Vincentian Connection: Winter 2019

Winter 2019 Volume 55, Number 2 Magazine of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix Diocesan Council stvincentdepaul.net

A new healing space See inside the expanded clinic already bringing quality care to uninsured patients

Hope After Eviction

When an older couple ended up on the street, SVdP helped them home stvincentdepaul.net

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P.O. Box 13600, Phoenix, Arizona 85002-3600

A VOCATION OF LOVE What is a vocation? Merriam-Webster defines it as “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially a divine call to religious life.”

In this issue you will encounter stories of such faithful response through a particular group of St. Vincent de Paul volunteers who we call Vincentians. Based in parishes, Vincentians are called by their faith to be the face of Christ and go to those in need, bringing the gift of hope to the suffering, the forgotten and the deprived.

Diocesan Council President Steve Attwood

Editor/Writer Marisol Ramirez

Executive Director Steve Zabilski

Writers Lurissa Carbajal Marisol Ramirez

Associate Executive Director Shannon Clancy Marketing Director Mary Chou-Thompson

Photography Alejandra Bucon Marisol Ramirez

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to serving people in need and providing others with the opportunity to serve. SVdP has been assisting central and northern Arizona families since 1946 and has more than 80 parish satellite locations. It offers services for the homeless, medical and dental care for the uninsured, charity dining rooms, transitional housing and homelessness prevention assistance.

You’ll read how our Vincentians from the Saint Joachim and Saint Anne parish helped a retired couple cast out of their apartment regain a home after months of living on the streets, and how Marilyn Cappelli, the Vincentian president from the parish, acted with great faith and compassion to help furnish the couple’s home again. And you’ll also be introduced to Phyllis O’Toole, a beautiful, youthful Vincentian who earlier this year celebrated her 90th birthday, joining a special group of Vincentians age 90 and older who continue to serve. Phyllis has been faithfully responding to the call for more than four decades.

What a joy she’s been to those she’s worked alongside and the countless men, women and children she’s served over the years. By any definition, Phyllis is a saint, and I’m happy to say she isn’t unique within our Society.

Recently, when I was serving dinner in our Mesa Dining Room, I was introduced to a lovely woman named Anne, who along with her husband, have been devoted volunteers every other Tuesday for several years. When her husband died suddenly of a heart attack, Anne’s friends were surprised when she showed up as usual the Tuesday following her husband’s death. “This is where he/He would want me to be,” she said. What a beautiful tribute to her husband, and a clear recognition of the presence of God in her life. And what better way to begin the healing in her own heart than by lightening the burdens of others.

We live in a culture that celebrates “independent men and women.” Yet, the reality is we need each other. At every significant event of our lives — baptisms, graduations, birthdays, weddings, retirement, and at our death bed — we want to be surrounded by family and friends. We were created to love and care for each other. This is at the heart of being a Vincentian.

In the past 25+ years, I’ve met and worked alongside thousands of Vincentians.

I’ve certainly met sad Vincentians, and on occasion I’ve encountered mad Vincentians.

But in all honesty, I’ve never met a depressed Vincentian. It’s hard to be depressed when you are bringing joy to others. Let’s celebrate and give thanks for Marilyn, Phyllis, Anne and countless others, who have so faithfully honored their vocations, and let’s follow their example.

Steve Attwood, President, Phoenix Diocesan Council 2

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ON THE COVER Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, Ana and Gregorio Bruno present the key to their new apartment that SVdP helped make possible. Not four months earlier, the Brunos had slept at a bus stop after being evicted and forced to live on the streets.

DEPARTMENTS 4 In Brief 6 By the Numbers 16 Profiles 19 Thousand Thanks

FEATURES

14 The Power of Partnership

Discover how service learning, research opportunity and combined talent make the partnership of Arizona State University and St. Vincent de Paul a powerful, effective and mutually beneficial relationship for the betterment of the Valley community.

8 Unlocking the Door Home

12 A Taste of ‘The Breakfast’

When a landlord locked-out and evicted Ana and Gregorio Bruno, they ended up homeless and on the street until SVdP helped them on their journey to find and furnish a new home.

Relive or catch up on all the top moments and important people that made up SVdP’s annual Restoring Hope Breakfast, our biggest fundraising event of the year!

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IN BRIEF

The Full Experience

Dream Center students lose themselves in the music for a moment, dancing with freedom and joy during the annual Homecoming Dance inside St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Dining Room. Staff cleared away the tables that usually occupy the center’s education-focused area made possible by Next Phase Enterprises to make way for a different kind of night — one that not only fills brains and stomachs, but also makes room for youthful milestones and opportunities that some children in need miss out on. That’s why Dream Center Supervisor Cindy Bernardo founded the event after remembering not getting to go to her own homecoming dance. She didn’t want the kids to miss out, because all kids deserve the opportunity, no matter their circumstance, to be carefree for a youthful moment and experience childhood in full.

