Allison wept quietly as she moved around the clothing bank. It had been three months since she had lost her housing and, thanks to a St. Francis House intervention, she had just moved into a small apartment. She had come to the clothing bank to replenish her children’s clothes and to look for household items.
While Allison shopped, her 15-year-old daughter Ashley helped her two younger siblings look for school clothes. “We lost most of our clothes when we left our house,” she mentioned to the volunteer who was helping them. “There was no room in our car and it cost too much to go to the laundromat. We just have to start over.”
Brittany, the family’s 13-year-old, stood by the clothing bank door guarding a box of dishes and glassware that she had been allowed to select. “These are the prettiest dishes I have ever seen,” she confided to a volunteer. “I can’t wait until my mom sees them!”
As the family of five approached the check-out counter with their new-found treasures, Allison tried to express her gratitude. “We have had so many weeks of worry and trouble,” she said. “St. Francis House has been there for us for a lot of that time. You have made something terribly difficult seem more bearable. Now you are helping us get on our feet. We will never be able to thank you enough!”