My mom was an alcoholic and at age 17 I decided to escape that. It was scary. You know, before I became homeless, I used to judge, but then it happened to me. I used to think that everyone who was homeless was on drugs, with alcohol problems, just not good people. But then when I got to St. Vincent I saw that just wasn’t the case, there are a lot of good people here that come from all sorts of backgrounds.

I was kinda hopping from house to house, until I was 18 when my aunt told me that St. Vincent could help me get a place of my own. Growing up, I was struggling from job to job, but you know I never really had anyone to teach me, how to pay bills, how to get a place of my own, how to work through my anxiety and depression. But you know, St. Vincent taught me all of that.

I was lonely. Scared. I didn’t know what path my life was taking, but for the first time I had hope. St. Vincent made me feel like I mattered, like I had a future to fight for. I didn’t have anyone, no family or friends at that point, but the staff at St. Vincent were kind and friendly. I was still terrified but they helped me feel a little bit more comfortable. From there, I was in and out of the shelter for the next few years, but the case workers at St. Vincent helped me and my husband to find a home in time for the birth of our daughter.

St. Vincent de Paul made me want to be better, it made me want to teach my children to be kind to others, to realize not everyone is as fortunate as we are now. Not everyone has a place to live, not everyone knows where their food and clothes are coming from. Now my husband works at St. Vincent, and we teach our kids to give toys back to the shelter for the kids who don’t have those things. Now we’re living in a nice area, our kids can go to good schools, I don’t know where we would be without St. Vincent.

from Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Dayton, Ohio (USA)