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Serving thousands of people on Thanksgiving Day As always at St. Vincent de Paul, Thanksgiving was one big family affair — guests, volunteers and staff included — as SVdP served more than 5,000 turkey dinners across its six dining rooms. Head Chef Chris Hoffman coordinated the traditional menu of roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and a sweet slice of pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream. Perhaps more important than the meal, was the atmosphere of joy and connection. This past Thanksgiving and always, we’re thankful for everyone who makes the SVdP family the big, welcoming and loving entity it is for its community.

SVdP update on its support of asylum-seeking families In the spring, St. Vincent de Paul responded to a need in its community for a safe and welcoming place for numerous asylum-seeking families finding themselves released on the streets of Phoenix. SVdP opened a Day Relief Center in its Family Dining Room with the International Rescue Committee as its partner. SVdP focused on hospitality needs, while IRC coordinated travel and overnight lodging for the families. That center remained in operation for 86 days until IRC was able to open the Welcome Center in Phoenix, an IRC operation made possible with community collaboration. SVdP continues to provide food to the families there, preparing more than 4,000 meals for them.

Always meant as a temporary stop-gap, the Day Relief Center at SVdP is no longer in operation. We’re proud to say that during a time of significant community crisis, we were able to serve 5,070 individuals. We served 16,539 meals as well as provided overnight shelter for 27 nights without interruption to SVdP’s services to Arizonans in need. The effort also brought 120 new volunteers into the SVdP family. We are so grateful for the support of the community — volunteering, offering much needed supplies and financial donations for those in need. The incredible help of our supporters showed us that it’s possible to jump in at a moment’s notice to help alleviate immediate and great challenges in our community and fill gaps so that no one is abandoned.

While we continue to provide meals for the Welcome Center, we also see thousands of individuals every day struggling with poverty and homelessness.

The need for volunteers, supplies and financial contributions for all of our programs remains great, so thank you for your continued support of SVdP.

Officially open and officially toured!

Clinic Open House welcomes in the community On Oct. 17, St. Vincent de Paul invited the community and key stakeholders to experience its expanded Virginia G. Piper Medical & Dental Clinic, which includes the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation Center for Family Wellness and the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation Oral Health Center. The facility officially re-opened in August. Each service branch of the clinic — medical, dental and family wellness — held activities and demonstrations, showing off the space renovated to better serve patients.

The fall open house event included Dr. Don Meis (pictured above at center) and his wife, Nadine, and son, John. An honored guest, Dr. Meis served many years as a volunteer dentist helping bring healthy smiles to thousands of patients. His legacy continues in the clinic, thanks to the Dental Learning Center named in his and his wife’s honor. The dental education and enrichment space recognizes the Meis family’s service to SVdP.

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A YEAR OF FEED. CL St. Vincent de Paul 2019 impact by the numbers Breaking the Poverty Cycle

$125,000 in scholarships

awarded to first-generation college students

volunteer ho ur s

15,964 youth visits

to the Dream Center education programming in the Family Dining Room

46,732 bed nights

kept people sheltered, safe and out of life-threatening conditions

301,398 pounds of food waste diverted from landfill into farm compost

2.6 million meals

4.4 million pounds

of food received and distributed through our Central Food Bank

29,345 pounds

of fresh, nutrient-rich produce harvested from our urban farms 6

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served through 6 SVdP dining rooms and 28 partner agencies

LOTHE. HOUSE. HEAL. Prevented or ended homelessness for

7,396 individuals

through rent and utility assistance, family reunification and temporary housing accommodations

On the Path to Self-sufficiency

5,176 individuals

experiencing homelessness provided with clothing, hygiene items, haircuts, counseling and connection to employment services

$170,015 in gifted thrift store

essentials like beds, sheets, appliances, pots and pans made it possible to welcome home rehoused and low-income families

Exiting Homelessness

168 transitional shelter residents

16,504

medical, dental and wellness visits and consultations for uninsured patients

128

Patients came from zip codes and ranged in age from 2 to 94

Successfully transitioned to permanent or other positive housing

92%

82 %

of former residents did not return to homeless services stvincentdepaul.net

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HOME AGAIN

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St. Vincent de Paul gives older couple back their life after being thrown out on the streets

By Marisol Ramirez

As Ana and Gregorio Bruno sit on the brown leather couches given to them by St. Vincent de Paul, they begin to cry. It’s move-in day, and they’re overwhelmed by the gifted furniture and the boxes of their familiar belongings surrounding them in their new two-bedroom apartment in north Phoenix.

Four months prior, they were evicted from an El Mirage apartment after a dispute with a landlord over a dog. The Brunos remember leaving most of their furniture on the curb and hauling whatever they could fit in a small storage unit in Sun City.

“I wanted the boxes the most, the things that mean something. The bed, the mattress, sofas...they’re all just material things,” says Ana, who holds most dear her statues of saints. She and Gregorio are both Puerto Rican Catholics who moved to the Valley from Queens, New York, to be near Ana’s daughter.

