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

 

Our sincere thanks go out to the group of volunteers from Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Anthem for their help in transforming an almost empty house to a cozy home where a family spend quality time together.  This transformation was made possible by St. Vincent de Paul’s Fresh Perspectives program, a volunteer program that provides home repair and furnishings to low-income families that cannot afford basic items for their homes.

After leaving an abusive marriage, the mother struggled to provide for her four children. This three-generation family couldn’t afford a dining room table and chairs, or even a desk where the kids could do their homework. But now the have a wonderful cozy home thanks to donations and volunteers.

See photos of the amazing before and after transformations on our Facebook page!

To donate items or to volunteer, contact Gabriela Bova at gbova@svdp-phz-az.org.

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!

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

Vincentian Fresh Perspectives

A lot has been happening at St. Vincent de Paul, even in our supposedly “slow” season.

New programs, noteworthy visitors, great new relationships, and new ways of engaging with our supporters. We’ve been posting lovely photo albums, producing moving videos, and writing informative blog posts. But you may have missed something in an area that interests you, so I’ve compiled a little digest, by subject area, of 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/digest05-11-fb-yt-bl. By the way, all of the events and activities below have happened in the last 30 days.

Feeding the Hungry

Blog post about a volunteer who is giving our homeless dining room guests (all 800 of them) a name tag on the day he volunteers.

Flowers that Feed Why give cut flowers when your loved one can have Flowers that Feed?

Easter Party in the Family Dining Room thanks to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Sodexo.

Health Care

Banner Health teaches kids about healthy eating

Homelessness

What are your thoughts about homeless individuals owning pets?

Homeless guest at main St. Vincent de Paul dining room sings the national anthem at an Arizona Diamondbacks game.

Open House at Ozanam Manor transitional shelter.

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.

• Andy Andreano
• Anita Tabcharani
• Ellen Lagerman

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

• Ed Dubiel
• Patricia Metrick
• Cassidy Zoellner

Blog post about a volunteer who is giving our homeless dining room guests (all 800 of them) a name tag on the day he volunteers.

Angels who make Curtains for Vincentian Fresh Perspectives home makeovers.

Corporate volunteers love making SVdP Tees, which raise money to fund our homeless programs.

Hearts and Hands Day of family volunteering

SVdP volunteer Dick Warren wins Governor’s volunteerism award.

Home Makeovers

A Collection of Vincentian Fresh Perspectives Home Makeovers

Cesar’s New Bed Six year old gets his own bunk to recover from kidney surgery.

The Lemon Tree Mayo Clinic paints the house a disabled vet and his wife have lived in for over 50 years.

The Ice Cream Truck and the Girls Four girls who share a small room get their own beds.

Angels who make Curtains for Vincentian Fresh Perspectives home makeovers.

Thank You Nana A grandmother caring for her four granddaughters gets her house painted by a team of volunteers.

Events & Visitors

SVdP International President visits Phoenix for Western Regional Meeting

• Story
• Photos

Golf for Charity event, organized by the Our Lady of Joy Knights of Columbus, raises money for St. Vincent de Paul and has become one of the top charity events in the area.

Hearts and Hands Day of family volunteering

Land of Ahhs honors new SVdP program, Vincentian Fresh Perspectives.

A Shred-A-Thon for Earth Day.

SVdP volunteer Dick Warren wins Governor’s volunteerism award.

Open House at Ozanam Manor transitional shelter.

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Video honoring a group of fabulous volunteers is in two parts:

• Part One
• Part Two

Thrift Stores

Video describes new Volunteer-run thrift store in Cottonwood, AZ.

A Shred-A-Thon for Earth Day.

Ozzie’s Furnishings grand re-opening.

Thought Provoking

Should a food box be handed to anyone who asks for it?

What are your thoughts on restricting restroom access to “customers only,” in public establishments?

What are your thoughts about homeless individuals owning pets?

Who from your childhood has had the greatest positive effect on the kind of person you are today?

Activities for Needy Families

Family Evening Meal calendar – May

Banner Health teaches kids about healthy eating

Easter Party in the Family Dining Room thanks to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Sodexo.

Engaging our Supporters

SVdP “Friend-Raising” Campaign to meet new Facebook Fans

Liliana’s Birthday Wish

Hearts and Hands Day of family volunteering

Flowers that Feed Why give cut flowers when your loved one can have Flowers that Feed?

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.

Hearts & Hands Day is an unique volunteer opportunity that is open to for families with children of all ages. This family volunteering opportunity can introduce children to the benefits of volunteering as well as develop a sense of why volunteering is important.

