Finding hope through faith and SVdP
For a large portion of her life, Ramona Loza dedicated herself to her career with the Maricopa County, but after suffering from a stroke in 2015, everything she had worked for suddenly felt uncertain.
Her stroke was devastating. She had to relearn how to walk, speak, and generally function all over again. And meanwhile, she couldn’t work, leading to her depending totally on the social security and disability programs to support her.
Despite her intense efforts to fully recover, she was left with lasting effects, like difficulty speaking, mobility challenges, and frequent falls, leading her to eventually quit her job with the county. She believes years of working in a high-stress environment contributed to the decline in her health.
She continued to recover, and once she accomplished her recovery milestones, Ramona felt ready to work again. However, there was a big downside. Accepting a new job meant Ramona’s disability would be revoked.
Not wanting to be stuck with nothing to do, she took the challenge and returned to work, but she quickly began feeling ill again, experiencing stroke-like symptoms caused by migraines. At one point, she lost balance at work and had to be rushed to the emergency room.
She was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and took a three-month absence to recover. That caused her to quickly exhaust her paid time off and savings and caused her bills to pile up. At the same time, her son, who lives with Ramona and helps care for her, unexpectedly lost his job.
Suddenly, their whole financial situation was in crisis, and Ramona worried that they could be facing homelessness.
“When I was panicking, I felt like I was closing my own doors,” Ramona said. “I kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do?’”
Determined to stay housed, Ramona spoke with her landlord about moving into a smaller apartment. The Loza’s downsized to a one-bedroom unit in the hopes of lowering their monthly expenses, but making rent still became increasingly difficult.
Ramona was unsure of where to even begin seeking help. She turned to her faith and approached her church where she was informed about her local St. Vincent de Paul conference. She called, and volunteers from the parish known as Vincentians set up a home visit to bring her a food box and get to know her better.
Vincentians are specially trained SVdP volunteers who help answer the calls of our neighbors in need. They bring love and care to individuals and families through food boxes, as well as rental and utility assistance in certain cases, as well as just being a person to talk to for support through a hard time.
“You have to not be scared and embarrassed [to seek help], because that's how you end up out there,” said Ramona. “It can happen to everybody. Your faith and your strength are what help you get where you want to go.”
When the Vincentians arrived, they brought more than just a food box. They sat with Ramona, prayed, and offered her compassion. After learning more about the difficulty of her situation, they went back to the conference and secured emergency rental assistance for her.
“They made me feel like I could breathe again, and get through this,” said Ramona.
St. Vincent de Paul’s financial support set her ahead and gave her the boost she needed to remain stable as she returned to work.
Today, Ramona continues attending physical therapy and works full-time at a new, low-stress job to help manage her recovery. Although her son is still seeking employment, she has been able to remain the primary provider and keep a roof over their heads.
"Just believe that things will happen. You know you can't stop living, you have to keep going," said Ramona.
Ramona is even taking strides to take care of her mental health, thanks to her new emotional support cat, Bandit, whom her son adopted for her. He knew she needed a source of comfort and companionship, and since then, Bandit has played an important role in Ramona's emotional well-being, helping ease her anxiety, providing her with a sense of purpose through daily care, and offering comfort whenever stress begins to build.
"I felt grateful, I felt like God put the people [Vincentians] in my path," said Ramona. "It's like appreciation that people are out there willing to help you."
