Unmet human needs

Several months ago, a woman came to St. Marguerite Support Services and stated that she had not seen or heard from her 43-year-old son in over 5 years, and she said that she was very worried about him. She asked if we could give him her contact information if he ever happened to come to Catholic Charities.

About 2 weeks later, a man came to SMSS looking for services. He stated he just got off the bus from California, and said he was currently homeless and needed to obtain NV identification to find employment. Pat, the Intake Coordinator at SMSS, recognized his name and told him his mother was desperately searching for him and that she left her contact information is he chose to call her. The client said he was shocked because he said he had gotten in trouble in California and was incarcerated a few times, so he had assumed his mother would be ashamed and disappointed in him and would not want him to contact her. He stated if that
was not the case, then he absolutely wanted to speak to her.

We called his mother, and she said she would be there in 20 minutes, and she arrived promptly.  There were many hugs and tears as they spoke to each other for the first time in years. She said they were going back home to her house and told Pat that she was extremely thankful for all her help and for identifying her son. Since that day, both mother and son have come in multiple times, and we helped him obtain his NV State Identification. They sent Pat a holiday card, along with an angel figurine, to express their eternal gratitude.

This is not a completely unique story
for the SMSS department because there have been many instances of – not just
connecting clients to resources – but also helping to reunite families and
loved ones. Catholic Charities is considered by many individuals just arriving to town, as well as local community members, to be a safe haven that welcomes all who are seeking help.