A small crew of SVdP staff with a truck unloads the last of the Brunos’ possessions along with a new mattress, box spring and sheet set from SVdP as well.

“Sheets!” Gregorio proclaims as he hugs the package, cherishing it with a tear in his eye.

Not two weeks earlier, the Brunos had lived on the street and owned only what they could carry on their backs. Even what they had placed in storage, they considered lost after being unable to pay the storage bill.

They were told their possessions would go to auction.

At 59 and 57 years old, Ana and Gregorio never imagined they’d be in such a dire situation. But they also never imagined the outpouring of compassion and support they would receive from SVdP in retrieving their items and setting them up in their new apartment.

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At the landlord’s mercy Sometimes $250 can make all the difference.

When a Phoenix affordable housing complex for seniors upped the rent on Ana and Gregorio from $900 to $1,150, they faced a hard decision between paying rent or paying medical bills for Gregorio, who was living with an inguinal hernia. Their fixed Social Security Disability checks couldn’t cover it all. With Gregorio’s health in mind, the Brunos decided to find cheaper rent and move. They never expected they would be evicted from their next Valley apartment in El Mirage.

“All because of a dog,” Ana says as she recalls the day the landlord forced them out by changing the locks.

Ana had agreed to watch her daughter’s little dog for a few days, which violated the “no dogs allowed” policy in the lease. The landlord made no exceptions, even after Ana took the dog to a different place to stay. They had only days to move out.

With limited funds, no help and their backs against the wall, Ana and Gregorio found themselves lifting and hauling whatever they could manage to salvage despite being in no condition to move themselves. Gregorio terribly aggravated his hernia to the point of excruciating pain. He needed medical attention.

When a bus stop becomes shelter At first the Brunos stayed with Ana’s daughter, who they had asked previously for help. Feeling ashamed of burdening her daughter, who had just had a newborn, Ana insisted on staying at a local shelter. “It’s a place I never thought I’d be,” Gregorio says.

As first-timers, they received beds. But a faraway — and much needed — doctor’s appointment and public transportation made them late for check-in one night, causing the Brunos to lose their beds. For several nights, they slept outside at a nearby bus stop.

“I didn’t feel safe there,” says Ana, whose

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backpack with the key to their storage unit was stolen. “I was scared.”

While staying at the shelter, the Brunos became more familiar with one of SVdP’s dining rooms.

They would eat their meals there. And in June, when SVdP’s heat relief overflow shelter went into operation inside the dining room, they slept there overnight.

Vincentian intervention and a new apartment Every day the Brunos thought of how to find their way back to housing. Ana remembered her Catholic upbringing and her mother reiterating that “the church is always there for you to turn to in times of need.” On those instincts, she headed back to Sun City to Saint Joachim and Saint Anne’s parish — the church they attended while living in El Mirage and a satellite location of SVdP. “We slept there for two days outside the church,” Ana says. “And when they came to open up, they welcomed us and helped right away. We didn’t have anything.”

The SVdP volunteers from the parish, referred to as “Vincentians,” gave the Brunos vouchers for food, gift cards for clothing and bus passes.

charging us each application because its $35 for each applicant.”

In one month of searching, they spent almost $300 putting in applications until one finally went through. Still in touch with Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, they shared the good news.

“They gave us our life back,” Ana says through tears. “The apartment, my little bit of stuff…they gave me back my life again. They gave me hope.

Forever, to the end of the Earth, I will be thankful.”

They interviewed the couple and immediately started to work to help them find housing. With their basic needs cared for, and a few social security checks saved up, Ana and Gregorio began apartment hunting.

“We must have seen at least 10 different apartments,” Ana says. “And they were

And then another good call came — this one from the parish SVdP Vincentians, offering to pay their storage bills, a locksmith, rent a truck and provide movers to retrieve the Brunos’ belongings.

“I cried when we got that call,” Gregorio says.

“You know, it wasn’t much, but it was ours,” Ana says. “There were things that were irreplaceable. I had my saints there that have been with me for 20 years and my mother’s photos.”

Under the leadership of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne Vincentian President Marilyn Cappelli, the Vincentians were able to find grant money to pay for it all and more. The Brunos had no idea that the Vincentian volunteers were also coordinating with SVdP thrift store staff to replace the furniture items they had abandoned on the curbside. That’s why, when the couches and bed came through their front door frame on moving day, the Brunos cried with surprise and overwhelming joy and gratitude.

“I’m never going to forget this moment,” Gregorio says. “Never.”

“They gave us our life back,” Ana says through tears. “The apartment, my little bit of stuff… they gave me back my life again. They gave me hope. Forever, to the end of the Earth, I will be thankful.”

Top left: Gregorio and Ana Bruno stop to take in the moment of having a doorway in which to stand and greet people into their home. Coincidentally, their apartment number is 211 — the same digits they called many times to connect to services through the state Crisis Response Network.

Top right: One of the first things Ana unpacks are her “santos” or “saints,” which she places on her bedroom dresser.

