[00:00:00] Jim Jansen: Hey everybody. Welcome to the EquipCast. So, I just sat down with Jill Lynch. Jill is the executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society here in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the director of the Holy Family Community Center, and she talks about how you see Jesus hiding in the poor, the face of Jesus, how you see it in the poor and how you be the face of Jesus to the poor.
It's an amazing conversation. We talk about Just how difficult it is, uh, for people who experience homelessness to get out of it, how you can prevent and the, the power and importance of loving one person at a time. You're going to love today's conversation. Take a listen. Hey everybody. Welcome to the EquipCast, a weekly podcast for the archdiocese of Omaha.
I'm your host, Jim Jansen. Now let's dive into some encouragement and inspiration to equip you to live your faith. And to be fruitful in your mission, let's go.
Welcome to the EquipCast. How are you? 

[00:01:10] Jill: I am good. Thanks. Thanks for inviting me to be here today. 

[00:01:13] Jim Jansen: Okay. So, we have a little tradition. We always like to, like, as we, as we get started, I want to give people a chance to tell their story. So, Jill, what's your story? 

[00:01:24] Jill: My story, well, my story to bring me closer to my faith has been long and not always smooth because I will say... 

[00:01:33] Jim Jansen: you're the only one.

[00:01:35] Jill: I know. I know. 

[00:01:35] Jim Jansen: Everybody else is neat and clean. 

[00:01:38] Jill: Everybody else listens when they're called. 

[00:01:40] Jim Jansen: Yeah. 

[00:01:41] Jill: You know, I, I started doing volunteer work very young. Meaningful volunteer work in high school and went to a Catholic high school, went to a couple of different Catholic high schools. Cause my, my father worked for a railroad, uh, one of the large railroad.
And so, we moved around a lot. I don't think we stayed anywhere more than a couple of years at a time. And so. I was living in, in Naperville, Illinois at the time when I was, uh, a freshman in high school. And one of my religion class, we used to, uh, you could get extra credit if you would go down into the inner cities, soup kitchens in Chicago with a religion teacher and serve.
And it was cool. It was. And so, I'm like, yeah, I'll take that extra credit. But I, I fell in love with it. It was so much fun to go down there and Just interact with people. So that was probably my first real meaningful Interaction. 

[00:02:41] Jim Jansen: What did you love about it? I'm like, what drew you? 

[00:02:44] Jill: You know, I don't know I have always had a gift to interact with People in poverty or, or, or people that some folks might be put off by.
And I don't know why that is. It might be because I've got family members that have been sick or may look visually different than other folks. 

[00:03:05] Jim Jansen: So, you weren't, you weren't put off by that. You knew how... 

[00:03:08] Jill: I wasn't at all put off by that. Yeah. I've been around sickness. I've been around people that look different, and it didn't scare me.
Um, it just intrigues me more than anything of, you know, I want to get to know a person and why and their story. And so. Poverty just felt like an extension of another type of person that want to get to know them and why do they look like this? Why do they act like this and not that I always got the answer, but it was interesting to try to figure it out. 

[00:03:37] Jim Jansen: Yeah. 

[00:03:38] Jill: And so, you know I had done that in high school and got my extra credit and I was happy when I went about my business and then My second two years of high school, I was in Texas and my extra credit was in a state home and that was working with people that had mental illness and physical disabilities and people too sick to be at home, mostly younger folks.
And again, just loved it. It was, it was fun. It was interesting. Nothing that I thought I would ever even remotely do as a career. You know, my, my goal was to, to be rich, to, to be honest. That's, that's what I'm thinking. Okay. I want, I want to do something that's going to. Make me live a very, very comfortable life and travel and have fun and my, my mind was not in serving, even though I knew I liked to serve.
So after, after college. And again, in my mind, I want to be wealthy. I want to travel. And if I go serve somewhere in another country, it's going to show that I'm flexible, that I can adapt to different situations and I can use that minor in Spanish that I had learned. And so, I decided I wanted to volunteer after I got out of, out of college.
The options that were out there was like the Peace Corps, and that's really the big option, but it just didn't, it just didn't seem to be pulling my attention, but I found out about an organization that was run by an ex Jesuit priest and a, um, LaSalle brother, and it was out of Kansas City, and at that time, it was called the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging.
And after, after, uh, university, I was up, I was in Omaha at that time. And so, they invited me down. I, I connected with them and they're like, you know, come down to Kansas city. And meet us. So, I went down there and the way that they do their interview process is you go in and they, they had a homeless shelter.
They place volunteers all over the world in these different sites, but their interview process was to bring you in and then. Then leave you alone for several hours and see what you do. And I didn't know this Wow. Until later. Wow. Like a test. It was like a, it was a test. So, I went down to the homeless shelter and just hung out and you know, talked to people and eventually I got some shears and I'm cutting hair, and it was just funny.
I just thought it was funny. I do not cut hair, by the way. I don't know how to cut hair, but I'm like, yeah, I'll cut your hair. You know, it was pretty easy. 

[00:06:40] Jim Jansen: Oh, my goodness. So, they're watching from like a, what, like a double-sided mirror or like a camera or something? 

[00:06:45] Jill: No, they just kind of go in and out. And the other people that are volunteering, I guess they get together afterwards and like, okay, did that, what did this person do?
How do you think if we'd put them in another country? 

