The Dream Center is an activity center built into the family dining room for children attending St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal that provides a designated space for children to engage in enriching activities like art, crafts, tutoring, reading and science experiments.

Carlos, a first-grader, has been attending the Family Evening Meal with his grandmother and three siblings. Carlos’ unstable home life hindered his ability to learn and caused him to be held back in school.

Carlos was withdrawn and resistant to any help at first, but made improvements as volunteers continue to work with him on a nightly basis to help him open up and develop friendships.

Seeing the work that was being done in the Family dining room, the usually shy and unhappy Carlos asked the Family Evening Meal manager Allison, if he could help.

“Carlos, we are very lucky because people are building it for us!” said Allison, Family Evening Meal manager. “But I want to help,” Carlos insisted. “Carlos, do you know how to use a hammer?” asked Allison, taken aback by Carlos’ initiative and enthusiasm. “YES!” Carlos said excitedly.

Carlos did not do any hammering, but Allison arranged a painting day for the children in Family Evening Meal so everyone could be involved.

Rosa and her two siblings come to St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal with their mother and grandmother each night. Her mother works full-time, but doesn’t make quite enough to pay for all the household expenses and put food on the table too. Without St. Vincent de Paul, Rosa and her siblings would go to bed hungry each night.


Rosa hopes to become a nurse when she grows up, despite the challenges she faces. “I want to help people and make money to help my mom too,” she says.   

The Dream Center recently opened and is complete with a reading library, tutoring stations, learning computers and space for arts and science projects, the Dream Center is designed to help children like Rosa and Carlos succeed in school and achieve their dreams.

Thanks to a generous donor, Mike Parker, and his family who dedicated the center to their grandmother, Ana Maria Manta, the Dream Center is open weeknights during the Family Evening Meal. Volunteers assist students with homework and lead educational projects as well. With the dedication and enthusiasm for learning that Rosa already demonstrates in the Dream Center, her ambition to become a nurse is a step closer to reality.

If you’d like to make a difference in someone life and learn the benefits of volunteering with us, contact the volunteer office at (602) 261-6868.

Visit our Facebook page for photos of the Dream Center

Volunteers from Aetna bring Christmas joy to a family

We first met Tyranza and her family when a team of teens from Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Anthem descended on her home for a two hundred person-hour transformation into a true work of art, as one of our Vincentian Fresh Perspectives home makeover projects. You can see photos of this makeover project here.

This week donor/volunteer employees of Aetna, who have worked with St. Vincent de Paul in so many helpful ways over the years, have learned about Tyranza’s family, and have adopted them for Christmas, bringing presents for all of the kids and meeting the family. This is another example of St. Vincent de Paul’s elves hard at work bringing Christmas joy to disadvantaged families. Thank you for your wonderful generosity! And thank you especially to Sarah from Aetna, who organized this day of giving.

You can find more photos of this joyful day on St. Vincent de Paul’s Facebook page here. (You don’t have to have a Facebook account to see the photos).

Tyronza's family was delighted by the visit from the elves

Vincentian Fresh Perspectives creates volunteer home makeovers for families in need. To learn more or to get involved, contact Gabriela at gbova@svdp-phx-az.org

The Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity is holding a golf charity benefiting St Vincent de Paul Phoenix!

The tournament will be held on Saturday, November 19th at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Wildfire Golf Club with a 7:45 a.m. shotgun start.

$150 per golfer or $500 for a foursome includes continental breakfast, golf, gift bag, lunch and awards.

There will also be a raffle and silent auction to add to the festivities.

Register or sign up as a sponsor at www.azgolf4charity.org!

Did you know that in Arizona, one in four children are struggling with hunger? Join St. Vincent de Paul to fight hunger in your community between September 12-18!

SVdP is partnering with local food banks to fight hunger. Donate food, volunteer or make a financial donation.

Hunger Action Week kicked off at SVdP’s Phoenix dining room at 7 a.m. on Monday, September 12 with opening remarks by Governor Jan Brewer, Jerry Colangelo, Jimmy Walker, and Russ Dickey, executive director of Lift Up America Arizona.

Help fight hunger in Arizona! Visit www.endazhunger.org. 

Donate food: Find drop-off locations for nonperishable food items from your home or a food drive.

Make a financial donation: Donate online or text* FEEDAZ to 85944 to help those struggling with hunger. *A one-time donation of $10 will be billed to your mobile phone bill. Messaging & data rates may apply.  Donations are collected for LIFT UP AMERICA by mobilecause.com. Reply STOP to 85944 to stop. Reply HELP to 85944 for help. (For terms, see www.igfn.org/t.)

Volunteer: Find a food bank, pantry or charity dining room and donate your time.

St. Louis Catholic Parish Youth Group, led by Hannah Voss, jumped out of the fire and into the frying pan this past week when they left Minnesota for a mission trip in Phoenix, Arizona—in the summer.  St. Vincent de Paul’s Vincentian Fresh Perspectives program was blessed the week of August 13th through August 18th with the group of 15 young volunteers and 2 adult supervisors.  Even though the heat was not something that they were used to, the group was cohesive and worked very hard.