Bottom: Fidel, an SVdP employee on the truck team, helps load the Brunos’ belongings retrieved from storage and transported to their new apartment.

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2019 Restoring Hope Breakfast It was standing room only this year at St. Vincent de Paul’s Restoring Hope Breakfast on Nov. 22 at The Phoenician in Scottsdale. More than 1,400 attended the annual fundraiser that gathers people to remember the kindness at work at SVdP and the generosity alive in the Valley community.

This year’s program focused on the partnership of SVdP with Arizona State University and the power of service to not only help people when they fall, but also lift them up to their greatest potential. See some of the top moments and speakers from the inspiring event, and watch a highlight video at stvincentdepaul.net/svdp-blog/breakfast2019.

Dr. Ken Snyder, SVdP executive dental director, and Betty Contreras, dental assistant and aspiring dentist

ASU’s Mark Bernstein and Patti Reiter with Melani and Rob Walton

SVdP Associate Executive Director Shannon Clancy 12

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The SVdP Family Wellness team with Dr. Gabe Shaibi from ASU share how their partnership forged a path for former patient Daniel Muñoz’s (in red) improved health and wellbeing. (See page 14.)

Could $20 spark a revolution of generosity?

Give this a try and see what happens

By Karina Bland At each of 1,400 place settings at the annual fundraising breakfast for The Society of St. Vincent de Paul on Friday were $20 bills, tied with blue ribbons and tucked into champagne flutes.

Mike and Cindy Watts with Jan and Tom Lewis

Attendees didn’t find out the bills’ purpose until after listening to the powerful testimonies of people who had been helped by the agency, and filling out their pledge cards.

It was Shannon Clancy’s idea. She’s associate executive director at St. Vincent de Paul.

Two weeks ago, she stopped at a convenience store to buy a soda.

The man in front of her in line asked, “That’s all you’re having?

Add that to mine,” he told the cashier.

She objected, but he insisted.

ASU’s Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions Dean Jonathan Koppell

Mark Curtis of 12 News served as emcee.

It was a small and unexpected moment, and it made Clancy wonder: Could small acts of generosity inspire more?

Clancy told attendees to use the $20 to do something meaningful for someone they know or a stranger, spontaneous or planned.

Buy flowers for an older person, coffee for someone in line behind you, movie tickets for a struggling family.

She gave them a week, asking them to send an email to spark@svdpaz.org or post on social media with the hashtag #SparkGenerositySVdP detailing what they did.

Those stories may inspire someone else.

SVdP Executive Director Steve Zabilski greets Bishop Thomas Olmsted with SVdP’s Steve Gervais

A staff member at the hotel told Clancy she would do that same at her Thanksgiving dinner.

“This is one way we can create the kind of community we want to be a part of,” Clancy said.

Rocio Jauregui said she might go to a coffee shop and pay someone else’s bill. Lizeth Manriquez will buy someone who is homeless a meal.

Stacy Anderson will likely use his $20 in a store where he’s seen families put back items they can’t afford.

It made him think about what else he could do.

“I’m inspired to do more,” Anderson said.

Christina Boston, principal of Sheely Farms Elementary, shares how SVdP helped her 20 years ago. (See page 16.)

This article originally ran in the Arizona Republic. Please consider a subscription to support excellent local journalism. Visit azcentral.com/subscribe.

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The ASU/SVdP

PARTNERSHIP Joined in helping each other uplift the community Since establishing a formal partnership in 2017, Arizona State University and St. Vincent de Paul have formed 491 touchpoints that create innovative opportunities in programming, learning, research and service. Take a moment to explore three prominent partnership areas that showcase what happens when ASU’s academic talent and research prowess combines with SVdP’s expansive vision, resources and social service expertise.

Together in Sustainability What started as an old parking lot on SVdP’s main campus just south of Interstate 17, transformed into a thriving urban farm thanks to the partnership of SVdP with ASU’s Walton Sustainability Solutions Service and a $1 million Rob & Melani Walton Foundation grant backing the initiative. The two-acre farm project launched in 2016 and fully opened January 2018, becoming an oasis of nutritious produce in the middle of an urban food desert.

Together, the SVdP and ASU teams maximized the social, environmental and economic impact of SVdP’s Rob & Melani Walton Urban Farm, which inspired two additional farms collocated with other SVdP dining rooms. Since its opening, the urban farms project has: – Harvested more than 51,000 pounds of fresh produce to be prepared and served to people experiencing food insecurity.

– Diverted a total of more than 454,000 pounds of food waste into compost to create nutrient-rich soil.

Joint ASU WS3 and SVdP Intern Maddie Mercer (at left) proudly displays freshly picked produce with SVdP Urban Farms Director Dave Smith at SVdP’s Rob & Melani Walton Urban Farm.

Double majoring in sustainability and psychology, Maddie is using her field experience to author her “Guide to Creating Social Impact through Urban Farming.”

