Working Hard

"I have learned so much!!!!! I have learned how mercy can change lives. I have learned not to take my blessings for granted. I have learned that everyone needs unconditional love."

      Since the summer of 2011, Jacki McCarthy has been employed at Catherine's House as the Developmental Director. I got to work with Jacki when a few of us volunteers stuffed the envelopes and mentioned her then (read that blog post here), but here is a better understanding of what this incredible woman does for Catherine's House!

      In 2009, Jacki worked for a company founded by a woman who once worked at House of Mercy and knew all about the ministries of Catherine's House. Having a tie to the place, their company was hired to create a fundraising plan. Jacki was put on site to begin the plan until Catherine's House was ready to hire a permanent employee to fulfill the job. Having witnessed the lives of many women change during her course of work, Jacki fell in love with the ministry and mission. She was eager and blessed to have the opportunity to help them set up a way for continued financial support.

      The impression that Catherine's House made was so great that Jacki became a full-time employee, taking the job which she helped create.

      Among the many, many tasks Jacki does for the House, she write grants, help coordinate events, write thank you letters, work with a web designer to redesign the website, work on a promotional video, steward donors, create the newsletter, and anything else the job requires.

"I have watched a baby while her mom was making dinner, taken residents to the doctor or to work when there was no other volunteer or staff member to take them. Basically, I focus on fundraising related activities, but we all pitch in when we are needed. We are a small staff but a very dedicated staff, and we all work together to carry out the mission of Catherine’s House."



Jacki on the right at the 20th Celebration and Tree Lighting
Ceremony. December 13th, 2012. Thanks to the Montcross
Area Chamber of Commerce for the photo!

      Though she's always running around with a bundle on her plate, Jacki adores her job. She loves it most when a resident moves out of the house and into a place of their own. When the residents get a job interview. When a resident finds employment and bursts into her office with the good news. When they can celebrate any accomplishment- both big and small. She also loves interviewing prospective and former residents.

"I feel so honored when a resident shares her story with me. The majority of our residents have faced hardships in their lives and I know it must take so much courage to share their story with someone they don’t know very well. They trust me to write their story and it means the world to me. I also love to celebrate where they are now. I love it when a child comes by my office for a hug. That is the absolute best! Often, they start off really shy and it takes courage and trust to give that first hug."

      But with any job, there comes a few hardships. Hearing the resident's stories is wonderful, but it is also very difficult to hear. Most of the residents face or have faced some horrific situations including abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual).  And though Catherine's House isn't a place for women under an immediate threat to domestic violence, the residents almost always have severe trauma or abuse or in their backgrounds from a partner or a family member or both.

"I read that 92% of homeless mothers have experienced sexual abuse. My jaw dropped and our Program Director at the time said she believed that was accurate. That is the worst part – knowing that abuse actually happens and at such a high rate. And seeing how the children are affected by it. Often their mothers do not know the best way to parent because they did not have parents who knew the best way to parent. We offer classes for that which helps, but only if the resident is open to it. It is hard to change behaviors that are so engrained."

      Times can be tough for both the residents and employees of Catherine's House, and yet there remains so much potential, so much hope, so much love. Jacki loves her job, absolutely loves it. On that first day that I met her, surrounded by postal bins, she was incredibly warm and welcoming and worked with a smile on her face. She has seen and heard tremendous stories of hardships and cringe-worthy pasts of the residents, but she has also seen the work that God does through their situations. She has seen growth. And that is what Catherine's House offers- the opporunity to grow in the love of self, others, and God.

"One of our former residents put it best when she said she learned that “If you take one step, God will take ten.”"

                                                             God Bless,
                                                                       Me