Providing food and clothes to people in need
Paz de Cristo has a mission to feed, clothe and empower people in need in the East Valley.
The community center, at 424 W. Broadway Road in Mesa, provides meals, clothing, showers, haircuts, diapers, toiletries and more. Staff members help people get Arizona identification applications, employment assistance and other services.
St. Timothy Catholic Church created Paz de Cristo in 1988. Executive Director Arlen Westling said the goal was to bring financial and human resources together.
“We were inspired by the profound needs we saw in the homeless people here in the East Valley. We wanted to develop a central place of service both for those with needs and for those with the need to serve,” Westling said.
St. Timothy Catholic Church created Paz as a major outreach project to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and clothe the naked. The vision also included an interfaith component. We would invite other faith communities to participate with us in this mission.
The populations served are working poor families, homeless and senior residents of Mesa and nearby communities. Last year, Paz de Cristo served 9,000 individuals, 25 percent of whom were children. These individuals made 81,000 visits to our facility. Our goals are to alleviate their suffering and improve their quality of life.
Paz de Cristo will define programmatic success based on the number of hungry children and families, military veterans and seniors we assist with our two feeding programs.
We also define success based on the number of our guests who take advantage of our other programs to improve the quality of their lives and move from a downward spiral of poverty, dependence on government-assistance programs and homelessness.
Participation in our job-search program is growing, which is a positive sign that more working poor and homeless people want to improve their lives by finding employment or finding growth in their current position.
We have eight full-time and two part-time employees to provide services and accommodate the thousands of visits each month. These employees are supplemented by 800 volunteers
How to donate
❚ Fill out the online form at sharing.az central.com.
❚ Use the coupon on this page of The
and mail donations to P.O. Box 29250, Phoenix, AZ 850389250.
❚ Text “sharing” to 91-999 and click on the link in the text message.
❚ Click on the “donate” button at face book.com/seasonforsharing.
❚ Shop at Dig It Gardens, 3015 N. 16th St., Phoenix. They will donate 2 percent of sales each weekend during the campaign. digphx.com. each month.
We currently receive many requests for housing assistance, including rent and utility support and emergency shelter. These are the major unmet needs.
The grant of $7,500 provided funding for food and the cost of picking up food donations.