Since the beginning, the ‘home visit’ has been a significant hallmark of St. Vincent de Paul’s mission to feed, clothe, house and heal our neighbors in need. As a result of this important tenet, we have more than 80 volunteer-run food pantries throughout central and northern Arizona. Volunteers from each pantry receive calls from neighboring residents with requests for emergency food boxes, assistance with rent or utilities, and more.
Many pantries are based in urban areas where delivering a food box can simply be a short drive down the street or in a neighborhood close by.
For other food pantries, such as the one located in St. Catherine Laboure church in Chino Valley and Paulden (near Prescott), going the extra mile for home visits has taken on a literal meaning. And the needs of the residents can vary greatly, from requests for propane to warm a home, to multiple requests for blankets and jackets.
“Many of the residents out here live in trailer homes and there are very few paved roads,” says Pamela, long-time volunteer and food pantry president. “Our volunteers do a lot traveling on rural, country roads. They even get stuck at times while trying to reach residents. But they continue the work.”
Pamela says every year the food pantry hosts a winter clothing drive, as many families often have to sacrifice paying for heat during the cold, winter months in northern Arizona.
“I’ve gone into many homes where families have been out of propane or electricity for awhile and they are just using blankets or sweaters to stay warm,” says Joann, SVdP food pantry volunteer. “Or I’ve seen instances where they will close the doors to all of the rooms, except one, so that their heater will be more efficient.”
She has even seen situations where neighbors will stay in each other’s homes to stay warm, split the costs of the heating bill and help each other out through the coldest weeks of the year.
Battling the cold is not the only challenge these residents face. Living in rural areas also means there is limited job availability.
“There was one home visit I did that was so heartbreaking, because they had done nothing wrong to end up this situation,” says Pamela.
A young couple with three children, between the ages of one and seven, had been getting along fine until they found out that the husband had cancer. He lost his job and they fell behind on bills. After he went into remission, he began looking for another job, ultimately trying to get hired as a pizza deliveryman.
“Things are so tough in this area, because there aren’t that many jobs here. Many of the residents have to go into Prescott, but then they have to use a lot of gas to do that,” says Pamela.
The family of five lives in a small trailer on a dirt road. During the home visit, Pamela noticed that the home was very clean and the children were well behaved. The young mother told Pamela, “This just isn’t supposed to happen to people like us. We were working and things were going well.”
The food pantry was able to help the young family with their rent payment and get back on their feet.
For many volunteers, the home visit is a special opportunity to have a face-to-face connection with someone in need. Volunteers have the chance to lend a listening ear and determine if there are other needs in the home. It’s a time to let our neighbors know that they are not alone and that regardless of the long stretch of unpaved road that may exist between a home and a helping hand, especially for those in Chino Valley, we will always travel the extra mile to show up.
