A sister’s determination to keep her family together

One dangerous fall down a mountain left Vanessa Griego’s life in turmoil. But in the face of chaos, St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Support Services stepped in to help the Griego family keep the lights on and their home intact through rent and utility assistance.

In 2025, Vanessa suffered serious injuries from a catastrophic car accident. While on the road going up winding mountains to Show Low, Arizona, her car slid on a soft patch of dirt causing it to roll 80 feet down the mountain.

Vanessa was hospitalized with multiple fractures and was confined to a bed for multiple months. She had broken her arm, her foot and damaged her back, making it impossible to work. As a result, she lost her job as a certified nursing assistant. 

The bills began to pile up. Vanessa started falling behind on rent and utilities until her funds led her to miss payments completely. Suddenly Vanessa had fallen behind hundreds of dollars because of an accident completely out of her control.

“It’s been a lot these past couple of years,” Vanessa said. 

Due to family circumstances, Vanessa has had custody of her three teenage siblings for more than a decade now. She has been the sole provider and caretaker since the age of 17, and she even recently took in their elderly grandmother.

Because of the situation, Vanessa feared eviction and separation from her family. Before the accident, they had been living paycheck to paycheck but still managed to maintain stability in their two-bedroom apartment, but with her injuries it seemed almost impossible to keep their home. 

When funds began to run out, she felt as though she had reached her lowest point, so Vanessa decided to seek help and reach out to local support. 

Desperate for assistance, Vanessa had asked various churches for help and even called Child Protective Services several times, hoping to receive some form of assistance. Her calls went unanswered.

“I thought we were going to lose our home,” said Vanessa. “It had felt like the end of the road, like this was it, there was nothing else that I could do.”

That’s when her search led her to St. Vincent de Paul.

One of the many churches she had called was a synagogue. Volunteers at the church there directed her to SVdP. Vanessa was led to Laurie Sobel, a case manager for the Family Support Services. With Laurie’s help, SVdP was able to offer her one-time rental assistance, covering over two months’ worth of bills. They also helped pay overdue rent and utility bills, helping her catch up on $3,000 of assistance and regain stability while she recovered.