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MAGDELENA SAUCEDO Education and Volunteer Coordinator Maryvale Revitalization Cooperation BS in Nonprofit Leadership & Management, May 2019 SVdP Service Student and Project Leader, 2018-2019

Together in Wellness Promoting health, wellness and disease prevention in vulnerable communities brings together SVdP’s Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation Center for Family Wellness and Dr. Gabriel Shaibi, an associate professor in ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation.

Through his research, Dr. Shaibi seeks community solutions to obesityrelated health problems in high-risk and vulnerable populations.

Since 2000, SVdP’s Family Wellness program and team of Registered Dietitians has provided one such community solution through nutrition, exercise and overall wellness courses for children, youth and adults from low-income areas who have a higher prevalence of diabetes and typically don’t have access to quality health care.

Dr. Shaibi’s research backs the effectiveness of SVdP’s overall wellness programming while also helping further its innovation. The Ivy Center for Family Wellness empowers communities with wellness knowledge and tools so that people can sustain healthy change and lifestyles for good. It has gained national recognition and accreditation from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Association of Diabetes Educators. The partnership was also featured in the 2018 issue of ASU Social Embeddedness Magazine and received the ASU President’s 2019 Social Embeddedness Award.

Together in Experiential Learning & Service SVdP and ASU’s partnership grooms the next generation of engaged community leaders and nonprofit professionals by offering students learning and service opportunities in the field. ASU gets a reliable partner in experiential learning, and SVdP harnesses the massive pool of talent that lies in ASU’s students, many of whom come from the Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions.

Watts College has a strong relationship with SVdP and makes up almost a quarter of all 491 intersecting partnership activities, including the organization of 12 large-scale Day of Service events. The majority of students learning and serving at SVdP come from studies in Next Generation Service Corps, Nonprofit Leadership & Management and/or social work.

Currently, six ASU social work students are building SVdP’s capacity to facilitate Miracle Messages, a family reunification program focused on reconnecting individuals experiencing chronic homelessness with their families. This is the second phase of the program, as Nonprofit Leadership & Management students piloted Miracle Messages in fall 2018. They reconnected six of the 25 participating SVdP guests, demonstrating the power of family reunification to relieve homelessness and the homelessness prevention growth opportunity for SVdP.

“I feel like I learned so much, and I take it with me wherever I go.”

– Magdelena Saucedo

Magdelena “Maggie” Saucedo was first introduced to SVdP during an ASU Watts College Day of Service, where 150 students volunteered at SVdP. She quickly became more involved, completing her major’s required service hours at SVdP by leading a project that developed the process, tools and training to support SVdP in tracking the breadth and depth of SVdP’s community partnerships. Maggie said the project taught her the importance of structure, goal setting and the power of perspective.

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‘One little lift’ helped Christina Boston on her path

to principal of Sheely Farms Elementary

By Marisol Ramirez Displayed in Christina Boston’s office at Sheely Farms Elementary School in west Phoenix are multiple Arizona State University degrees, her maroon cap and gown, family photos and numerous books and trinkets of an accomplished professional and family life.

“Going into SVdP’s office and being super vulnerable, and saying you need help — it’s overwhelming,” says Christina as she gathers herself. Her daughter, who was five at the time, still remembers the visit and how kind the man was that helped them.

14 years at Gateway Elementary School, where she taught sixth grade and worked as a library media specialist.

In that time, Christina has remarried, seen her daughter graduate from ASU, and now has a son at Phoenix College.

“We left knowing the lights weren’t going to No one would guess that almost two decades “It’s amazing what you can do in life if you say ago the elementary school principal experienced be turned off,” Christina continues. “And I you’re not holding back, if you believe ‘Si Se never looked back after that. It was huge for a moment of crisis that could have changed Puede,’ and really dream big,” Christina says. me, because I just needed that one little lift her successful path. to continue on. I already had a degree from But she’s never lost sight of her roots and ASU and a career, but you have no idea what It was early in her teaching career when humble beginnings. Christina continues to live a person is going through sometimes.”

Christina separated from her daughter’s father in her south Phoenix neighborhood where she and began a new phase as a single mother. grew up and insists her Sheely Farms badge Christina was raised in a culture of never Living in south Phoenix, she supported herself reads “Staff” not “Principal.” She chooses burdening others. Her parents, who migrated and her daughter on her teacher income. to give back her talents and expertise to her to the U.S. from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, never But summers were especially tough. neighborhood and the education system as asked for anything, including government a way of honoring where she came from and help. Before retiring, her father worked as a “You don’t get paid in the summer,” Christina helping others. custodian in the Peoria School District and her explains. “And with the heat, you can just mother worked as kitchen staff in the Roosevelt imagine the bills. You’re either going to pay That purpose deeply informs her leadership.

School District. your electricity or you’re going to eat, and I Christina and her staff believe in the potential of didn’t have enough money to do both.” all children and hope to nurture and guide them “My parents showed me how to work hard,” to realize their dreams too.

Christina says.

Christina sought help from her church, but eventually felt she had exhausted her resources.

