It’s fair to say that most Vincentian caseworkers strive to achieve compassion for the Neighbors in Need.
At times, such compassion can be elusive, given a myriad of extenuating circumstances that arise. At other times, a Vincentian finds an overabundance of compassion at multiple inflection points during their work.
A recent case of a homeless man and his dog provided our Vincentian the opportunity to go above and beyond in his assistance.
The man was living in his car with his dog. He had a spotty work history and at the time of their first meeting, he was trying to drive for an online delivery service to make some money and occasionally rent a room for a night to clean up. He had a history of depression and was unable to pay for his medications.
In truth, his dog meant the world to him, helping him stay more grounded and functional in providing for him.
Right away, it was clear that the man’s car was so unreliable that he could not expect to earn money using it for deliveries. Our Vincentian purchased a battery, two new tires, and some gas to get him on the road, plus a week of temporary lodging.
He also needed medication for his depression. In two clinic visits, he was not successful, since he could not keep the dog in the car long enough to wait for an appointment to open.
Our Vincentian proposed to keep the dog at his own backyard in the shade and drive the man to the clinic and wait with him until he was seen. This took 5 hours of waiting with him to achieve the outcome. The resulting prescription was called in to the St. Vincent DePaul Pharmacy, where it was filled at no cost to him.
Our Conference, kept up to date on these actions, agreed to extend the temporary lodging for extra weeks in hopes of achieving a level of stability.
As of the moment, stability is proving elusive. The medication has made him sick, and unable to drive for work, despite a job offer for a more dependable delivery service. He has no plans to give up his dog.
The compassion shown to him by our Vincentian is extraordinary. Thanks to the generosity of our IHM parishioners, we had the resources to go well above our normal guidelines to allow this to play out and seek elusive stability. We have not closed this case and plan to see how it all goes over the next few weeks.
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. Case Number: 2024- 18137