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Dear Friends,
My message today is urgent: Many local families are in dire need of help: families where a breadwinner has lost his or her job, destitute seniors, others without the resources to cover basic needs.
I’m rushing out this memo seeking help from YOU and our other most generous supporters with my most fervent prayers.Please, will you make a gift today to help us as needs escalate this winter? Your support is urgently needed…
St. Vincent de Paul is serving many in our community who need utility and rent assistance to keep themselves and their families safe and warm through the winter months. But we can’t do it alone – we need your help!
Some of our neighbors are worried they won’t be able to pay their utility bills. Others are skipping meals or not taking needed medicine as they attempt to cut basic family expenses. They would “tighten their belts” more but literally have no place left to tighten.
But your compassion today will allow us to spare families from making terrible choices that no one should have to make, choosing between eating and paying rent, for example.
With your help, we’ll see the most vulnerable members of our community through the winter… people like Nancy.*
Nancy was worried about being laid off from her job. A single mother of four, living without any kind of child support. Nancy was forced to spend every dime of every pay check to cover basic expenses. Unfortunately, there were no savings, no rainy day fund.
After the layoff, Nancy immediately started searching for other jobs, but was without success. Two and then three months passed without her being able to make her rent. Soon after, her landlord followed through on a threat to evict the family. With no family or friends capable of helping, Nancy and her family found themselves suddenly homeless.
Please recognize that this reality could just as easily befall a co-worker, a family friend, a relative…
When it happened to Nancy, she felt completely lost. She didn’t know what to do. She just wanted the best for her family, as any parent does. But just as she felt as if all hope was lost, she went to a nearby church and discovered one of St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantries.
The volunteers there gave Nancy food for her family and told her about St. Vincent de Paul programs that helped distressed families like hers. The news – and their kindness – overwhelmed her. She felt immense gratitude and relief.
We welcomed Nancy’s family and treated them with dignity and respect as we do with every person or family who seeks our help. Nancy her and her family received not only food, but we helped her to secure housing and furniture. After their experience with homelessness, the children were so thankful for the simple blessing of having beds of their own to sleep in.
Nancy could not believe the love and support she received from St. Vincent de Paul. “They were so kind to us,” she said. “They gave me the encouragement to move on and to never give up.”
This is what your compassionate support makes possible. It allows St. Vincent de Paul to meet essential material needs and restore hope when anyone in our community is suffering and in need of help.
Please, will you make a gift today to help us provide more emergency assistance and meet the pressing needs of local individuals and families?
My greatest concern now is keeping up with requests for help this winter. So please be as generous as possible in helping today…
I hope you’ll remember that needs are especially urgent this time of year. Please know your response will determine how much we can help.
God bless you for caring – and for acting – today!
With deep gratitude,
William D. Brazier
Executive Director
St. Vincent de Paul Detroit
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