[00:06:56] Jim Jansen: She's not a licensed hair, hairstylist. 

[00:06:59] Jill: Exactly. And it's a, and you know, I can do a Mohawk. Why not? You know, so I actually spent a few days down there at the Christian foundation for children and aging and stayed with another person that worked there.
They decided, Yes, I passed the test and that I could go on. It was the Mohawk, wasn't it? Yeah, it probably was. It probably was. I didn't dye any hair, but I probably would have had that given me the opportunity. Yeah. So, they decided, Yes, I could do this. I would be able to go. Do my missionary work somewhere and so I ended up, um, going to, to come to Mitchell con, which is in Mexico and it's like 150 miles west of Mexico city, little bitty town up in the mountains.
No Americans at all. This is not a touristy place. I spent two years in an orphanage working with nuns to take care of 43 kids. And it was just, again, for me, it was fun. It was a way to learn Spanish. And in my mind, get me culturally sensitive so I could go get that job. That's going to pay me this million bucks, but what I didn't know all along, there was all of these callings to me is my journey of faith.
And when I learned, listen to the calling, I am. So happy and so content with what I'm doing, but when I go after the big paying job and try to shut out the calling, it's not as much fun. It's not, it's not as easy. Things don't come as naturally. So, my, my journey of faith has been like this back and forth, back and forth.
I ended up doing six years of missionary work after, after college, two was in Mexico and four was in Guatemala and those to me, um, by far were, I used to say those were the best days of my life, you know, I didn't make a dime. There was no stipend. I had to pay for it all myself, but. It came easily to go in and talk at a mass and I would get enough money for another year to cover my insurance.
Not too much, but just enough to make it last another year. 

[00:09:20] Jim Jansen: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I mean, I, There's so much in, in that little slice of your story. I just find it just, just how you noticed the, the joy, the fun, the peace when you're like, Oh, right in the center of what the Lord's and you would think from, you know, from an outsider, it's like, Oh my gosh, we, they left this, this young woman in the, you know, it just all alone in a homeless shelter.
Let's just see what she does. And you're like, you're just okay, let's have fun. I'll cut some hair. Yeah. From an outsider perspective, it's like, well, clearly, she's made for this. I don't know how many of us, you know, like, oh yeah, but we don't sometimes see what's in us. And, and, you know, we get distracted by other things and it's only later that you're like, Hey, that's, I'm actually having fun there.
There's peace there. There's joy there. 

[00:10:10] Jill: Right. And that, and that's it. I, I have been blessed with the gift to look beyond. The surface level of what you see with people, whether that's a physical condition, a medical condition, a homeless condition... 

[00:10:25] Jim Jansen: Yeah, a lack of address... 

[00:10:28] Jill: poverty, whatever it is, that is my gift.
That is, and it is a gift. It is definitely a gift from God. I know not everybody has that and not everybody needs it. We all have different gifts, right? 

[00:10:42] Jim Jansen: Wow. Okay. Uh, we, we got to come back to that, but Jill, give us, so now, right, you're serving as the executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society here in Omaha, working at the, the Holy Family Community Center.
Give some context to like, what is the Holy Family Community Center? What's St. Vincent de Paul? Give, give people a little bit of context as we kind of dive into your work. Today. 

[00:11:08] Jill: Sure. So Holy Family was the oldest Catholic church in Omaha. 

[00:11:14] Jim Jansen: In the city. Yeah. 

[00:11:15] Jill: In the city. I want to say it's closing in on about 150 years old.
The building is no longer a functioning Catholic church. Um, it was closed around the time of COVID or shortly thereafter while it was still an active church. They'd invited the society, St. Vincent de Paul to have their, um, headquarters in the parish offices. And so, when they closed their doors due to COVID and just a smaller population in that parish, the archdiocese and St.
Francis Cabrini, who technically owns that church, does own that church right now. Offered to let the society remain there and continue to function out of the, the parish. One of the contingencies of it was to continue the missions that were run out of that parish, which was the sack lunch program, a clothes, clothing door program.
Um, those were the two primary it's added on since then. And of course that falls right in line with our mission anyway. So, it made total sense to do that. And so that's where we are now. We call Holy family community center. It's really the old parish and continued the services there. And now we work with other nonprofits and there's a coffee bar there.

[00:12:43] Jim Jansen: Not affiliated with, but close by to some of the other shelters where people can actually, where there are overnight accommodations for homeless. Yeah. So, it really is. I mean, I don't know if hub is the right word, but there's a lot of activity. 

[00:12:58] Jill: You know, it's a well welcoming environment there. So... 

[00:13:02] Jim Jansen: yeah. 

[00:13:02] Jill: Some people don't realize that when shelters, you can stay in the shelter, but during the day you can't stay there for the most part.
A lot of those have to leave to leave and it's hard to find a place that You can lift your head and feel welcome if you are a homeless person. 

[00:13:20] Jim Jansen: Jill, talk more about that because I mean at one level that might be obvious but for those of us who have not experienced homelessness and maybe have not worked with any homeless like talk about that need and just some of the reality it's like they're not welcome.
That's most places oftentimes at least. 

