaped with his life to come to the United States. His hopes are to find a job in his twenty year profession of mechanical engineering and establish a safe home for his family. He left his wife and two young sons with his brother‐in‐law. Upon also trying to escape from Syria across the Lebanon border, his brother‐in‐law was beaten to death. His family now moves from place to place for safety. They are without power for extended periods of time, making it impossible for him to maintain communication with them. His apartment is furnished with one bed, one coach, one dresser, and a picture of each of his sons.

Thank you St. Vincent de Paul Parishioners, for responding to the need of this husband and father. Your donations to our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference helped pay for his March rent. Your prayers and donations are always needed, and humbly appreciated. Please call 713‐664‐5350 for information on how you can help the poor through our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference. 

Story 12

“I want to share my story. Franciscan Friars oversaw my education for eight years, Catholic Charities helped me gain asylum in the United States and obtain a Social Security card and work permit, and now you are here to help me. The Catholic Church has always shown me great love. I want to learn more about this man, Jesus Christ. I know that He is the Word of God. I know that He is the Spirit of God. I know that He lives in Heaven. But I want to know who He really is.”

A young, single mother with three children ages three to eight years of age, humbly asked assistance for help to pay her electric bill. She explained, “I am 65 days into breaking my drug addiction. My children had chosen to want to spend time with their grandmother, rather than with me; I knew that I had to change my life.” A crucifix hangs above the door of her apartment, a gift from her grandmother. Below the crucifix her grandmother’s words are written on a torn piece of notebook paper, taped to the inside door of her apartment: “How often in our trials our plea to the Lord is: Quick, change my situation. Make my life easier. But His love is set on changing us, on bringing us forth as gold. Instead, our prayer should be: Father, change me. Don’t end this trial until You have done all you want to do in my life through it.” For the first time in eight years, this young mother is attending church again, and bringing her children with her. She goes to a weekly bible study class, and continues her AA classes. God is now a part of her life and she has regained the love of her children.

Thank you, St. Vincent de Paul Parishioners, for responding to the need of this young single mother. Your donations to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul helped pay her August electric bill. Your prayers and donations are always needed, and humbly appreciated.

Please call 713‐667‐5350 for information on how you can help the poor through our Parish
Society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

Story 13

"If there are any among us who think they are in the mission to evangelize the poor people but not to alleviate their sufferings, to take of their spiritual needs but not their temporal ones, I reply that we have to help them and have them assisted in every way, by us and by others."  
Saint Vincent de Paul

A young man and his brother, on their way from Louisiana to visit their dying uncle in California, were stranded in Houston after their truck broke down on the interstate. They requested help in continuing their journey, but the bus fares would have been more than we were able to pay. We financed their travel to return to their family and jobs. After our concluding prayer for the two brothers, one young man prayed the following: “Dear Lord, thank you to this Church for helping me and my brother. We are very grateful to them. They helped us when no one else would.” The young man had recently recovered from a life of sin including drug addictions and attempted suicide. His new found faith in God found him witnessing to youth groups of the trials and temptations that he had overcome. He left us wanting to go forward in his faith to help others.

Thank you, St. Vincent de Paul Parishioners, for responding to the need of this young man and
his brother. Your donations to our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference helped pay
for their transportation in a time of great need. Your prayers and donations are always needed, and humbly appreciated. Please call 713-664-5350 for information on how you can help the poor through our Parish Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference. 

Story 14

"Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances."
Saint Vincent de Paul

A recent experience of a Society of St. Vincent de Paul Vincentian found her praying alone in the Adoration Chapel with a gentleman seated near her.  He was asleep and had his “travelling” bag with him.  She felt the Holy Spirit nudge her to talk to him, but she thought to herself, “He is asleep.”  Yet shortly thereafter, the man awoke.  She visited with the homeless man, gave him information for shelters, and a little something to buy some coffee and a meal. 