St. Louis Parish Youth Group

While the youth group was here in Phoenix, Vincentian Fresh Perspectives had a VERY busy schedule!  They reorganized the “little” warehouse for the Vincentian Fresh Perspectives program, painted furniture to be used in projects, and painted murals on cardboard that also will be used for projects.  Most importantly, however, the group helped us with home makeovers.  For the first time since the program’s inception, we had four home makeovers in one week!  Without the help and cooperation of St. Louis Parish’s Youth Group, completing 4 home makeovers in one week would not have been possible.  To complete one project requires many hours of preparation.  A wish list has to be compiled for each project and then from that list, we hunt for the items in our warehouse.

Teen Angels earning wings!

It’s a bit like a treasure hunt!  Murals are painted on cardboard to be hung on the wall in the children’s rooms.  The truck needs to be loaded here at St. Vincent de Paul and then unloaded at the client’s home.  And lastly, those items need to be placed in the home and nicely organized, hopefully giving the client a “Fresh Perspective” on life.

This group of kids did an outstanding job!  They were a cohesive group that cooperated with one another to complete each project at hand.  It was great watching the group attack each project.  One of the group said, “You hear what they like and you get to make it happen.  You are able to use your creativity.”  And, that’s what they did. They started at the beginning and followed through to the very end. Dividing into groups, each group was focused and went to work doing whatever they were tasked with.  They were so

Decorating a young boy's bedroom

excited to see the looks of joy and to hear the expressions of gratitude from our clients when they realized that what they had done was make their house a home.   In fact, one of the girls said just that—she had been on 6 mission trips and this was her favorite one because she felt she actually was taking part in making a house a home.  This was a wonderful week, filled with blessings.  There were many smiles of joy—not only on the client’s faces but also on the faces of the youth group from St. Louis Catholic Parish.  Thank you so much for your willingness to serve!  You all are awesome!

Following a divorce and a move from the East Coast to Phoenix last year, Janet came to St. Vincent de Paul. Janet was faced with a couple big challenges of reentering the workforce after staying home for many years to raise a family and overcoming the psychological effects of her traumatic divorce.

Thanks to in-kind donations, St. Vincent de Paul was able to provide Janet with material needs such as interview clothing, bus passes and an alarm clock, among other basic necessities. But she also received help with her resume and interviewing skills. After several months, she developed the tools and confidence she needed to land a job as an office and administrative assistant at a car dealership. She is now able to provide for herself and start a new life in Phoenix.

St. Vincent de Paul is proud to announce the 12 News & Bashas’ Annual Peanut Butter & Jelly Drive starts today June 30th and runs through July 31st!

Donate food to needy Arizona families and the homeless. Summer is a particularly difficult time of year, when hungry children are home from school and the high Arizona summer temps means more air conditioning, which means high electricity bills that cut into the family food budget.

Click here to donate online or bring in your food donations to Bashas’ stores statewide through July 31st.

Let’s make 2011′s drive even bigger and better than last year!

 

families volunteering together

It’s been another busy month at St. Vincent de Paul, and we’ve put together a little recap of some of the activities you can learn more about online. Below you’ll find links to lovely photo albums, moving videos, and informative blog posts, and other things you can learn more about via our blog, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything – we can always add more. If you’d like to save this digest to…um…digest later, or to forward it to friends (hint, hint) its permanent URL is http://www.helpingthepoor.org/digests/digest06-11. By the way, all of the events and activities below have happened in the last 30 days.

Homelessness

Making the Transition from Transitional Shelter blog post.

One Expense Away From Homelessness, blog post.

Feeding the Hungry

Food-services manager oversees 3,200 meals daily at St. Vincent de Paul

What’s new in our Family Dining Room for June?

• Blog post
• June calendar

Fry’s executive team serving meals in our dining room.

Poppy’s Cup.  Kids honor their grandpa by raising money and food for St. Vincent de Paul at an ice skating event.

Volunteerism

SVdP Volunteer Profile series. Videos produced and narrated by Mary Jo West. Featured below are on Facebook page, others will be moving over soon, so that we can all write and read comments about these wonderful volunteers. For a sneak peak at others, see our YouTube channel.

• Terri
• Ryan
• Joanie
• Bill
• Blessed Sacrament Conference
• Alec
• Ana

A Personnel Perspective, a series of short videos of staff members and volunteers telling little stories about their work at St. Vincent:

• Mary Jo West

Volunteer Appreciation Event

Fry’s executive team serving meals in our dining room.

City of Phoenix Aviation Department serves meals in the dining room it paid to remodel.

Blog post and video about our new volunteer-run thrift store in Cottonwood.

Home Makeovers

Showered with Love A disabled vet gets a bathroom makeover that was years overdue.

Sewing them Together A tiny house gets a top to bottom transformation.

Charlie’s Tricycle for Freedom Charlie, an elderly veteran, gets his wheels back.

