Invited by a friend in Georgia to stay for a week, Schola Machisu left Kenya to visit the United States in November 2016.
“When I came to this lady’s home, my body had visible evidence of domestic abuse,” Machisu said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Schola, you can’t go back to Africa.’”
Machisu, 60, applied for and was granted asylum based on domestic abuse. She eventually came to Minnesota in September 2017, living with a friend of a friend. After four months, she moved into a rented room in a house, and soon experienced stress, depression and desperation.
“The house was full and so small, and they were mistreating me,” Machisu said. “It wasn’t a good situation. But I had nowhere to go.”
Raised Catholic in Kenya with a strong desire to attend a Catholic church, Machisu insisted she be taken to St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, where she was dropped off because she doesn’t drive. “I asked if they have the group St. Vincent de Paul, told them I was a member in Africa and that I was looking for them, as I know they are people who help,” Machisu said.
Ray Dick, St. Vincent de Paul conference president at St. Bonaventure, recalled that day.
“We happened to be holding one of our meetings in the St. Francis Room in the back of church, and Schola stopped in to introduce herself,” he said. “We could hardly believe what she had gone through, and were amazed at her courage and tenacity to leave Kenya and seek a new and safer life in the U.S.
“Since our conference helps everyone who comes our way, there was no question that we would help Schola,” Dick said.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities — which manages programs operated through 13 parish conferences within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, runs thrift stores in both cities, assists with donations and distribution of food, and more — is one of 20 designated ministries receiving financial support from the 2021 Catholic Services Appeal Foundation (CSAF), which holds its annual commitment weekend Feb. 13-14.
With a goal of raising $9 million, this year’s CSAF appeal is titled “Together in Hope.”
“Donations are needed now more than ever so that our ministries can continue their much-needed services, especially in the face of the continuing challenges of COVID-19,” said Jennifer Beaudry, CSAF executive director.
Donors to CSAF have three ways to give: online, in-parish or postal mail.
“By supporting the work of these ministries, you are supporting the Gospel and answering the call to bring Christ to others,” Beaudry said. “It’s what sets CSAF apart.”
St. Vincent de Paul assisted Machisu with rent for her own apartment, where she moved in November 2018. The organization also provided food assistance, a Metro bus ticket and driving lessons so she could obtain her driver’s license.
“They also bought me textbooks from Amazon — that’s how I got to be a certified nursing assistant,” Machisu said. “They registered me for and paid for the exam, and drove me there.”
Dick said a subdivision of their St. Vincent de Paul conference, called NextStep, encourages and supports people journeying out of poverty by empowering them to envision and realize a future for themselves. His wife, Lee, was assigned as Machisu’s NextStep coach.
“Lee knew that Schola was underpaid as a personal care attendant and encouraged her to get certified as a CNA (certified nursing assistant),” Dick said. “We discussed paying for formal CNA training, but that would mean lost time at work and travel.
“Schola resolved to study and prepare for the test on her own, and got the top score of the group that was tested that day in August 2019,” he said. “Her hourly rate of pay practically doubled overnight.”
Today, Machisu, a mother of four and grandmother of two, lives at the Good Samaritan House in Bloomington, which is managed by St. Vincent de Paul. She works as a CNA at Heritage of Edina, an assisted living community.
“I like to go to work; I like sitting with the old, joking with them, talking about them when they were young,” Machisu said.
“And I am so grateful for St. Vincent de Paul,” she said. “They encourage people who are suffering, who are silent, who feel they don’t deserve to be living. They are a shoulder to lean on, and hope for a future and better life.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCEThe Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities helps better the lives of thousands of people each year. In the face of COVID-19, the challenge and the need has only grown.
“We have seen the lines for food get longer every week, and have doubled our food distribution in 2020 versus 2019,” said Ed Koerner, executive director.
“We were poised and in a great position to do that, and a lot of that has to do with the funding we received from CSAF (Catholic Services Appeal Foundation), which allowed us to have our house in order and step up,” he said.
Koerner noted that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic organization, founded in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam, a college student at the Sorbonne in Paris, a proponent of spreading an understanding of Catholic social teaching. Today there are more than 750,000 members operating in 146 countries.
– Debbie Musser
CSAF 2021 DESIGNATED MINISTRIES IN BRIEF Abria Pregnancy Resources — Offering a safe, non-judgmental and supportive environment for women, teens and couples experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. Locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
American Indian ministry — Serving the American Indian community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Offers a variety of programs, including funerals and a volunteer-led effort that returns individuals back to their home reservation for burial.
Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (ACCW) — Uniting Catholic women in the archdiocese. ACCW supports, empowers and educates women in spirituality, leadership and service.
