Home Visits Help with More Than Groceries
Every Wednesday morning, Charles Seps skips his morning coffee in favor of checking the budget at St. Matthew, stopping at the store to buy large quantities of milk and eggs and heading to a small house next to the conference’s main office. There, Charles, who is St. Matthew’s treasurer, meets with volunteers who are eagerly filling up empty banana boxes with groceries.
St. Matthew is one of St. Vincent de Paul’s 88 food pantries, also called conferences, based out of Catholic parishes. Last year, 6,000 of our volunteers made around 49,000 home visits in central and northern Arizona to deliver food boxes to families and often times evaluate the need for rent and utility assistance.
Charles makes five home visits on a typical Wednesday. Loaded with a box full of groceries, he and the other volunteers at St. Matthews help struggling families twice a week. But their work doesn’t stop at the door. During the visits, Charles and the other volunteers make sure to ask the families how they are doing and listen to anything they want to share. Before leaving, St. Matthew’s volunteers say a quick prayer.
As one of the first members of the conference, Charles has held many positions and has been with St. Vincent de Paul more than 25 years.
“Once you get used to this, it becomes almost a necessity,” he said. “I try to be here every week because I’d feel guilty if I didn’t.”
St. Matthew’s families who are in need can get help from the conference on a monthly basis.
Mayra and Thomas, who have a newborn baby, received their monthly grocery box on Wednesday. The couple, who was living on the streets for a year and a half and recently moved into a small apartment, said they are doing everything they can to save money to move into a bigger place.
“St. Vincent de Paul has helped us immensely,” Thomas said. “We are trying to save all we can, so the groceries have helped us so much.”
Joy also got a visit from Charles Wednesday. As she opened the door to her apartment, she said she couldn’t be happier to get the box. When she and her husband first started receiving help from St. Vincent, Joy said, they didn’t have anything and even used the banana boxes used to transport the groceries as furniture.
“I look forward to the boxes,” she said. “It’s like a Christmas present every month. I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Driving back to the conference after Wednesday’s home visits, Charles said there is a misconception about those in need.
“There is a problem with the way people perceive poor people,” he said. “These are not people who are lazy or trying to milk the system. They want to work and do better for themselves, but sometimes they can’t (do it without support.)”
