“I prayed hard for the Lord’s help and always believed there is power in prayer. Then this miracle happened (of finding St. Luke’s),” Gavino said. “God works in miraculous ways.” Linda Gavino planned to move to the United States from the Philippines to be with her daughter, but in October 2023 doctors discovered colon cancer.…

“After the war started, in the city where she lived in the south part of Ukraine, the situation was not so bad. Unfortunately, the day before Easter, she was in her apartment on the ninth floor, when a bomb exploded [pictured] between the third and fifth floors. While pregnant, she needed to run from the…

“I’ve known about Catholic Charities since I got to Orlando in 2002. I have been back a few times since then. Two months ago, we were short on money because of the economic situation right now. I needed to send money to my parents because my mom is ill, and my husband is disabled. He…

“My husband and I couldn’t get pregnant, and we used a fertility clinic. At my first scan, when I found out I was pregnant, it was a happy moment, but I found out I was pregnant with triplets. Immediately, my doctor went pale, and said, ‘This is not good. I’m so sorry. Look, there is…

“I just felt like helping places, so I just called around to everybody, when things first started opening up. They needed help here, so I jumped on it, and I’ve been here a little over a year. What I love about volunteering here, is that everybody gets along well, and that’s great. For the most…

“I’m associated with St. Charles [Borromeo Catholic Church and School], and our school collects canned goods every week. Everything is donated, and so I wanted to figure out where it was actually going, and wanted to be a part of it to see the end result. My husband and I started a year and a…

“When I left Haiti in 2015, I went to Brazil, and I was there until 2017. After that, I left for Mexico while two months pregnant. From there, I came to the United States.   At Catholic Charities, Mr. Ambroise was the one who helped me. He helped me sign up for SNAP, Medicaid, cash…

“I found out about the Mission Market from a friend. They are very good people. I get food and volunteer. I come help—like today—when they’re short-staffed. They’re very good people. When I see that they’re stressing out because they don’t have enough volunteers, I come and help. They’re good people, and they help the community…

“I was set on fire in a random attack. I was homeless. I went to the hospital for third and second degree burns. I don’t have any family here, so the hospital placed me in Pathways to Care for aftercare. A big part of me being homeless is because I’m an alcoholic and an addict.…

Genevieve: “When I was 10, I got onto this game, where you could be anything you want at any time. At the time, I loved My Little Pony, and they had a My Little Pony server. So I went on that server, and immediately, guys were all around—older guys. I met this one guy, and…