Planting seeds of encouragement

 

“God allows us to give rise to the practice of two beautiful virtues: perseverance, which leads us to attain the goal, and constancy, which helps us to overcome difficulties. — St. Vincent de Paul”

This is the story of Sam a single male who reached out because he needed rental assistance and was unemployed. We assisted him with rental assistance and learned more about his history of homelessness.  

Case management screened him for the Homelessness Prevention Program and he qualified so we were able to help with additional services and support. Here is where we discovered Sam’s additional barriers and past traumas. These kept him returning to his desire to continue to use drugs. You see, he also had an addiction to heroin and pills. During our sessions, we built trust with Sam and set goals to work toward gaining employment and staying connected to counseling. At one point he became suicidal and case management provided additional resources and support. This included hotline numbers that he could contact when his case manager was not available. The abandonment of his mother had caused him to stagnate in his ability to obtain the goals he set. He struggled with the unanswered questions that his mother neglected to answer. We continued to guide him through his barriers. Many times, we were just a listening ear and created a space of trust where he could be vulnerable. He cried many times. But that’s OK. Because now we get to witness the laughter of his joy. 

Today Sam remains housed and employed, He goes to AA meetings and is still clean and sober. He reached out recently to say thank you and that he is doing well. He was able to pay his rent for three months and has been able to take a trip. He is grateful for the services and assistance that SVdP provided. He said we planted a seed of encouragement and belief that he could reach his goals when he didn’t think he could.  

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*Name changed to protect neighbor’s privacy