Kristine’s Story at Dorothy Day Place

Kristine worked as a nurse her entire adult life. While she’s done pretty much every kind of nursing, caring for newborns was always her favorite. She had a successful career that allowed her to raise children, travel, and feel fulfilled.

But in 2020, Kristine’s life turned upside down when her husband died unexpectedly. She was 54 years old at the time, and the loss of her life partner, “was almost too much to bear,” she said. Aside from dealing with her own grief, Kristine suddenly had to also navigate life with one source of income.

That same year, Kristine suffered a major medical crisis of her own and was unable to work. The going got even tougher, Kristine said, “and at the end of the day you’re not left with a whole lot of choices.” She drained her retirement savings and sold all her valuables, but continued struggling to make ends meet. And on December 20th of 2023, Kristine’s financial hardships caused her to lose her housing.

Working Toward New Goals

“I was so grateful to have opportunities again,” Kristine said, “I had my own things, I had people to help me, and I started to meet people that I felt like I could laugh with again.” Kristine spent her evenings in the women’s shelter and walked across the street to the day center for meals and services. Her goal was to move into housing upstairs.

“I couldn’t wait to have my own room again, to be able to cook in my own kitchen, and just to have a space of my own,” explained Kristine. “I’m 58 years old, but I knew I could persevere.”

A Home of Her Own

One day that March, Kristine’s new caseworker Jenae introduced herself and told Kristine that she had a lead on housing. Kristine was moved into her own apartment three weeks from that day.

“Two years in a row I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and my birthday on the streets,” explained Kristine. “When Jenae told me there was an apartment for me here, I couldn’t believe it.”

Since then, Kristine has worked hard to make her apartment feel like home; she has meticulously decorated, grown a collection of houseplants, and for the first time in years, will decorate for the holidays.

Roland’s Experience with Long-Term Homelessness

Roland is a natural storyteller who loves to laugh and will always greet you with a smile and a joke. He is from the Midwest, has experienced long-term homelessness, and describes himself as a “survivor.”

Roland started working when he was thirteen years old and takes pride in being self-sufficient. He led a long career with the Ford Motor Company but ended up struggling after being part of a large layoff. Roland had some money saved but was unable to find work. He recalled that, “when my money ran out, it was the first time in my life that I had nothing to spend and no place to go.”

Exiting Long-Term Homelessness

Roland clearly remembers the day that Brenda left a note on his bunk, offering to help him find housing if he was interested. “If it wasn’t for Brenda, I probably would have never pursued housing,” Roland said. “I’m a professional street person — I knew how to survive out there.”

As Roland worked with Brenda to apply for housing, it slowly began to seem possible. He was living on an extremely low income but worked hard to set money aside. “It’s really scary to put away what little money you have in that situation,” Brenda explained, “but it’s an important investment in yourself.”

About three months later, Brenda called Roland into her office to share the news she received early that morning: there was an apartment available that he qualified for. “It felt like a miracle,” Roland said. Brenda went to pick up keys that afternoon, and the apartment upstairs at Dorothy Day Place would be move-in ready that weekend.

A Structure That Works

Roland credits Dorothy Day Place for providing him with the resources he needed to secure a place of his own again – for the first time in over a decade. “When you leave this shelter, you may not have any money, but you can go to the day shelter right across the street,” explained Roland. “They have everything you need: showers, socks, clothes, and resources upstairs — they can help you get a job, apply for benefits, and even find housing.”

Amidst Roland’s excitement about having a place to call home again he smiled and said, “this is a great place, it saved my life.”

Meet Matthew Peterzen

One year ago, Matthew Peterzen was released from Hennepin County Jail with nowhere to go.

Struggling with addiction, this had not been Matthew’s first time in jail—but this time he had no one to call, nowhere to stay for the night. He hopped on the light rail without knowing which direction it was headed and rode it all the way to Saint Paul, where some outreach workers connected him with a shelter bed.

Finding Focus Forward

After being discharged from the hospital, Matthew returned to Dorothy Day Campus. There, Case Manager Michael Kaup referred him to Focus Forward, an enhanced shelter program that works to quickly connect people with housing once they’re ready to take the next step. While staying at Focus Forward, Matthew felt safe to get good sleep, eat regular hot meals, and work with a case manager to navigate supportive services that would help build a more stable life.

