Former CSJ provincial house continues providing temporary shelter to homeless families

On Dec. 9, Psyrenity, 39, had run out of money and was without a place to call home. Friends who had been helping her were out of cash, too. So, she packed her bags at a St. Paul hotel where she had been staying, and figured she and her two children, ages 11 and 9, would need to sleep outside that night. It was cold. And Psyrenity, pronounced “Serenity,” was panicking.

But a worker at St. Paul-based Project Home, which works with churches, synagogues and schools in Ramsey County to provide shelter for families facing homelessness, returned her call to say a room was available for them at the former provincial house of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in St. Paul.

The sisters, who had unused space in their four-floor building on Randolph Avenue, offered it last year to Project Home, operated by Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul. Built in 1927, it had been a home for the sisters, but it was underutilized in the past 10 years, serving as a site for meetings, events and guests, Sister Cathy Steffens, a member of the religious order’s provincial leadership team, told The Catholic Spirit last March, when the building first opened as a shelter.

The building has room for up to 30 families or 100 guests, whichever limit is reached first, on floors one, two and three. The fourth floor includes a computer lab, family lounge with a television, children’s play area and book corner, and offices for two family advocates. The ground floor includes space used by the sisters, including the province’s archives, but also free laundry facilities for families, and a kitchen and dining room where breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks are served each day.

People can call a 211 help line for shelter assistance 24 hours a day, and the former provincial house has been full most of the time, said Sara Liegl, director of Interfaith Action’s shelter program.

Before the religious sisters offered their building, Project Home served up to 40 people at a time, rotating space one month at a time in area churches, synagogues or schools. People generally spend about 83 days in a Project Home shelter as they work to connect with more stable housing, officials have said.

“But once COVID hit, we couldn’t (use) those communal shelter settings,” Liegl said. The sisters’ facility has been a great place for the religious order to live out its mission and for Project Home “to live out our mission and help families,” she said.

Providing the space fits with the religious order’s charism — to love God and neighbor without distinction, said Sister Suzanne Herder, a member with Sister Steffens on the CSJ provincial leadership team.

“We want to help women and children and families be successful,” she said. “Our mission is to help the dear neighbor in whatever the situation is in the needs of the times. And right now, this (family homelessness) is a big problem.”

As the pandemic hit Minnesota in March 2020, people without a home who sought help through Project Home were housed in a small hotel in downtown St. Paul. The sisters’ space is more family friendly, Liegl said. In addition to food and shelter, Project Home provides classes on parenting, finances and employment, Sister Cathy said. Ninety-one percent of the people who have moved out of the provincial house have remained in stable housing, she said.

Project Home pays the sisters a flat fee each month for rent and utilities. Federal dollars funneled through Ramsey County to operate the facility run out May 31, but Liegl said her department is working with a collaborative group from Ramsey County, the city of St. Paul and other service providers to obtain continued funding. “We are working really hard to connect with legislators, local city council (members), county commissioners, local foundations to figure out what the next financial pieces are when this … money ends,” she said.

“Good comfort food made from scratch” and attentive, caring staff are among reasons the CSJ building “feels like home,” Psyrenity said. And if a bout of depression grips her and she doesn’t want to leave her room one day, staff check on her because they know she also is prone to seizures, she said.

Psyrenity had studied welding and worked as a cook. But after a stroke at age 26, followed by seizures, she said, she can no longer safely perform those tasks.

Psyrenity said she recently was awarded federal portable Section 8 housing assistance that can be used toward rent. She hopes to transition to a house or a duplex “because the kids need a yard.” A Project Home staff member will help her find suitable housing.