St. Mary’s Franciscan Shelter for Homeless Families
Sometimes the families that come through our Shelter are only loosely connected. The couple may not have lived together before arriving to stay with us, and thus their time at St. Mary’s is the time that they really get to know each other.
Since we are, at best, a collection of families in crisis, conditions here are not ideal for working out difficulties in relationships. Hence, families sometimes split while they are here, or soon after they leave.
One former resident is a woman I will call Johanna. She came to us with twin sons only three months old. If you asked her, she would say she arrived feeling scared, ashamed, uncertain, insecure, and like a failure (her words). Johanna may have felt that way inside, but what we saw was a devoted, patient mother determined to do right by her children. She just needed a helping hand to get back on her feet again.
Johanna went out almost immediately searching for work, and she found a good job with Verizon. Our Case Manager set about the task of finding a daycare program that would accept babies that small. God smiled and led her to the only one in the county located around the corner from her work.
That task accomplished, the next question was housing. But Johanna’s babies were so small, we advised her to enter a longer-term program, a transition, before she would try all by herself to work full-time and care for her children. She agreed and entered a longer term shelter also located near her work place.
That shelter’s program required counseling sessions and long hours “in group”. After putting in a full day many times Johanna felt like escaping it all, but for the sake of her boys, she went on. Within a year we helped to furnish her new place, a place of her own.
She wrote to thank us, but she did more than that. Her company was doing a collection for a shelter in West Chester, and Johanna went to the organizers and spoke of our shelter. As a result, we received some of the items collected and a handsome cash donation as well. Johanna is another success story made possible only because so many of you help and support us. We thank you! Next Case Study…