[00:13:38] Jill: Right? There's a stigma. There's definitely a stigma with being homeless. And especially in North Omaha, there's, there are more people with addictions. Where we are close to the shelter where we are. And the reason for that is because the shelter that's closest to us is called what's called a wet shelter.
And what that means is that you can still be participating in your, are active in your addictions. So, if you're doing some kind of drugs, if you're an alcoholic, If you have severe mental illness and oftentimes that goes hand in hand with addictions, you can still be using and stay the night in the shelter closest to us.

[00:14:30] Jim Jansen: And that's in contrast to some shelters who would say, you cannot, you have to be sober, you have to be clean before you can come. 

[00:14:38] Jill: Correct. And they will do a UA test on you before you can stay the night. 

[00:14:42] Jim Jansen: Yeah. I mean, I think there's probably a benefit to both, both models, but like, wow, I mean, I, I would, I can just without too much difficulty imagine that'd be hard.
I mean, if I'm mentally ill, if I have struggled with any sort of substance abuse, addiction, getting clean in order to find a place to stay, that's a really high hurdle. 

[00:15:07] Jill: It is. It's a, it's definitely a challenge. And I have to tell you, Jim, this is. When I first started with St. Vincent de Paul, you know, I've, I've worked with, with poverty for years and have embraced that and Have found a space in my heart for people that are going through poverty Immigrants all of that.
I did not have that for people with addictions. I'm going to be perfectly honest I in my mind before I started working at holy family at the society St. Vincent de Paul I Had this judgment of well, they They're doing this to themselves. You know, the, this is not the typical person that lives in poverty in my mind at that time.
I just didn't have the empathy. And again, here's, here's the Lord telling me again, that. Back it up, girl, you know, you need to have this experience and, and embrace it again, you know, and in another way, and here I am, I, I love what I'm doing. I've gotten to know people on a very personal level that are experiencing these difficulties, mental illness, addiction.
And I've been blessed again to look beyond that and see the potential and, and when I can see the potential in them, sometimes slowly they can start seeing the potential in themselves when they've lost all hope. 

[00:16:44] Jim Jansen: Yeah. Jill, what, what changed? How did you, I mean, we're, we're talking about kind of vision and eyesight and right.
The ability, uh, maybe it's the ability to, to not see or to see past or see through or see deeper. How'd the Lord open your eyes? 

[00:17:01] Jill: Exposure. I've never been around anybody with addiction. 

[00:17:05] Jim Jansen: Sure. Cause despite all the experience with poverty, it was what? Rural Guatemalan, Mexican. And it was not, Addiction wasn't a part of it.

[00:17:15] Jill: Not that I'm aware of. I've never been around people that had addictions like that. 

[00:17:20] Jim Jansen: Yeah. What did it, what did it teach you? What did the exposure teach you? 

[00:17:23] Jill: It has taught me that addiction is no different. It's a disease process. So, we don't blame people with diabetes. We, when they eat a donut, we don't blame people with heart disease when they don't exercise like they're supposed to.
And yet we blame someone with addiction to. Drugs or alcohol for their, for not having the strength to avoid it, but we don't do that with other disease processes. Wow. 

[00:17:58] Jim Jansen: I mean, there's like, I'm sure there's a whole bunch of people who was, you know, sweet tooth and like, yeah, I could probably stay. My doctor says I should lose a few pounds who are like, Oh, man, we can have empathy for ourselves, uh, or loved ones for that, but not for equally if not more challenging, uh, addictions.

[00:18:19] Jill: Yeah. Cause they're not pretty. 

[00:18:22] Jim Jansen: Well, and the consequences are more severe. I mean, okay. A heart disease is pretty intense, but you could, yeah. But like, there's a, there's a real quick and severe, you know, for someone who's struggling with math or whatever. It's like, that's a very quick spiral. You do at least get a couple of donuts before, you know, the ultimate consequences kick in, but... 

[00:18:44] Jill: You would think.
Yeah. 

[00:18:46] Jim Jansen: Wow. Tell us a story about someone because there are so many guests, uh, neighbors that you all have. And I think we, without the exposure, without knowing, we can imagine that we're really, uh, we imagine maybe a difference than is maybe greater than reality. Tell us some of the stories of the people that helped open your eyes.

[00:19:09] Jill: Well, I can tell you a story from yesterday. Yesterday, this happened. The mail came to Holy Family, and I happened to be flipping through it before, um, giving it to the person that typically takes care of it. And there's an envelope that's addressed to me and it's from the Douglas County Correction Center.
And I'm like, Hmm. I know some of our neighbors that are in there, so I'm like, I wonder who this is from. So, I haven't ever got a letter before, and in fact, if it's okay, I'll read you the letter because I have a picture of it on my phone. It came from a young man who, I'll give you a little background on his, he, he, um, is one of three brothers and sisters that I know Um, that hang out around the church, fondly known as the church, holy family, that's everybody calls it the church.
But when he was three years old, his mother had left him, and I want to say seven siblings at holy family. 

[00:20:21] Jim Jansen: Like dropped them off.

[00:20:22] Jill: Yes, because it was safe haven site. 

[00:20:24] Jim Jansen: Wow. 

