Giving Adriana hope with community
By TV Miskowski
4 years ago, after she and her husband lost their jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic, Adriana Moody had a period where she experienced homeless with her husband, Joseph, and her 2 children. They bounced between motels, slept in the car, stayed with friends, and even camped in a tent. For the 2 years they experienced homelessness, every day was a struggle. Adriana spent her time searching for any resources available to her family, and that’s when she heard about St. Vincent de Paul's Family Evening Meal.
The Family Evening Meal at SVdP is a nightly program where families are served freshly cooked dishes. For families like Adriana’s, this is a way to stretch an already tight budget while getting a nutritious meal.
To maximize the dignity felt by these families already in a vulnerable position, the families are served restaurant style: They’re given a few different meal options and are served at their table by volunteers. There’s even a popular salad bar!
Adriana and her family appreciated the dignity in being served a balanced meal while also feeling the relief of one less thing to factor into the budget.
“Coming to St. Vincent de Paul to get help was the best choice that I ever made,” she said.
While FEM provided monetary and nutritional benefits, Adriana found herself leaning on the community aspect of the program immediately. Her children, Joseph Jr., age 8, and Janet, age 31, are both on the autism spectrum and enjoyed having a place to socialize with other people their age.
Adriana was grateful for the openness of the Dream Center that allowed Joseph Jr. to socialize despite the struggles he often faces in social situations.
“My son gets to play with kids here, learn a lot of things and they help him with his homework,” she said. “It has been helping him a lot.”
Eventually, Adriana and her family got a bed at a nearby shelter where she and her husband received help. They quickly found jobs and have since gotten their own apartment!
After such important achievements, they still came to FEM almost nightly and have even received dental care through SVdP’s dental clinic for uninsured patients. Eventually, her daughter had her own child, and FEM became a place where Janet could socialize with other moms her age, despite her own unique challenges she faced as an adult on the spectrum.
They finally felt like they were beginning to get back on their feet again.
Since then, the family has still faced some struggles, the worse of which was when Adriana’s husband tragically passed away in January 2025, and she found herself leaning on FEM more than ever.
Despite all the darkness, she knows that she doesn’t have to go through it alone, and has turned to the other moms for support through her grief.
“I have memories here from when my husband was still alive,” she said. “A lot of the people knew him too.”
Now, Adriana is working through her grief while figuring out the changes in her life. She is overwhelmingly thankful for the financial, nutritional and emotional support that she has received from everyone she has met through SVdP.
“I’m so proud of Adriana for coming here with her family to carry-on,” Cindy Bernardo, Family Evening Program Manager, said. “She was able to recognize that we were her extended family.”