“That’s something I really take to heart,” she That’s when someone told her about St. Vincent She’s climbed the education ladder and is in says. “That’s why I got into education — to her third year as principal at Sheely Farms. de Paul’s utility and bill assistance program. help create opportunities like the ones given Her more than 20-year career in education Determined to provide for her daughter, to me.” includes three years as assistant principal at Christina visited SVdP. Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School and Watch Christina’s video story at stvincentdepaul.net/svdp-blog/christina-boston 16

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40+ year volunteer Phyllis O’Toole paved way for Vincentian women, still serves at 90

She also attended district meetings with some of SVdP Phoenix’s best, including Dan Sullivan, Dan and Peggy O’Meara, Steve Jenkins, Matt and Glennie Scott, and others.

“We were just doing whatever good we could anyway we could,” Phyllis remembers of the group.

Helping where help is needed has been a way of life for Phyllis. Growing up as an only child, she got involved in Girl Scouts and started helping neighbors in her hometown of Dubuque, Iowa.

She went on to work five years as a nurse in her local hospital’s labor and delivery room. During that time, she met her husband, and they started their family. They later moved to Phoenix in 1965 for business.

By Marisol Ramirez Until a few months ago, Phyllis O’Toole insisted “It was the first time they had records of the on loading food boxes into her vehicle herself to calls,” she says. “We started keeping cards on transport to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry people so we knew what was going on.” at Most Holy Trinity Church. It’s not that other Those early documentation efforts got Phyllis volunteers or staff didn’t offer to help. It’s that an invitation to a Vincentian meeting. Two years Phyllis, even at 90, has some grit. later, she became a Vincentian and blazed a trail for women in the society. Phyllis was the Phyllis has been a Vincentian, a parish-based volunteer, for SVdP for 42 years. Since the main first woman to be elected vice president of her parish Vincentian group and later president for campus first opened in 1989, she’s helped two terms in the ‘80s. During that time, she sort goods and other food and hygiene item encouraged Vincentian women to make home donations in the food reclamation warehouse. visits, and she insisted on delivering food boxes You will find her there every Friday. with her colleagues.

“I like doing this, but I don’t lift as well as I did,” says Phyllis, who won SVdP’s 2013 Glennie Scott Award for dedicated volunteerism. “And I like the people. They’re good people here.”

In the Valley, her volunteer career took off. She volunteered with 4H, the mineralogical society and served as a chairperson for the Boy Scouts of America. Phyllis has also volunteered for more than 25 years in the Maricopa County Elections Department and to this day she brings a box of baby essentials every week to Life Choices.

Phyllis doesn’t intend to stop her volunteering activities anytime soon either. Born in 1929, she celebrated her 90th birthday on April 6. Phyllis marked the milestone with family and friends in the Hall of Banners during lunch after a volunteer shift at SVdP. When asked how she felt, she said, “I feel 90. I felt my best at 50, but I’m not ready to quit. You just keep going one day at time.”

Helping weekly in the warehouse is in addition to the help she still provides at Most Holy Trinity’s food pantry, a SVdP satellite location where she originally began her SVdP volunteer career in 1977.

“I remember the church gave us an office and a telephone, and we staffed it from 9-4, two people a day, just answering calls,” says Phyllis, who was one of the original two women working the office. She and her colleague began documenting the calls for home visits made by only Vincentian men at the time.

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We were there then. Help SVdP be there always.

When a tiny baby showed up in a basket on the doorstep of a neighborhood police station in Chicago, it was the St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity that took the child in and connected him to his adopted parents. That’s how Ken McLernon came to his family and ours.

Today, Ken wants to make sure that St. Vincent de Paul will continue to be there for people in crisis, which is why he has included us in his living trust. Thanks to his generosity and people like you, SVdP can continue to help far into the future.

We know there will always be need. Help us make it so that there will always be help as well.

Make a planned gift today.

Visit https://www.svdplegacy.org or contact Donna Rodgers at 602-261-6884 or drodgers@svdpaz.org.

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“In some little way through the donations that I’ve made in the past and will continue doing through my trust, it’s my way of saying thank you and helping my community.”

– Ken McLernon, friend and planned giving donor Read Ken’s giving story at: stvincentdepaul.net/svdp-blog/ken-mclernon

THE SOCIETY OF A THOUSAND THANKS One of the greatest privileges of serving in Arizona is being able to work with a generous community of people who care about the well-being of our state. Our friends not only host food drives and send volunteers, they also donate generously to support our work.

SVdP staff surrounds (at center) Resource Center Director Cherylyn Strong, who holds up SVdP’s 2019 Neighborhood Builders Award above the $200,000 check that comes along with it.

The money will expand the center’s case management and homelessness prevention services.

SVdP named one of two Neighborhood Builders

by Bank of America In the midst of holiday preparation, St. Vincent de Paul received a cherry on top of the season’s sweetness — Bank of America named SVdP one of its Neighborhood Builders in Phoenix and awarded SVdP $200,000 over two years for efforts to advance economic mobility and social progress for the Valley’s underserved. The other recipient is United Food Bank.

