Becca, a young single mother, came in to one of our Emergency Assistance Centers (EACs) to get help with turning her home’s gas back on. She had never reached out to any agencies before; she had always taken care of herself and her son, Charlie, on her own. When she was running short on paying utilities, someone from her church mentioned talking with Catholic Charities.

Becca’s mother recently passed away. As the oldest child, she had the responsibility of taking care of the costs since her mother didn’t have any medical insurance. We helped her get her gas on; and, while she was at our EAC she visited our client choice food pantry with her son, Charlie. They were able to fill their shopping cart with much needed food and hygiene items. Becca was so overwhelmed she started to cry. Charlie instinctively hugged his mom and started to tear up.

Charlie asked, “Why are you sad, Momma?” Becca responded, “It’s not sad tears, it’s happy tears.” When Becca and Charlie came in to visit, he said

“Here are pictures I colored for you to put on your wall for giving us food and making Momma happy.”