Go Dad! A single dad with four kids had his whole home made over by volunteers from various groups, including an Eagle Scout project.

Amazing before and after transformations. Pairs of photos, same rooms, same angles, before and after Vincentian Fresh Perspectives home makeover projects.

Thought Provoking

St Vincent de Paul is so dependent upon and grateful for the volunteers who help us help others. What area/type of volunteering are you drawn to personally?

Can you share a story about a veteran in your life?

Who serves as an inspiration to you?

Do you think a credit score reflects one’s character accurately?

What are your thoughts on giving cash or spare change to panhandlers?

Do you feel that it is better to assist a few people with their whole needs or several people with their basic needs?

Event & Visitors

Volunteer Appreciation Event

Third Annual Burrito Project

Bank of America Literacy Campaign and Book Drive to benefit St. Vincent de Paul

Engaging our Supporters

Dena’s Birthday Wish

Poppy’s Cup.  Kids honor their grandpa by raising money and food for St. Vincent de Paul at an ice skating event.

Testimonials

• Sarah Fey The company that I work for just did a bottled water drive for SVdP. We received 43 CASES of water! I encourage everyone to try to coordinate drives at their place of work or worship. They are so easy, put boxes out, send out emails, hang some signs and that’s it! It is a great way to give back without spending a lot of time. The results of drives though can help so many people! You can contact SVdP for what is needed …. sugar, non-perishable foods, water, etc. !!
• Kim Hatch: Great time volunteering this morning at St. Vincent de Paul…You should do it!
• Catholic Charities Community Services We had a great time volunteering serving the evening dinner last night. Thanks for the opportunity!
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix Another great outreach event partnering with St. Vincent de Paul for NeighborWorks Week! Where else can we reach new homeowners or those struggling with their mortgage payments with our programs and services? Neighborhood Fairs? Housing workshops? Vendor fairs? Neighborhood festivals? Let us know!
• Sue Fricke Thank you for the warm welcome this morning!!! All of the staff was wonderful! Thank you Blase
• Aldo Gonzalez Support the youth group at St. Vincent De Paul Church by enjoying a meal at Panda Express today before 8pm. Print and present this flyer at one of the 3 panda express restaurants listed in the flyer. Thanks for all of your support.
• La Tolteca It’s set! Our Third Annual Burrito Project, which benefits St. Vincent de Paul of Phoenix is scheduled for Thursday, July 21st here at La Tolteca. More exciting details on the Project to follow!

Hungry for more? There’s lots more great news, photos, and videos on St. Vincent de Paul’s website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, blog, and YouTube channel.

A Towering Success

St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal is a “hotbed” of activities this Summer (if you’ll pardon the Arizona dry humor!). Our manager of Family Programs, Allison Ghan, has put together an update for us, including a monthly calendar, to let you know how easy it us to join us or support us by stopping by for a visit, finding items on our wish list, or volunteering with our families. We hope to see you in our “cool” dining room!

To keep you updated on the many events and activities we have going on this month, we would love to show you our monthly calendar in hopes that you will stop in for a slice of pizza (June 17^th), join our guests in a Zumba class (every Monday!), schedule a time to volunteer (contact Khawkes@svdp-phx-az.org), or simply keep our families in mind as the weather starts to heat up.

Something new and exciting… Although school is out for the kids in the dining room, we are in the middle of an essay contest! One of our corporate partners, Freeport McMoRan, is giving away four bikes to four deserving young kids who are currently writing about who they think deserves a bike.

Volunteers are the center of attention

Winners will travel with their families to a special ceremony where they will receive recognition and their brand new bike! Following that essay contest is another one about energy sponsored by one of our regular volunteers who we believe is secretly trying to get all of the kids to become engineers. Thanks, Charlie!

Wish list:

Essay question for July, and a sponsor willing to donate a couple prizes

Family DVDs for cartoon/movie nights in the dining room

Birthday presents for older children (we have lots of toys, not as many ‘cool’ gifts for ages 10+)

Bingo prizes (anything fun!)

Storytellers spark kids' imagination

Thank you for all of your support for the work we do and people we serve. Take care!

The Family Dining Room Team

Steven is a hard working father of four children who works cleaning carpets for a living. With the help of St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal, he makes just enough money to pay bills and keep his children fed.

Then one day his carpet cleaning machine broke unexpectedly. And because the machine was vital to his work, he was forced to repair it right away. He used his rent money to pay for the repairs, but he was eager to return to work, hoping to pick up extra jobs to make up the money.

Then, a few weeks later his car broke down and the family had nowhere to turn. Steven was unable to get to his jobs, the rent was late and they were going to be forced out of their home.

Steven did not have family who could help and eventually talked to St Vincent de Paul Phoenix staff about his family’s situation. SVdP provided rent assistance so that Steven can fix his car and go back to work. In these times, so many families are just one major expense away from homelessness.

The generosity of donations to St Vincent de Paul are able to keep families together in their homes.