The money specifically increases case management support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness who visit SVdP’s Resource Center. This means SVdP can provide more help and guidance connecting people to services and setting them on the path out of homelessness and into stable employment and housing.

Beyond funding, Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program also focuses on advancing nonprofit leaders to bring about positive change in their communities. Thank you, Bank of America, for your belief in SVdP’s mission to feed, clothe, house and heal. With your help, we’ll continue to build our services and lead in compassionate care and positive solutions that help lift up the people we serve.

Bank of America’s support of SVdP doesn’t end with the Neighborhood Builders program. We’re so thankful for all their employees who volunteer regularly at SVdP, including at the Resource Center, where this photo was taken. stvincentdepaul.net 19

THE SOCIETY OF A THOUSAND THANKS Arizona Diamondbacks pitch in to end hunger Thank you to Arizona Diamondbacks Charities, Diamondbacks pitcher Luke Weaver and his wife, Olivia, along with Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed and his wife, Amanda, for gifting SVdP $25,000 to fight childhood hunger.

Luke and Olivia spent a recent Saturday delivering food boxes on SVdP home visits.

They also helped volunteers check in on other needs — like rent and utility assistance. Thank you for spending a Saturday helping families in need and for all that the Weavers, Ahmeds, and the Diamondbacks do for our community all year long.

Diamondbacks pitcher Luke Weaver (at left) and his wife, Olivia, (in white DBacks jersey) share a laugh during a home visit with a family receiving a food box and other services from SVdP.

U-Haul’s generosity spans multiple SVdP service areas Many thanks to the U-Haul team for helping support a broad array of SVdP’s mission to feed, clothe, house and heal. Through $20,000, in-kind drives and ongoing volunteering, U-Haul made possible SVdP’s annual Restoring Hope Breakfast, Summer Action Hero campaign, resources for the homeless, and holiday events like Turkey Tuesday and the Palomino Christmas event. Thank you, U-Haul employees, for caring for your community.

USAA helps SVdP’s transitional shelter and veterans who live there SVdP is grateful to the USAA team for their grant of $25,000 to support Ozanam Manor, SVdP’s bridge shelter that provides transitional housing and support for older and disabled adults, including many veterans. The grant funds housing, meals and case management to help Ozanam residents regain employment, permanent housing and a stable life. Thank you, USAA, for your continued partnership!

Fry’s Zero Hunger Zero Waste initiative helps SVdP fight food insecurity Many thanks to Fry’s Food Stores and associates for presenting a $134,200 check to SVdP as part of the grocery chain’s Zero Hunger Zero Waste initiative, which shares a common goal in making sure the less fortunate of our community don’t go hungry. Thank you, Fry’s, for not only your continuous help in keeping families fed, but also for your compassionate employees who go above and beyond in sharing their time volunteering at SVdP.

Inside SVdP’s Family Dining Room, Fry’s Food Stores President Monica Garnes (center), Kroger Corporate Affairs Manager for Fry’s Division Pam Giannonatti (far right) and Fry’s volunteers present SVdP with a Zero Hunger Zero Waste check that will support SVdP food services.

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The Phoenix Suns help SVdP shelter seniors and veterans A big thank you to the Phoenix Suns, who made a generous gift to SVdP of $150,000 as part of their #RiseTogetherPHX giving campaign.

The funds will support Ozanam Manor, SVdP’s transitional housing shelter and program for veterans, seniors and disabled adults. Thanks, Phoenix Suns, for helping us provide a safe place for people to get back on their feet and for choosing to support SVdP’s mission to feed, clothe, house and heal. We’ll be rooting for you too this season!

Phoenix Suns President Jason Rowley (second from left) and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla present SVdP leaders Steve Zabilski and Shannon Clancy with the $150,000 #RiseTogetherPHX check for Ozanam Manor.

SVdP puts solar panel savings toward helping more people Thanks to Arizona Public Service Company, SVdP’s north parking lot of its main campus is now home to solar panels covering 144 parking spaces. SVdP served as the inaugural nonprofit construction and installation site for the APS Solar Communities Program, which partners with established nonprofits to provide solar-generating parking panels across Arizona.

The energy harvested from the panels serves to lower SVdP’s electricity bill so those savings can help the people SVdP serves. Construction began in February, and the panels were fully installed, wired to the grid and generating clean solar energy by June — right on time for the summer!

Thunderbirds Charities helps in SVdP’s clinic expansion Special thanks to Thunderbirds Charities for their continued support of the SVdP clinic expansion through gifts that helped fund two dental operatories, the Family Wellness Activity Room and a state-of-the-art retinal scanner that assists medical staff and volunteers in preventing blindness among patients with diabetes and other health issues.

SVdP is grateful for all that Thunderbirds Charities and their amazing volunteers do for SVdP guests throughout the year.