Service projects may include sorting donated items, working in our kitchen or store, assembling mailings, or putting together hygiene packs for the homeless.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

9 a.m. to Noon

St. Vincent de Paul

420 W. Watkins Rd. (7th Ave. and I-17)

Schedule of Events

9:00 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Breakfast & Registration

9:20 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Welcome & Orientation

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Service Projects

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Lunch, Reflection, & Optional Tour

Register for Hearts and Hands Day 

Phillip Tirone, who writes a blog on personal growth, volunteered last Monday in one of the St. Vincent dining rooms. He brought an idea we’ve never tried before — name tags for our homeless guests. Phillip writes about his experience, excerpted below, in his blog.

call me by my name

Remember to call me by my name

by Phillip Tirone

On Monday, I had an experience that changed my life.

I’ve been volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter, which serves thousands of homeless people per week. On the first day I volunteered, I went home feeling really haunted. Homeless people don’t feel like they have dignity. They feel invisible.

And the hard-to-admit truth is …

When I see homeless people on the street, I ignore them. I don’t think I’m alone in this. We ignore homeless people. We try not to look at them. We certainly don’t ask them their names.

It’s almost too sad to think about.

But The Checklist Manifesto inspired me to do something really simple. On Monday, I brought a big bag of nametags to St. Vincent de Paul. As people arrived for their meal, I asked them their names so I could give them nametags.

I handed out 427 nametags last Monday.

Some people didn’t want them, but about 80 percent did. In fact, at times people waited in line for a nametag, even though the food line was empty!

When I spelled a name wrong, some would say, “Don’t worry about it.”

I responded the same way every time: “No, I’m going to get it right; your name is important to me.”

Tears welled up in two people’s eyes. Both times, as these people walked away, my eyes filled with tears as well.

We instructed all the volunteers to start calling people by their first name, and afterward, the executive director, Steve Zabilski, said to me: “I’ve called more people by their first name today than I have in the last 10 years of working here.”

The badges gave them back their names. It gave them an identity, and it gave them some dignity.

And the nametags served as a checklist: Remember, these are people with hearts that feel the pain of life, just like I do.

Windows of Opportunity 

angels who make curtains

The Vincentian Fresh Perspective program is blessed with angels, angels who make curtains!  Ladies from the First Congregational Church in Tempe have taken on the project of putting curtains on all of the windows of the homes the Vincentian Fresh Perspective program is improving.  Led by Pat Quinnett, these ladies scour the East Valley looking for deals on material and hardware and make curtains to order for each home makeover project.  They even personalize them so they “fit” each person’s room and personality!  Their donation of time, talent, and resources truly makes a difference.  As one client put it, “They’ve never had anything like this.  Now my kids are so happy and proud of their rooms, they WANT to keep them clean.  I am so happy!”  We all are grateful, ladies! (You can see a photo album of these angels at work.)

Vincentian Fresh Perspectives: Volunteer home makeovers that prove there’s no place like HOME.

windows of opportunity

St. Vincent de Paul’s new program, Vicentian Fresh Perspectives, creates magic through home makeovers for needy families, using the creativity, donated items, and labor (of love) from volunteers, both individuals and groups. Volunteers are always welcome, and opportunities abound for what activities you or your group might do, from office help to garage “sailing” to paining to bike repair. But we also need your help telling the story of this exciting new program to others, so that more people from the community might be inspired to sponsor a family’s makeover, each in their own way. A typical home makeover needs a financial sponsorship of just $500 to purchase what few supplies aren’t found or donated. For more information about how you can get involved with this new program, contact Gabriela at gbova@svdp-phx-az.org or at 602-261-6897.

Thanks to your online votes last year, St. Vincent de Paul won an fruit tree orchard grant as part of the Communities Take Root program, sponsored by Dreyer’s Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.    

Now, it’s finally time to plant those fruit trees!

We are looking for volunteers on March 24 to help us plant our orchard!

“The fruit orchard will replace some existing shrubs and trees near our main entrance to help beautify the premises, improve air quality and provide a fresh fruit source for our Family Evening Meal program and emergency food donation boxes,” said Janice Ertl, director of the St. Vincent de Paul Virginia G. Piper Medical & Dental Clinic. “The orchard would also provide an educational opportunity for our Family Evening Meal guests to learn about healthy food choices.”     

Please join us on Thursday, March 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Contact Mary Chou-Thompson, communications manager, at mthompson@svdp-phx-az.org for more information.   

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