[00:20:25] Jill: And so, they grew up in foster care and kind of in and out of homes around North Omaha. And they've all kind of come back to Holy family.
Well, not all three of them that I know of. And this particular young man, he struggles with drugs and fighting. But when I have interacted with him, I would say about 80 percent of the time, he is just the sweetest young man, super respectful, very honest and open. And so many times when he's not high, he'll tell me, Jill, I'm so scared.
I'm so scared. I'm like, what are you scared of? And he's like, everything, everything, you know. Well, he's in jail. He got a misdemeanor. I can't remember what it was for maybe fighting. Um, he was supposed to go to his court. He didn't go. You got a fine. So, then he got a warrant. So now he is serving his warrant.
Because he didn't have the money to, you know, pay his fines and all of that stuff, but he sent me this letter yesterday and it was just a very beautiful thing. Um, and so I'm going to read a little bit of it, but it says, Miss Jill, this is DJ. That's what he goes by. Um, he says, I'm in jail serving my sentence for my warrant, and I should be out later this month.
He says, I want to thank you for always having faith in me. I finally want to stay clean and sober. I'm sorry to, sorry to say that it took me coming to, um, Douglas County Correction Center to realize that, but I'm glad I did. And then he talks a little bit, but he says, you know, he realizes that he's done with the criminal lifestyle, and he says, it's just not for me.
And he says, I love you for being you and always having faith in me. And this was such a huge thing to me because he expresses that he is thankful that I've never given up on him. And, and he's often told me, and he's not the only one. In fact, his brother does the same thing. They're like, you know. We are not who you see.
And I'm like, I think you are who I see. 

[00:22:59] Jim Jansen: Right? You're like... 

[00:23:00] Jill: you aren't accepting it. 

[00:23:01] Jim Jansen: Yeah. It's like, oh, if you knew who I really was, yes. You wouldn't love me. 

[00:23:05] Jill: Right. And they, but for someone to care about them, when you see them at their worst Mm-Hmm. And when they're on drugs, they're at their worst and they'll fight and sometimes they, you know, aren't nice.
To, to the staff, they, they'll yell at me, but then the next day I'll approach them just like I did the day before. And, you know, and when, and when they're coherent enough and because I've built a built a relationship with them, I can say, you know, I see so much potential in you. And if you. If you really want to get clean and, and work towards something different, I'll help you, you know, we have stores, I'll hire you, but you have to be clean and you have to put your effort towards it, but I'm not going to look at your past.
If you make the effort, I'll make the effort. And, and that's, that was my, my, uh, note back to DJ. He's in jail right now, but I called one of the counselors that I know there. And I said, Hey, will you get a note back to DJ and let him know when he comes out, his job's waiting for him. And wow, that's beautiful.
It is. And I don't know, I don't know if it's going to work for him. I hope it works for him. But if he, if he wants it. I'll be there for him. And then, you know, not that that's the all end all for him. He, but they have, these neighbors have such a hard time finding a place that will hire them. And so, if I can give them a place to work and they get some experience and they can get six months or a year worth of good, positive work in, maybe they can get a better job.

[00:24:54] Jim Jansen: Yeah. A reference or something. Right. Well, and. I mean, not to, I don't want to distract us, but I mean, I've just never thought, you know, it's like, I mean, it's been a while since I've, I'd like working for the archdiocese, so I haven't had to apply anywhere, have not applied anywhere for quite some time. But what do you do when you apply?
You're like, okay, well, what's your address? Okay, we'll give it, you know, okay, well, and it's like, uh, what do you do when you don't have an address? You know, and it's just like the difficulty of, uh, not having helpful references, not having an address, not having a place to get, give, send mail. I mean, it really is.
It's difficult for many of us to relate to. 

[00:25:33] Jill: It is. It is. And I've heard comments like, ah, just get a job, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Well, one of the realities for the homeless people is that. Their IDs do get stolen a lot, you know, you, you put something somewhere and maybe you leave it in your tent, and you go get lunch at one of the places that are giving lunches out and someone goes in your tent and steals your stuff.
Happens all the time. Well, how do you get an ID if you don't have an ID? And how do you get it if you don't have any money? And so, it is not an easy thing and then you get those IDs, and you know, how do you get to work when you have no transportation, you have no money to buy bus tickets even to get to work.
If you're homeless, you know, again, you are exactly right. If you put your address as the local shelter. McDonald's doesn't even want to hire you at that point, you know, they, they know those addresses and they're like, nope. And if you don't have any address, even worse. So, it's, it is not as easy as pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
And that is, You know, most people aren't going to know that we've never been in that kind of situation. We've never, you know, thank God we have grown up in situations where we have had family members that will not allow us to fail, you know, I mean, most of us come from that type of a situation, uh, me coming back from Guatemala with.
A two-year-old, a husband that was sick and being pregnant and two suitcases, one filled with stuff for my daughter. I could have easily been homeless easily, but my family was there for me, and they weren't going to let us fail. Yeah. But not everybody has that. 

[00:27:30] Jim Jansen: Well, yeah. And it feels like once you fall below a certain threshold of Financial health, um, which is probably the best way to put it.
But like once you're homeless, it's like a trap. It's, I mean, it, it feels like it's a black hole that you can't climb out of. 

[00:27:49] Jill: Absolutely. Well, and you know, the society of St. Vincent de Paul, 90 percent of what we do is trying to help people from falling into homelessness. 

