Mrs. Mary Johnson is a recovering addict who has had problems trying to stay clean.  Shehas been clean 6 months.   Mrs. Johnson is married and lives with her 61 yr old husband and 8 month old child.  She was released from jail in March and came to our agency looking for any help she could obtain in order to provide for her family.  She is unemployed and the only source of income is her husband who works part-time. They found themselves struggling to make ends meet.

Mr. and Mrs. Benicio have lived in Fair Haven for many years. They have two children, ages eight and three. Mr. Benicio was laid off from his job as a construction worker in December due to lack of work, leaving the family in a desperate situation. To make matters worse he was not eligible for unemployment. and Ms. Benicio is a stay at home mom, the family suddenly had no income. The family was in a desperate situation and struggled to pay the rent, and pay their bills.
 

Mr. Dewitt is a single dad raising two small children who found himself without a job during the winter months. Because he does not qualify for food stamps, Mr. Dewitt has been struggling to provide food for his family. A friend told Mr. Dewitt about the food pantry at Centro San Jose so he decided to come and apply. Mr. Dewitt and his family have come to get food each week since then and are truly grateful for the help. Because of the Neighbor to Neighbor program, this particular obstacle was removed and Mr.

Mr. and Mrs. Pagan are a typical family who were living the American dream. They had a thriving business on State Street in New Haven. The business was there main source of income allowing Mrs. Pagan to be a stay at home mom and care for their children on a full time bases. During the last year the poor economy has had a tremendous impact on the local community, forcing many to become unemployed. Mr.

Paul was living in a New Haven supportive housing program for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics but became behind in his rent and was evicted. Paul came to Catholic Charities/ Centro San Jose for help. Our Family Specialist was able to find a new home in a similar housing program where the minister was able to place him in a bed and give him a job on a one month trial basis. Catholic Charities / Centro San Jose was able to pay his deposit through the Neighbor 2 Neighbor grant.