CSAF: Lifting livesThis story about St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities is the first in a three-part series highlighting different ministries supported by the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation. The series will continue in our Feb. 25 and March 11 editions. The foundation’s Catholic Services Appeal is an annual collection in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that supports 20 ministry areas. The independent foundation traces its history to an annual local campaign that began in 1959. According to its mission statement, it partners “with fellow Catholics to share Christ’s love with neighbors in need through ministries that serve the poor, support life and strengthen the faith.” This year’s appeal, “Together in Hope,” aims to raise $9 million. Commitment weekend is Feb. 13-14.

Schola Machisu, right, stands in the living room of the Good Samaritan House in Bloomington where she lives. At left are Ray and Lee Dick, who have worked with her through The Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Ray is conference president at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, where all three belong. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Invited by a friend in Georgia to stay for a week, Schola Machisu left Kenya to visit the United States in November 2016.

“When I came to this lady’s home, my body had visible evidence of domestic abuse,” Machisu said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Schola, you can’t go back to Africa.’”

Machisu, 60, applied for and was granted asylum based on domestic abuse. She eventually came to Minnesota in September 2017, living with a friend of a friend. After four months, she moved into a rented room in a house, and soon experienced stress, depression and desperation.

“The house was full and so small, and they were mistreating me,” Machisu said. “It wasn’t a good situation. But I had nowhere to go.”

Raised Catholic in Kenya with a strong desire to attend a Catholic church, Machisu insisted she be taken to St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, where she was dropped off because she doesn’t drive. “I asked if they have the group St. Vincent de Paul, told them I was a member in Africa and that I was looking for them, as I know they are people who help,” Machisu said.

Ray Dick, St. Vincent de Paul conference president at St. Bonaventure, recalled that day.

“We happened to be holding one of our meetings in the St. Francis Room in the back of church, and Schola stopped in to introduce herself,” he said. “We could hardly believe what she had gone through, and were amazed at her courage and tenacity to leave Kenya and seek a new and safer life in the U.S.

“Since our conference helps everyone who comes our way, there was no question that we would help Schola,” Dick said.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities — which manages programs operated through 13 parish conferences within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, runs thrift stores in both cities, assists with donations and distribution of food, and more — is one of 20 designated ministries receiving financial support from the 2021 Catholic Services Appeal Foundation (CSAF), which holds its annual commitment weekend Feb. 13-14.

With a goal of raising $9 million, this year’s CSAF appeal is titled “Together in Hope.”

“Donations are needed now more than ever so that our ministries can continue their much-needed services, especially in the face of the continuing challenges of COVID-19,” said Jennifer Beaudry, CSAF executive director.

Donors to CSAF have three ways to give: online, in-parish or postal mail.

“By supporting the work of these ministries, you are supporting the Gospel and answering the call to bring Christ to others,” Beaudry said. “It’s what sets CSAF apart.”

St. Vincent de Paul assisted Machisu with rent for her own apartment, where she moved in November 2018. The organization also provided food assistance, a Metro bus ticket and driving lessons so she could obtain her driver’s license.

“They also bought me textbooks from Amazon — that’s how I got to be a certified nursing assistant,” Machisu said. “They registered me for and paid for the exam, and drove me there.”

Dick said a subdivision of their St. Vincent de Paul conference, called NextStep, encourages and supports people journeying out of poverty by empowering them to envision and realize a future for themselves. His wife, Lee, was assigned as Machisu’s NextStep coach.

“Lee knew that Schola was underpaid as a personal care attendant and encouraged her to get certified as a CNA (certified nursing assistant),” Dick said. “We discussed paying for formal CNA training, but that would mean lost time at work and travel.

“Schola resolved to study and prepare for the test on her own, and got the top score of the group that was tested that day in August 2019,” he said. “Her hourly rate of pay practically doubled overnight.”

Today, Machisu, a mother of four and grandmother of two, lives at the Good Samaritan House in Bloomington, which is managed by St. Vincent de Paul. She works as a CNA at Heritage of Edina, an assisted living community.

“I like to go to work; I like sitting with the old, joking with them, talking about them when they were young,” Machisu said.

“And I am so grateful for St. Vincent de Paul,” she said. “They encourage people who are suffering, who are silent, who feel they don’t deserve to be living. They are a shoulder to lean on, and hope for a future and better life.”