[00:27:59] Jim Jansen: Yeah. Let's talk about that because I just, you know, I was struck before we turned on the microphones as we were talking.
You're working kind of both ends of the spectrum. You've seen you see people trapped in homelessness, addiction, mental illness, et cetera. And then you're like, okay, we saw it. We see the patterns. We see how people get to get here and we can engage. Yes, to help those people get out of that. But you're also helping people before they fall in.
So, let's start with that front end. Like, what do you do to help people before they fall into addiction or homelessness, uh, or some of these, these deep cycles? 

[00:28:36] Jill: Yeah. You know, I want to say the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is probably Omaha's best kept secret. Or it was people don't realize that we literally give millions of dollars away every year to try to help people stay in their homes.
And we are helping the people, the working poor, the ones that, you know, are living paycheck to paycheck. 

[00:29:02] Jim Jansen: Well, and it's very strategic in the sense that like, I mean, God bless, you know, Buffett's and all those people who give millions of dollars in more public ways. But. 50 here, 300 there, rent, utilities, very targeted to people who are right on the edge because they're known, right?
Because they, they find a local society, a church that they can reach out to. It's those small increments right when it's needed that are keeping people from falling into homelessness. 

[00:29:33] Jill: Absolutely. That is primarily what we do. So, what happens is especially in the, the economy, the way it is, and it depends who you talk to of whether or not the economy is good or bad, you know, some people are saying it's getting better.
You know, my, my 401k is going up my this, that if you are in the upper middle class or higher. The economy's looking good. It's getting better all the time. 

[00:30:00] Jim Jansen: Yeah. 

[00:30:00] Jill: But if you are lower middle class or the working poor, it is not getting better. It is, you know, you are not making more money, but your rent's going up.
Your utilities are going up. Your groceries are going up. 

[00:30:15] Jim Jansen: Especially if you have children. 

[00:30:16] Jill: Exactly. And then your, your salary is just keeping even with your bills. And then your car breaks down or there's a medical emergency or, you know, it could be a number of different things or your rent's gone up so much.
You got to find a new place to live. Those are the things that are happening and that we are getting calls. At Holy family at all of our conferences every single day. So not everybody understands how the society St. Vincent DePaul works. You know, we, we are an organization that covers all of the Metro Omaha Metro.
We've got 31 conferences. One of the conferences is actually in Norfolk. So wherever. There are parishes in the Omaha Archdiocese that's in our conference area or our council area. So, a conference is really a group of people out of the parish that decide to become a Vincentian. They feel that calling to help.
And we are not governed or funded by the church. But we have an extremely close relationship with the church. 

[00:31:37] Jim Jansen: Right? Cause oftentimes, I mean, I know this, you know, from other parishes have been a part of where people, they just come to the church, praise God and the pastor gets to any, and then he calls the St.
Vincent DePaul society. Like, Hey, could you go visit these people? Like just that they need someone to talk to. They need some rent money. We're on it, father. We got it. 

[00:31:57] Jill: That's exactly right. And the part about the society, St. Vincent DePaul is that. You know, we call these people that come to, to look for help from us, neighbors.
They're not clients. 

[00:32:11] Jim Jansen: Yes. 

[00:32:11] Jill: Yeah. They're neighbors because we, we want to get to know them and you, when you build a relationship with a neighbor, you, you don't feel ashamed. To ask for assistance. 

[00:32:24] Jim Jansen: Wow. 

[00:32:25] Jill: You have a two-way street, but if you're going and asking from, you know, whatever organization, most people don't want to ask for help.
They don't want to say, I can't make this right. 

[00:32:37] Jim Jansen: Well, especially... yeah. Yeah. Nebraskans, you know, depending on your ethnic heritage, but neighbors just help neighbors. Okay, there's rent money, there's just companionship, friendship. What all do you do to help people when they're kind of teetering on the edge? How do you help them stay solvent and, and in a home?

[00:32:57] Jill: So here, here's what typically happens, either they will call a parish, they will call one of our conferences, or they're referred to us from like the United Way 211. Other agencies that don't have funds and they'll say, you know, they're like, who, who's going to be able to help me with my rent. Call St.
Vincent DePaul. Call St. Vincent DePaul. 

[00:33:19] Jim Jansen: Yeah. 

[00:33:20] Jill: We don't care who's calling us. We are a network of, of Catholic people living their faith. 

[00:33:27] Jim Jansen: Mm hmm. 

[00:33:28] Jill: That's why we do it. We don't care who we're helping. We help everybody just like Jesus did. You know, Jesus was born into poverty, and he hung out with, we all know they weren't the prophecies.
He was hanging out with who were considered the lowest of the low at the time. 

[00:33:45] Jim Jansen: Yeah, it confused people. 

[00:33:47] Jill: It confused people. 

[00:33:49] Jim Jansen: That are like, why are you hanging out with it? And just this is probably worth just yeah. Asking because it's my own curiosity as well. Well, where does the money come from? I mean, so other agencies are directing you.
Oh, okay. St. Vincent DePaul can help you. Um, where do the funds come from? 

[00:34:04] Jill: The funds come from people that are listening to this podcast, people that, you know, go to church. It's everyday people, everyday people. We don't have any big government contracts, anything like that. 

