When someone loses their home, they also lose their mailing address. St. Vincent De Paul helps guests get back on their feet by providing not only emergency shelter, but also a mailing service.
St. Vincent is the only shelter in Montgomery County that offers 24/7 care with no capacity limit.
That allows the shelter to serve more local residents in need at any time. The shelter offers overnight stays in separate dorms for single men and women as well as families.
"We provide food, clothing and shelter in both of our overnight dorms, our cafeteria [offers] three meals a day, as well as the chance to pick out some clothing," said John King, the director of mission advancement at the shelter. "We have a health and safety team that then focuses on walking those guests through whatever challenges that cause them to find themselves in a crisis of homelessness."
But staff and volunteers are not only focused on finding shelter for guests – they’re working to get them back on their feet.
“They may have lost their birth certificate, their driver's license, their Social Security card, things you and I are able to keep in the fireproof safe at home."
When residents in Montgomery County experience homelessness, many are on the hunt for a new job or housing.
To apply for a job or new housing, they typically need a mailing address.
In many cases, those in need of shelter at St. Vincent’s have not only lost their home, but also their birth certificate, social security card, or personal items.
King said the shelter's mail services can be crucial to getting guests important documentation for work or housing.
“They may have lost their birth certificate, their driver's license, their Social Security card, things you and I are able to keep in the fireproof safe at home," he said. "They may lose those during an eviction or while couch surfing or things like that.”
King said while some have used the mailing services to contact family or friends outside of the shelter, it is primarily used for re-establishing themselves outside of the shelter.
“When it comes to corresponding with others, yes we do see that. But it is more than not, a guest, the reason the guests will find themselves here is because of broken relationships," he said. "They've found themselves having nobody else to go to.”
In addition to outgoing mail services, messages or appointment reminders are also written on slips with the resident’s information and a corresponding message.
Whoever the slip is directed to will then be called to the desk to work with volunteers or staff to address their needs.
"If someone were to call and be like, 'Hey, is Regina there?' You know, we're not going to confirm or deny that for for privacy reasons," King said. "So we would take a message like that, put it on a slip, and then either if we were to see them for another appointment or our staff is is spending time with them, they would they would take that to them and get those messages to to them as well."
King said St. Vincent is always open to volunteers and more information about volunteering or working with community partners can be found on their website.
"You can find a form to fill out and you can learn more about the different ways you can volunteer with us," he said. "And then we have donation drop offs, places that you can go and bring your gently used clothes, your housing supplies. And we're able to support our neighbors in need with those things."