Campus ministry – Newman Center — Providing a welcoming, Catholic community that encourages students to encounter and share the abundant love of Christ.
Campus ministry – Saint Paul’s Outreach (SPO) — Building Catholic communities that awaken faith on campus and form lifelong disciples. Serves over 1,000 college students directly on or near the University of St. Thomas and University of Minnesota Twin Cities campuses.
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis — Serving those most in need, Catholic Charities is a leader in solving poverty, creating opportunity and advocating for justice in the community.
Deaf ministry — Providing pastoral care and the full scope of liturgy and the sacraments for deaf Catholics.
Elementary school funding — Providing financial support to Catholic elementary schools in great need.
Elementary school scholarships — Supporting students in need at every Catholic elementary school in the archdiocese. CSAF raises the funds for these scholarships and partners with the Aim Higher Foundation, which facilitates the collection of information and distribution of scholarships.
Evangelization — Creating opportunities for people to encounter Jesus Christ and working to build a Church of missionary disciples to bring the truth of the Gospel to others.
High School scholarships — Funding scholarships for the students most in need at 14 Catholic high schools within the St. Paul and Minneapolis area.
Hospital chaplains — Serving thousands of Catholics each year, including via the archdiocese’s COVID Anointing Corps, by providing religious and sacramental care, resources on ethical issues, crisis support and bereavement care to the suffering, dying and grieving.
Latino ministry — Supporting more than 32 programs and Latino Catholics in 23 parishes of the archdiocese that have active Latino ministry.
Archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life — Promoting Catholic marriages and nurturing the Catholic faith and virtuous living in families. Includes support for the engaged, newly married, disabled and pro-life outreach.
Prison ministry — Providing the sacraments and spiritual direction to the incarcerated.
Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities — Offering retreats for individuals who seek healing from abortion. These retreats provide a supportive, confidential and non-judgmental environment where the process of restoration, renewal and healing can begin.
Seminarian tuition, room and board — Strengthening the local Church by assisting with the tuition, room and board for seminarians studying to be future priests for the archdiocese at St. John Vianney College Seminary and The St. Paul Seminary, both in St. Paul.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul – Twin Cities — Providing assistance to those in need by working with parishes and businesses, coordinating donations of food, including fresh produce, and clothing, with distribution via area and parish food shelves, pop-up stores, permanent storefronts in both St. Paul and Minneapolis, civic agencies and direct distribution.
Venezuelan mission — Sustaining a missionary presence in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, including providing spiritual care and the sacraments, food, clothing, hygiene items, medical aid and education assistance to orphans, the elderly and the impoverished.
Youth ministry — Ministering to teens and youth ministers including sponsoring the annual Archdiocesan Youth Day.
— Catholic Services Appeal Foundation
2020 campaign overviewWhile the CSAF continues to collect funds from last year’s campaign, the organization exceeded its 2020 $9 million goal, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, said Melissa Uzelac, CSAF development manager. Approximately one-third of the goal had been reached by mid-March, before Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order took effect.
Pandemic-related job loss and uncertainty did affect the campaign, Uzelac said, as a few donors were unable to fulfill pledges. “Yet, Catholics within our archdiocese are extremely generous, and many, many individuals who were able to do so continued donating and even stepped up, contributing multiple times, above and beyond, to help neighbors in need,” she said.
That was important, as the needs of the 20 ministries that CSAF funds also increased, Uzelac said. Hospital chaplains were in more demand than ever, and the Anointing Corps was created to offer anointing of the sick to those gravely ill with COVID-19. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul more than doubled its weekly food shelf recipients, from fewer than 6,000 pre-pandemic to 12,000 by December. The mission parish in Venezuela continued to try to meet essential needs in its community in the midst of severe economic decline and a dearth of resources. Catholic Charities added new cleaning procedures for safety, and evangelization needs changed as ministries strove to better meet people digitally.
“This led to our current campaign theme of ‘Together in Hope,’” Uzelac said. “We know that together, we can provide a better future for all by serving the poor, supporting life and strengthening the faith.”
She noted that online donations at giveCSAF.org more than doubled last year, and like many organizations, CSAF is working to meet donor needs virtually.
“Our archdiocese is blessed by the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in this year’s campaign kick-off video, posted on CSAF’s YouTube channel. “In this period of COVID, could you imagine if we weren’t able to fund chaplains in our hospitals to take care of our loved ones? In this time of particular need, please be generous in supporting this year’s Catholic Services Appeal. I am confident that together in hope we can share Christ’s peace, dignity and joy with our brothers and sisters.”
— Maria Wiering