[00:34:16] Jim Jansen: Yeah, just people who donate to the local, what did you call them?
Not chapters. 

[00:34:20] Jill: Conferences, local conferences. 

[00:34:22] Jim Jansen: So, they'll donate through their parish as members, other people who know the work of the members, they'll donate. 

[00:34:29] Jill: Right. And there are ones that will go directly to a conference. Other people come to the district office because the way that we distribute our funds.
So, if you If you donate to a conference, say you are in St. Columbkille parish, and you want to support the conference at St. Columbkille, that money stays at St. Columbkille area. It doesn't go to the district office. It stays there. If you donate like to the district office, the district office is going to help all of the areas that don't have conferences.
So primarily it's, it's the parishes east of 72nd street, the ones that are most in need. We may not have a conference. 

[00:35:15] Jim Jansen: Right. And that's the, you know, for the non Omahans, right. That's like the more urbanized, uh, generally kind of like the urban poverty areas of our, of our city. Okay. 
[00:35:25] Jill: Yes, exactly. And so, you don't have to be close to a parish to be able to get assistance.
In fact, most of the people that we assist are not parishioners. 

[00:35:38] Jim Jansen: Right. Yeah. Thank you. I mean, this is, it's a work of Catholics, but it's not just restricted to Catholics. 

[00:35:45] Jill: You know, it's funny cause, um, Deacon Tim McNeil, Talk to our Vincentians a few weeks ago, and he said something that was so profound. As he was, you know, talking about who we are as Vincentians and Vincentians are the volunteers that are running St.
Vincent de Paul. So, you know, we've got our district office has about 11 staff members, but we are an organization of volunteers. We have about 600 volunteers that keep this organization running and that's why we aren't localized to one part of the city. We hit every zip code. In the, in the metro Omaha area, because, um, because we have all of these volunteers that are doing the work, but he said, you know, our goal is to, to be the face of Jesus.
So, when we work with the poor, what we see in the poor is Jesus suffering. That's the face of Jesus suffering. But what we represent to the poor is the risen Christ. And so, it's the two sides of Jesus. Yeah. 

[00:36:57] Jim Jansen: You see Jesus, right? It's in Mother Teresa's line in his distressing disguise and they see Jesus in his glorious loving.
I'm here to help. 

[00:37:09] Jill: Yeah. And I thought that was like, wow, he's good. That's good stuff. Yeah. He's good. 

[00:37:16] Jim Jansen: That's so good. All right. Deacon Tim got his shout out. So, what do you do then for those, you know, we talked about, okay, trying to prevent You know, this slipping into poverty, homelessness, how do you help people?
We talked a little bit about the lunch programs. How do you help people who are there begin to find their way out? 

[00:37:38] Jill: Right? So, the process is they'll call us and then we will do a person-to-person interview. Meet up with them. 

[00:37:44] Jim Jansen: This is for someone who's not yet homeless, but who's reaching out for help, right?

[00:37:48] Jill: They call, and they say, you know, Gosh, I’m behind on my rent. We always want to meet with people if we can And the reason to meet with them is because they may be saying I need rent, But we go into their home and they don't have a stitch of furniture anywhere And they may have it's funny because I have this bracelet on today.
So, I went to uh, You Um, yesterday or the day before I went to visit a home visit with another staff member and we always go in twos and so she asked if I would go with her and I'm like, yeah, I'll go with you. And so, we went in. This person was asking for rental assistance, but we went in and. The woman is pregnant.
She's eight months pregnant. She has three children. Her, her husband does construction, but was out of work over the winter months. And we went in and there is a kitchen table, no furniture. And then, you know, the kitchen and we see all this and a radio. No TV, none of this stuff, just the basics. And she's just asking for a little bit of help to get the rent.
And we're looking at her and you know, here she is ready to have another baby. They've spent all their savings. They're having a hard time even asking for assistance. This little four-year-old girl trying to give me her bracelet and everything. All these little toys that she has that I'm like, You know, I keep telling her, no, save them for me for next time.
But she would not let me out of that house without giving me this little bracelet. So, so I have it on, but, but the reason for that neighbor visit is so we can go in and say, yeah, you know what, we're going to help you with your rent, but. We can help you with some furniture and we can help you with some clothing.
And guess what? We have a pantry and go to the pantry and in there's things we can connect them with other organizations too. We can't do it all, of course, but we have organizations and just sitting with them. 

[00:39:53] Jim Jansen: Maybe help him find work. Maybe exactly. Yeah, because it's, I mean, it's, I mean, this is way more than economics, but it is so much more expensive and.
Labor intensive and harder to try and bring a family out of homelessness, then they proactively intervene. We're like, yeah, here's some groceries. Here's a, you know, here's some help before you fall in. 

[00:40:16] Jill: And so many people, they just, they're embarrassed to ask. They're just, you know, just give me this.
Immediate need that they're thinking of and but we're sitting back and we're like, oh, we can do better than this. 

