PHOENIX — Alyssa DeSapio is forever changed thanks to the help she found at St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix.
"I was a volunteer, just feeding these people. And then to be on the other side, and being the one served, you don't really realize how much you're impacting these people until you're in their shoes," DeSapio said.
ABC15 talked with the Valley mom about her transformative experience of going from living in a shelter to foster care when she was a teenager.
When her oldest son was born, she found the kind of help she never imagined needing at St. Vincent de Paul.
"That's like goosebumps for me to be able to go through that and just really recognize that these people that we meet every day, these volunteers and all that they really do have such a big impact on so many of our lives," DeSapio explained.
Thanks to unsung heroes and money donated to fundraisers like ABC15's annual bottled water drive, DeSapio and her four beautiful children now have a safe place to call home.
She's also found opportunities to build a legacy with her children by showing them how to help others in simple ways like growing produce in the urban garden on campus.
"They bring it to the dining room for families so they can come and take as much as they need. And it's just wonderful to see how many people are helped by some food that they grow here," said DeSapio.
She says she was able to get her life back on track thanks to all of the services and resources St. Vincent de Paul provided.
It's where she earned her GED along with an Administrator's Medical Assistant Certificate.
"To go across the stage and graduate in front of my kids was even more empowering and right now I'm going through two different colleges, one on a scholarship and another one for medical coding," DeSapio explained, "Just seeing from where I started and like seeing how much I've grown in this community is wonderful."
Overcoming self-doubt, she says she's finally dreaming again and finding time to study and get good grades. Her children are too!
When asked what her future looks like, DeSapio responded, "I want to definitely grow to volunteer here and help the kids because just seeing other families do that, like they were fed here, and then they become more stable. So, they're able to help and volunteer and give back their time. And that's just wonderful. And that's exactly what I want to do."
To help the less fortunate and encourage our community to donate bottled water or cash, ABC15 is partnering with St. Vincent De Paul, Bashas’ and Food City to host our annual bottled water drive.
St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores are accepting bottled water donations through the month of June.
You can also make a monetary donation at Bashas’ and Food City locations across Arizona.