Now, Matthew is more than 90 days sober. He’s living in housing that supports his sobriety, spends time at an Addiction Health Center, and is doing everything he can to improve his health.

Suddenly homeless with nowhere to turn

Diana is the kind of person who puts others first. She is an experienced nursing assistant and a passionate mother who says that her children “mean everything” to her.

Diana moved to Minnesota at the end of 2021 in search of better opportunities for her family. Over the next six months, Diana did everything she could to establish a quality life for her kids. She found a good job, and her children were settling into their new home in Saint Paul. Diana was proud that she had kept her family safe and healthy through the coronavirus pandemic and was looking forward to the future.

That’s when disaster struck. A fire destroyed the duplex that Diana and her children called home — along with most of their belongings. “Just like that, we lost everything,” Diana said.

Suddenly, Diana found herself with no home and nobody to turn to for support. Her landlord wasn’t answering her calls, and she didn’t have any family who could help her. So, with no other options, Diana took her children to the nearest emergency shelter.

For the next year, Diana and her children lived in a few different shelters that serve families experiencing homelessness. Diana explained that some places were better than others, but it’s just hard to be in a shelter with young children — especially during the holidays. She couldn’t make them home-cooked meals, and they were constantly packing and unpacking their belongings. To Diana, it felt like no matter how much paperwork she filled out or how many calls she made, she would never find a place for her family.

Finding her way home

“I haven’t cried in a long time,” said Diana through tears. “These are happy tears, breakthrough tears. It’s a testimony to accomplishing something that I wasn’t sure I could … especially as a mom who’s only 28 years old and has little ones.”

Diana walked into Catholic Charities’ Family Service Center carrying the burden of the past year’s traumatic experiences. When she left, she carried some new paintings and the keys to a place that her family could call home. “I’ve been through a lot,” Diana said. “But this place really helped me … now I just want to sit back and watch my kids grow.”

For the first time since moving to Minnesota, Diana’s family will be home for the holidays. From marking her children’s heights on the wall, to hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree, having a place to live means stability for Diana’s family. More than anything, Diana is looking forward to building a foundation and creating core memories together with her family.

A life changing phone call

Carol Atkinson-Sullivan describes herself as “one tough cookie.”

Having grown up in an abusive home and later navigating her own journey to sobriety as a young adult, Carol learned that she could rely on herself to figure things out. But in January 2020, Carol received a life-changing phone call—her son, Erik, was in the hospital after experiencing a massive left-brain stroke. At only 49 years old, Erik had been busy working as a professional photographer in St. Paul when this tragic event derailed his life. The stroke left Erik with severe mobility issues and unable to speak.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Carol was required to stay in a COVID isolation room with other who were very sick. She describes this time as, “insane and scary. You’re so displaced and you just lose touch. There was no place to go for peace and quiet—to get away from everybody else’s problems so you could focus on your own.”

While Carol recovered from COVID, she was connected to Catholic Charities’ Homeless Elders program, which provides intensive case management and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable older adults. It was then that Carol met Case Manager Melea Blanchard. “If it were not for her, I don’t think I would’ve made it,” says Carol. “After I met Melea, I could see a little light at the end of the tunnel. It was like somebody actually cared.”

Homeless elders program helps Carol start fresh

Melea worked to find housing for Carol that could also accommodate Erik. The two of them now live together in an apartment in St. Paul. “Since I have been out of the shelter, and Erik could come home, I think he has improved significantly,” Carol shares.

With stable housing, Carol has been able to manage her own health and secure resources for Erik as he works through speech and physical therapy. They still face challenges, but with a place to call their own—Carol says, “We are doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”

Carol lent her lived expertise at the Minnesota Capitol this year, testifying in support of Catholic Charities’ Homeless Elders program. “I’m an activist at heart”, Carol says, “seniors are not disposable. We are not stupid. We deserve dignity and respect.” With Carol’s help, legislation was passed that will make a difference for other older adults facing homelessness or in need of other support in our community! Read Carol’s full testimony and learn about the Homeless Elder’s Program that she advocated for here.