[00:40:28] Jim Jansen: You know, I have to ask about because you mentioned a couple of times that people are embarrassed to ask. I think there is a, I'm going to say faulty assumption. That sometimes we imagine, Oh, just like we talked about addiction.
It's like, well, you just, just choose not to drink, that there is a choosing or a, I don't know, just, just that, that, that people, when they're, when they're struggling, when they're on the edge, that they're lazy, that they're just not willing to work, that they're just looking for a handout, that that's all they want.
And I mean, I'm sure that is the case. Sometime, but you keep talking about people who are Really desperate for help and right on the edge and they don't want to ask for help. They want to do it on their own. 

[00:41:17] Jill: Absolutely. So, one of the worst things and the most dangerous things we can do is stereotype people, you know, because if you know one homeless person, you know, one homeless person, that's it.
You know, that's so good. You got to listen and learn and really.

[00:41:35] Jim Jansen: They're not all alike, just because they're absolutely lack of address is common. Yeah. 

[00:41:39] Jill: Okay. So, I tell you the good stories. I have stories about people that don't want to work, and you know, that could do more. I'm telling you about the ones that I, that there's so much potential in and there's more of them by far.
Then the ones that are trying to milk the system, you know, yes, there are people that will milk the system. You don't have to be homeless to do that. You don't have to be on the verge of being homeless to do that. But yeah, we can't stereotype because everybody has their own story, and everybody has a different way of how they got there.
Honestly, it could be any one of us. We're someone we know, a son, a daughter, a mother, any of us. 

[00:42:23] Jim Jansen: Thank you for sharing that because, you know, I've, I've, you mentioned the coffee stand. I've been down to Holy Family, the church a couple of times, uh, been down there for service days, working in the garden. And then I've been down to the coffee stand numerous times.
Coffee stands, one of your partners, right? Hope of the poor, uh, Danny and Craig and Bella, uh, you know, they're out there and of course the coffee hot drink in the winter is a gift. Oatmeal in the winter is a gift, but it's a chance to enter into conversation. And so, when you join them and you enter into conversation, that is a universally what people say like, Oh my goodness.
Like this homeless person was so. Like me, like when I heard their story, like that could be me, that could be my sibling. It would have been me had it not been for a family member who intervened or just a very timely help that kept me. I'm one choice away at times or one choice away from being there.
It's such a common thing that when you really interact with poor and homeless, you realize they're not that different. 

[00:43:29] Jill: And that's, you know, that's why people sometimes fall into the stereotyping because it's very uncomfortable and scary to think That that could be me or that could be my family member.
Um, but I guarantee you they're not coming down for the bologna sandwich in the cup of coffee, you know, as good as we make those. 

[00:43:50] Jim Jansen: It's great bologna, but right. 

[00:43:53] Jill: It is good bologna, but no, what I mean, what I hear over and over is. That we treat people like, like people that they feel normal, they feel welcomed and that, that is the biggest thing we can do beyond.
It's funny because, you know, I cannot walk into the building where we are at. Without being reminded what our mission is every single day I would never want this office to be somewhere else because I am every single day reminded of the importance of the work that we are doing 

[00:44:35] Jim Jansen: Yeah, I want to give you a little chance to talk about okay when people are in you know, there's again there's sandwiches How do you help people that that are stuck in poverty?
Um, who, who've found themselves, they, they are now homeless. Yeah. 

[00:44:52] Jill: You know, first of all, obviously there is no easier, easy answer, otherwise this would have been solved back in the times of Jesus. You know, the poor have always been with us. They will always be with us. But people that are homeless or on the verge of being homeless, they are not the problem.
They are a symptom of a much bigger problem. And the much bigger problem gets to be a little more political. Um, it's, it's affordable housing. It's, you know, it's jobs that are going to pay well, it's putting structures in place for mental illness and. Those are the things that need to be addressed affordable housing more than anything.
That is probably the single most important factor if we are going to make a dent in Helping people to be able to have the dignity of living in a home and that it should be a right You know, we should all be able to afford it, but unfortunately, right now, that's not where it is for a lot of people.
You can't get an apartment in Omaha for less than 1, 200 that I'm aware of. And then if you can, you know, you have to think about, Is it close to a transportation line? Because not everybody has a car. 

[00:46:11] Jim Jansen: And close to a transportation line. That's close to a place that I can get a job. 

[00:46:17] Jill: Exactly. Exactly. There's so many pieces.
That need to be addressed. It's not an easy thing for people to get out of. And when you are hit with these obstacles after obstacle, it's very easy to lose hope. And if you lose hope, it's very easy to fall into an addiction or try to find some way to forget.

[00:46:38] Jim Jansen: I mean, it's interesting. And it's like, you guys don't do very much political advocacy.
Mostly you're helping those there because, because this, the systematic issues can start to make your head spin. You all just love people right in front of you. And some of them you're able to, to love back into sobriety and health and, and fun, and functioning. Do you have any stories of some of those folks where you were able to meet them as a, as a neighbor?
Maybe they were on the streets, and you've been able to help them get out of that, that trap? 

[00:47:16] Jill: Absolutely. There's um, not a lot, not, I'm not going to lie. It's one at a time, but it's one less person that's living on the streets. Many people that are familiar with holy family. No Robert. 

[00:47:30] Jim Jansen: Yes. I've met Robert. 

