Imagine Their Reality: Why Your Gift Matters More Than Ever

Imagine living in the woods homeless, in the muggy Florida heat, blind and partially deaf. Imagine being a single parent of two children living paycheck to paycheck, hit in the back by a car, hospitalized with serious injuries, job lost, and now homeless.

Imagine being a single retiree in your eighties, having a small home along the coast, paid off, living on a fixed income, and everything lost except the clothes on your back during the most recent hurricanes, and now homeless.

Imagine being in your late sixties, married, both of you working to afford expenses, when suddenly your spouse dies, and your household income is cut in half. Imagine being a child in the arms of her parent fleeing domestic violence, but the only place to go is in a car.

Your one-time or monthly gift helps make it possible to help these neighbors in need.

While one-time gifts make a difference, monthly giving creates lasting change. Whichever you choose, your ongoing support ensures that SVdP CARES can continue to respond immediately to crises, provide consistent care, and help our neighbors rebuild their lives — not just today, but every day.

SVdP CARES gave us the immediate support, safety, and stability we desperately needed. Their unwavering support was not just about providing immediate relief; it was about restoring dignity and hope for my family.
– Kyle, father and US Veteran

Many of our neighbors experience unexpected tragedies or life challenges but don’t have safety nets or family to turn to when in need. They might suddenly find themselves facing homelessness, living in a car, or forced into the elements without shelter. It’s an emotionally devastating experience that also is oftentimes associated with dangerous living conditions. Forced to sleep during the day so that they can protect themselves during the dark nights. Living in trauma exacerbates their being able to find employment or housing.

St. Vincent de Paul CARES is laser focused on making sure that it is doing all it can to help neighbors like these with so many difficult stories end their homelessness quickly by helping them find housing and get loving support that connects them to resources like jobs skills, healthcare, legal services, and move in furnishings so that they are not only housed, but are set up for long-term self-sustaining success.

With your help, since 2013, SVdP CARES has ended homelessness at an astounding success rate of nearly 80%.

At over six households a day, five days a week, with the help of your giving, SVdP CARES is a leader in the solution to homelessness – for people whose everyday experiences have been shaken by troubling and unfortunate events. So many who have been helped by SVdP CARES state that they had given up hope of a better life. Some had been told that it was their fault or that this was their lot in life. But then they found the open arms of SVdP CARES, and everything changed for the better.

I thought I’d be sleeping in my car forever. But SVdP CARES gave me a home, a job, and hope. I’m now volunteering to help others like me.
– James, U.S. Veteran

Today, there are still more neighbors, US Veterans, individuals, and families with children on the streets, in the woods, or even hidden away in cars, who need our help. Your gift helps SVdP CARES help them.

Your one-time or monthly gift gives hope, love, and care to some of the most vulnerable among us.

I went through a lot to do better for my daughter and for myself. If it wasn’t for SVdP CARES giving us a safe place to sleep and the resources to get a home, we would still be struggling and homeless.
– Debbie, single mother

As young people return to school, I’m reminded of the children waiting for the bus outside our shelter — children who now have a safe place to sleep, thanks to your generosity. Imagine their joy walking into a real home, seeing a real bed, and knowing they’re safe. You made that possible. And with your one time or monthly gift, you make it possible again and again — for every child, every family, every neighbor in need.

With heartfelt thanks,

P.S. Join SVdP CARES in ending homelessness one neighbor, one child, one month at a time. With a one-time gift or by becoming a monthly donor today, you can be the reason someone finds safety, dignity, and a new beginning.