Students Who Volunteer with Catholic Charities

Last year at Catholic Charities, volunteers worked over 40,000 service hours across the agency. Although most volunteers are adults, many students volunteer to work daily shifts—both in school groups, and individually. In the past year, over 150 students volunteered at Catholic Charities Twin Cities!

Volunteers at Catholic Charities Twin Cities helped serve over 1,000,000 meals to more than 25,000 men, women, and children during the last year. This summer, a handful of student volunteers have made a big impact:

Catholic Charities Communications Volunteers

This summer, two student volunteers from local high schools joined Catholic Charities to use their time in a bit of a different way by interning with the communications team. Lily Noble from Visitation School, and Alexandra Nitabach from St. Louis Park High School are spending 6 weeks of their summer break at Catholic Charities administrative office in Elliot Park to learn about marketing, journalism, socials media, fundraising, and other communications work. Their efforts will help the team and agency share stories from across Catholic Charities programs.

Joshua’s Story

Joshua is the kind of person that you’d want as a neighbor. He’s friendly, respectful, and seems to know a little bit about everything. He is 34 years old now and has been through more than his fair share of challenges in life — including a stint in jail for something that happened when he was a younger man. About that time, Joshua said, “I knew that I was never going back. I knew that this was my opportunity to start over.”

Starting over with a criminal record is not easy, even if you’re young. Joshua secured a job at a restaurant as he exited jail but was experiencing homelessness at the time. He knew he needed to earn more money, but couch-hopping, sleeping in the Minneapolis skyways, and finding other places to spend the night made that extremely difficult. Still, Joshua found a second job at the Mall of America and saved every dollar he could.

A Permanent Place to Live

With a permanent place to call home, Joshua has been able to dedicate more time to his personal and professional development. He’s currently studying to become a licensed pest controller and recently registered an LLC under his name. Joshua has been working really hard and shared that, “new things and failure don’t scare me at all, I’ve found my oasis here and I’m going to figure things out.”

Outside of work, Joshua likes to spend his time doing music production and working events as a DJ — things that he can do again now that he has a place of his own and money to invest in equipment. “If you’re going through homelessness or other hard times, this is the place to go,” Joshua said, “Moving here allowed me to hit the reset button—it has helped me accomplish so much.”

Sandra Johnson’s Experience with Homelessness as an Older Adult

Sandra Johnson’s motto is, “I shall pass this way but once; any kindness I can do, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.” And once you get to know her, you realize that she truly lives her life by those words.

More than anything else, Sandra cares deeply for other people. Family comes first for her, but that kindness also shines in her lifelong volunteerism and career in customer service.

Yet, Sandra’s life has also been full of battles. She lost her husband to a tragic accident at a young age, raised her four young children on her own, and fought cancer and chronic illnesses more than once. When her former employer outsourced most of their customer service work, she lost her job and began battling with something new: homelessness as an older adult.

The Importance of Deeply Affordable Housing

But in April of 2012, one of Sandra’s friends learned about her housing situation and recommended a deeply affordable place to live. That’s how Sandra discovered Catholic Charities Evergreen Residence, an 88-unit permanent housing program near Target Field in Minneapolis.

Sandra has lived at Evergreen since then, and has said that, “it has been like a safe haven for me; it provided stability in the midst of my instability.” Now, Sandra can engage even more deeply in her community. She enjoys cooking meals to share with her neighbors every Tuesday, continues to volunteer, and advocates for her community at the Minnesota Capitol.

“When I moved in here, I realized that my journey is not over,” Sandra said. “I know what it’s like to be homeless, and I know what it’s like to eat ramen 365 days a year. But now I never have to worry.”

Sandra Uses her Voice at the Capitol

Sandra brought her lived experience to the Minnesota Homeless Day on the Hill. Sandra explained, “I was there to make a difference, to make a change—to represent the homeless.” Sandra testified in a public meeting, was interviewed by the Star Tribune, and met Senator Scott Dibble. “As legislators, we look at legislation, we look at spreadsheets,” said Dibble. “And those are very important, but they’re a bit abstract. They become humanized and contextualized when we meet people.”