“They quickly became like family to me”

Elvira shared how Catholic Charities helped her and her son 

My story begins years ago when I lost my home. My son, Michael, and I started living out of my car. He would ask me, “Mommy, why are we not loved? Why do we not have a home?” I assured him we were loved, but we were going through a difficult time. 

My son felt alone, scared and nervous. I, too, was worried about trying to take care of my son and providing him with a safe place to live. We began to couch-hop at different homes, but still felt alone and unwanted. 

Then, we lost our car. Knowing I couldn’t take everything inside the car with us, I grabbed my son’s blanket, a few of his toys and some of our clothes. After that, we would walk through the streets and look for shelter.

Many of the homeless shelters were filled with men and women from all different backgrounds. This wasn’t ideal for us, and the family rooms at the shelters were limited and usually spoken for. We found ourselves sleeping on benches, with Michael curled up in his Lightning McQueen blanket, while I tried my best to catch some sleep while also keeping an eye out for safety reasons.

One day I walked by the old Mission Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, on SW 11, where I remember visiting as a young girl with my mother. As a child, my mother and I would volunteer there to help create food baskets, participate in angel trees during Christmas time and provide for people in various ways. It saw it had been converted into a women’s day shelter by Catholic Charities.

Afterward, I asked my counselor to bring me to Catholic Charities. As I was taken to the entrance of Sanctuary Women’s Development Center, I looked and saw a statue of Mother Mary and our Lord Jesus. My heart said it was okay to go in and share my story. I shared that my child and I were homeless, coming away from abuse and other circumstances out of my control. I wanted a safe place to stay and be around other women that could love and support my son and me. 

As soon as we walked in, the staff met us with smiles and hugs. The staff gave my son a backpack with a toy inside, showed him to an area out back equipped with a playground, and I immediately was filled with so much humility and love. They quickly became like family to me. 

They provided us with a place to shower and do our laundry, and after meeting with a case manager for the first time, my son and I crawled onto an old pew that remained there from when it was a mission church. We cuddled on one of those pews and immediately fell asleep. It was the best rest we had in months.

The most important thing was they were our advocates in life. We could be our true selves and share our stories without judgment. We were all in different stages of homelessness, but we were together, walking the toughest journey of our lives with humility and God’s grace. 

After some time, I ended up finding stability and success by working with my case manager. My son ended up graduating high school as an A-student and now is a sophomore at the University of Tulsa. Looking back, he looks at the staff from Sanctuary as a second mom to him. They were a safety net for him as they guided and guarded us through our struggles.

From our darkest moment, God, through the Sanctuary Women’s Development Center, provided us with light, love and opportunities. I still visit Sanctuary, but now as a volunteer, so I can share my story and bring hope to those in need.