[00:47:31] Jill: Okay Well Robert was living on the streets and then Robert was living in a tent in the garden At holy family and we gave him a job and now Robert is living in the choir loft At holy family and working for us.
So, he's no longer on the streets Is it an independent housing? No, but is it a more dignified way to live in into him? Holy family says that's his home. He doesn't want to go anywhere else. I've talked to him about it. You know, what about that? Nope. Nope. He loves where he's at. He wants to, he wants to be at a holy family.
But there's been other people. We, you know, we have these thrift stores and when we have the opportunity and see someone that truly wants to, uh, give it a shot, then that's all we're giving them. We're giving them a shot, you know, do they all work out? No. You know, does everybody we hire from indeed work out?
No. So, so, you know, we'll give you the, we'll give you the shot. We'll give you the tools. We'll give you the encouragement. 

[00:48:39] Jim Jansen: Right. 

[00:48:39] Jill: And hopefully we make a difference to a couple people, but one person at a time, that's really what it's all about. 

[00:48:47] Jim Jansen: I don't know what all of our listeners are thinking. I can say myself, I used to be, uh, whatever it's like economics, major political science history.
I was preoccupied by the system stuff, and I couldn't see people one at a time. You know, the stereotypes were, were too prevalent, uh, for me. Uh, they were kind of blinding. I love how I mean, you're not unaware, probably, you know, deeply aware, more informed than most about the systematic issues, but you're not letting those distract you.
You are loving people, one person at a time. And I just want to give you a moment, you know, like the St. Vincent de Paul Society, I mean, right, founded by a saint, clearly operating out of a, you know, historic facility that was historically a Catholic church. Uh, faith is a big part of this, right? I mean, you know, the call of our Lord.
He gives us a peek into judgment day in Matthew 25, you know, what you did for the least you did to me. But maybe to close here, talk a little bit about your faith, the faith of the neighbors you work with, the poor that you work with, um, the staff, the volunteers. Um, how does that, I don't know, guide what you do.

[00:50:01] Jill: As I said earlier, my own journey to faith has not always been easy for me to accept what my, what my path is and, you know, growing up Catholic, Always going to Catholic schools. It was not always easy for me, you know, especially younger when, in the, in the younger days, we go to mass every single day from kindergarten through, through whatever, like, and, and it was not easy to find meaning or see, really see Christ in that ritual of the mass.
But if we can believe. That in the host, in the Eucharist, that that is Christ, how can we not believe Jesus is present and poor? And for me, that have, you know, as an adult, still sometimes I struggle with the, the ritual of the mass, but I never struggle at Holy Family and interacting with people. With the poor and I always see the face of Jesus in what I'm doing it's it is the biggest blessing I could have ever had to be able to be in this situation where I get paid to Do what truly is vocation for me and you know, it's like finally she gets it but he's probably up there applauding saying finally, but yeah, I mean, I see the face of Jesus every single day.
I'm lucky enough to see the face of Jesus every single day. And that, you know, and I invite anybody in the Omaha area or beyond, if you're in Omaha, come see me because I would love to introduce you to people. And I have, our volunteers will be like, I'm not comfortable going out there by myself, but will you go walk around with me and introduce me to people.
And they always tell me this was the most profound. Beautiful experience, and they're so thankful to really get beyond that fear and see people for who they are, which is just another person. 

[00:52:13] Jim Jansen: Yeah. And I, I've been there. I mean, I couldn't, couldn't agree more. Jill, where do they find you? 

[00:52:19] Jill: So, you can always go to our website at, um, St. Vincent de Paul. It's ssvpomaha.org. Or, if you just want to stop in, you can always go to 1715 Izzard Street, and that's 68102 in Omaha. Um, and we are always open Monday through Friday from anywhere between 8 and 5, you'll find someone around. And many times, on the weekends, I'm, I'm out there as well and as well as other organizations, but it's low key.
You can come. I really do mean you can stop by anytime, anybody. 

[00:52:56] Jim Jansen: And you have a website, holy family Omaha dot org. 

[00:52:59] Jill: What that is, it's SSVP Omaha. It's the same. It's the same thing. It's the same thing. 

[00:53:05] Jim Jansen: Yeah, that's great. Okay. So, if SSVP Omaha is hard for you to remember, you can remember holy family, Omaha.
org. You're going to end up the same place. Uh, you're going to see it and that'll get you connected to Jill, and she'll help you, uh, get connected there. Yeah. I know hope of the poor has our coffee house Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. So, I really encourage, yeah, come, come do this. It's become a Jansen family.
Tradition. We try and go down there at least once a year, if not, if not more to connect. Jill, thank you. Thanks for being here. Yeah. Thanks for what you do. 

[00:53:38] Jill: That's fun. Thank you. 

[00:53:39] Jim Jansen: All right, everybody. You know, somebody who needs to hear this. Maybe somebody that, that maybe they're resisting the gift that the Lord has given them to see past and they're distracted.
They want to go make their millions, but They're happy, uh, when they're serving, uh, or maybe there's somebody who wants to connect with the poor. They want to see Jesus faced, but there's, there's some fear standing in the way. You know who it is. Send this to them. Uh, start a conversation. Thanks everybody.
Thanks for listening to the EquipCast. We hope this episode has inspired you to live your faith and equip you to be fruitful in your mission. Stay connected with us by going to equip.archomaha.org. God bless and see you next time.