Prior to the man’s waking, she had been reading her Ignatian retreat assignment for the week, Isaiah 43: 1,4,12,13:  “Don’t be afraid, I have rescued you.  I have called you by name; now you belong to Me.  To Me, you are very dear, and I love you.  I promised to save you, and I kept My promise.  I am God now and forever.  No one can snatch you from Me or stand in My way.”  She asked the gentleman if she could read this to him, since they were the only two people in the chapel.  He said “Yes.”  She asked him if he knew God loved him and he said “Yes.”  He said that he was sorry that he was sleeping in the chapel.  She told him that God treasured him and wanted him to be able to come into His house and pray.  The man then dropped to the kneeler and began to pray.  She returned to her seat and continued her reading: “I promise to fill your heart with My love and with gifts of peace and courage and passion, because you are sharing My love in service to others.” 

Story 15

The single mother with her young son came to our Society of St. Vincent de Paul Parish Conference requesting help to pay her rent and electric bills, and locate resources to help her son.   Her story was one of leaving her country as a pregnant mother to raise her son in a new home.  She struggled for 11 years making only enough money to support herself and her son on minimum wage jobs.  Extreme stress and loneliness, a victim of Hurricane Harvey and loss of employment to care for her son were the final challenges that she could not overcome.  With no money left to afford to keep her apartment, buy food or pay for any expenses, she decided to return to her homeland and live with her family again.
 
Through this past year, our SSVdP Conference helped pay her rent and electric bills, provided moral and spiritual support, and shared multiple resources to help her son.  Upon deciding to leave the United States to be with her family, we purchased bus tickets for the mother and her son and a VISA gift card to pay for food and travelling expenses.
 

The mother shared with us her great Catholic faith, in word and example.  At our last meeting with her, she gave us the following letter and a certificate of St. John Paul II’s words with picture and seal.  She prayed that sharing her gifts with our parish community would express her gratitude for the funds that enabled us to help her through a long journey to return to her family, and seek help for her son:

“To All Members of SVdP,

This letter is an expression of my gratitude to all of you for the support you gave to my son and me (a child of Christ).  I can only repay your immense kindness by asking God to always bless you for providing help to those in need.  Although I did not meet all of you, my prayers are always with you. I kindly ask you to keep me in your prayers so that I can continue listening to God's messages and guidance.  Again, many thanks and blessing to all of you and your beautiful service. May Saint Vincent de Paul be always with you.”
 
Gift of St. John Paul II’s words, with picture and seal:
 
"Do not be afraid.  
Open the door to Christ.
God works through events in a concrete and personal way in each of us.
Permit yourselves the time the Lord has given you to run the race,
as if everything you have and are depends on it.
With these auspicious thoughts, I send you all from my heart my profound blessing." – St. John Paul II
 
May our gift in gratitude to this mother be our prayers for Jesus in the suffering and in the poor and service to Him in our neighbor by putting mercy into action.
 
“I wish you a new heart and an entirely new love for Him, who loves us unceasingly and as tenderly as if He were just beginning to love us.  All the delights of God are ever new and full of sweetness because He never changes.” – St. Vincent de Paul
 

Story 16

Utility Bill…But So Much More...

We arrived before her because she had heavy traffic.  she was anxious and stressed when she arrived, so we calmly waited until she was ready to visit with us.  She had requested help with her power bill but she had so much more to share. 

Our neighbor had been in the hospital for nine days because of a reaction to medication.  She was behind on her bills because she missed work, but she had a plan to catch up.  She has no family and was raised in the foster system in another state.  At 16 she left and eventually found her way to Houston.  She loves to learn so she enrolled in Lamar High School and graduated….while being homeless. Her idea of a good time is studying biology.  She continued to be homeless but studied for an Associate Degree at HCC and worked doing medical research, which was published.  

At times her path has been interrupted as she sought help for unresolved mental wellness issues. Today she is stable and continues to get help.  She has an apartment and is enrolled in UofH with a path to graduation.  Our neighbor is passionate about biology but decided to be a child life specialist because she wants to help protect the integrity and innocence of children. She had a very difficult childhood but the mental pain and consequences from her childhood does not inhibit her beautiful large smile. We talked about faith.  She has a mentor who has invited her to begin RICA.  Her faith in God has grown as she has faced and overcome challenges. At the end we prayed.

A Vincentian prayer includes “We thank You, Lord, for the many blessings which we receive from those whom we visit.” We are thankful for have met and helped her.