Vincentians, as part of their training, are asked to quickly get to know many details concerning the current problems their assigned Neighbor In Need may be facing. Among others, this includes gathering facts about the person’s family and whether their families have been asked to help.
This is part of the process of determining how St. Vincent DePaul can best help them return to stability in their life.
The hope is that the Neighbor in Need has asked for help from brothers, sisters, parents, and extended family. In many cases, they have already been down that road and exhausted those close to them as a source to relieve their situation.
Recently however, we found a situation where the person in need of help was in that situation due to helping her own family. Her mother’s dementia was quickly worsening, while at the same time her younger sister was dying from cancer.
She moved to Atlanta in order to become legal guardian of her sister. She took on large expenses to get her sister the care and living arrangement she needed as the cancer worsened.
When she ultimately reached out to St. Vincent DePaul she’d spent her savings in support of her family and was herself facing eviction. She understood that she needed to reduce her expenses, so she was moving into a smaller less costly apartment. And since her terminally ill sister was now able to get financial assistance, her ongoing expenses in her support were significantly lower.
Knowing her need was urgent to avoid eviction, we went significantly above our normal guidelines to keep her in her apartment. That decision was made easier knowing that she would be financially stable in the future.
Thanks to the generosity of our IHM parishioners, we were able to avoid an eviction that would only have made this Neighbor in Need’s life even more stressful. If you would like to find out more about becoming a Vincentian, please reach out to reach out to Javier Lerch at [email protected] .
If a parishioner needs help, they can call 678-892-6163.