Opus Foundation’s steady support furthers education at SVdP’s Dream Center The Dream Center inside the Next Phase Enterprises Family Dining Room continues to improve its academic programming and create a thriving learning environment for early childhood education thanks to a $30,075 grant from the Opus Foundation. Thank you, Opus, for your ongoing partnership and generous support in offering the children who come to our dining room more than just a meal, but also a structured place to learn, grow, play and discover.

Golfing to help others through Golf-Fore-Charity tournament A premiere tournament to benefit charity, Golf-Fore-Charity’s 2019 event focused on the wellness of the community by supporting SVdP’s Virginia G. Piper Medical & Dental Clinic and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Hope Fund. The weekend of golfing raised more than $1.4 million — some of which supported the dental clinic expansion at SVdP. Thank you, Golf-Fore-Charity for helping our dental clinic be the best it can be.

stvincentdepaul.net 21

THE SOCIETY OF A THOUSAND THANKS

DOUBLE THANKS for doubling up on drives!

The power of teaming up to do community good never goes unappreciated by St. Vincent de Paul. Thank you to all the local grocers and news media who combine resources, talent and skill to host some of the largest drives to support SVdP! Get to know the team players here.

Arizona Family’s 3TV Childhood Hunger drive with Safeway and Albertsons With one in five children experiencing hunger, Arizona Family’s 3TV partnered with Safeway and Albertsons to take action this September to help end childhood hunger. SVdP was grateful to be one of the eight nonprofit food programs to benefit from the $1 million raised.

That translated into a total of 350,000 meals for children that receive food from SVdP and the other benefitting community agencies.

Thank you, thank you!

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12 News Turkey Tuesday with Bashas’, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods

ABC15 Water Drive with Bashas’ and Food City

Every year SVdP looks forward to 12 News’ Turkey Tuesday with Bashas’, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods because it means that we not only provide families with food, but also the opportunity to share in the joy of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. SVdP couldn’t pull that off without this power media/grocery combo, which always makes this one-day turkey drive the largest and most successful in the nation.

Thank you, thank you!

During the dead of summer, water is not only essential, it’s life-saving. ABC15 teamed up with Bashas’ and Food City to make sure that SVdP had enough water to help keep vulnerable people hydrated and alive. During the week of July 4, they collected a total of 334,672 bottles of water, which provided SVdP 18 weeks-worth of water for its dining rooms, home visits and water truck that does search and rescue on the street. Thank you, thank you!

Fox10 Holiday Food Drive with Safeway and Albertsons

Million Meal Crusade with 102.5 KNIX, Safeway and Albertsons

As the year winds down, so can the food in families’ pantries. That’s why SVdP is so grateful to the Fox10, Safeway and Albertsons team for stepping up after Thanksgiving to collect nonperishable food for families. Their efforts make sure families don’t go hungry heading into Christmas and the New Year.

Thank you, thank you!

This year 102.5 KNIX, Safeway and Albertsons upped their game collecting not just cans, but full Thanksgiving meals for people during their annual drive that’s now called Million Meal Crusade. Their efforts made it so that families could enjoy a turkey dinner with all the delicious trimmings and sides. Thank you, thank you!

COMMUNITY DRIVES A YEAR AT A GLANCE The generosity that allows St. Vincent de Paul to continue as a pillar of service to its community takes many forms, including that of hosting community drives. There’s a joy sparked in rallying our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and classmates around a communal goal.

That’s because there’s nothing quite like the shared spirit of selflessness people create when they come together to amass generosity. SVdP has the joy of witnessing that magic every year thanks to you.

+ 400 DRIVES EVERY YEAR BRING IN…

350K

27K

13K 12K

pounds of food cases of water clothing and shoe items hygiene items

SINGLE LARGEST DONATION TO A 2019 DRIVE 138,551 pounds of food

3,648 pairs of shoes

United States Postal Service

EōS Fitness for its member shoe drive

7,750 cases of water

5,292 toiletry items

Heart of TSYS Annual Water Drive

St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church

for Stamp Out Hunger Drive

for its SVdP conference drive

A final THANK YOU to all the people who join hands with SVdP in helping feed, clothe, house and heal. stvincentdepaul.net 23

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

Phoenix, Arizona Permit No. 115

P.O. Box 13600, Phoenix, Arizona 85002-3600

If you are receiving duplicate copies of this magazine or have changed your address: • please call 602-850-6927 or • email subscribe@svdpaz.org or • unsubscribe@svdpaz.org

stvincentdepaul.net

GIVE TO ARIZONANS AND GET BACK FROM ARIZONA The state of Arizona provides an incredible incentive for taxpayers who donate to certain qualifying charities like St. Vincent de Paul.

Thanks to the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, you can donate up to $800 and get it right back on your Arizona tax return. Find out more at CharityTaxCreditAZ.com or call 602.266.GIVE (4483) SVdP Tax ID # 86-0096789.

Arizona QCO code 20540.

24 Vincentian Connection Winter 2019

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Donate to St. Vincent de Paul to support needy families in Arizona.

File your taxes and claim the credit by using AZDOR Form 321.

Receive your tax credit ! (up to $800)