Why Mary's Mercy Center?

Although many non-profits work and partner with the city and county in which they reside, all working towards ending homelessness, the reality is that this may not be possible, and if it is, at the very least, the poor and working poor will always be with us; they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Regardless of why our brothers and sisters are poor or what their condition of life is, they have the inherent right to be able to have the necessities for human life that bring dignity and hope.

Here at Mary’s Mercy Center we have a constant flow of poor and homeless people. The numbers fluctuate from time to time, but slight decreases do not prevail. However, the needs of the poor and homeless have increased dramatically. Where providing food and clothing for individuals and families seemed to be enough, now the needs have broadened, i.e., there is need for gasoline money at the end of the month, the poor can not always pay all of their rent or utilities, can not afford school back packs or supplies to put in them, there is not enough money to fill prescriptions, no money for car repairs, no money for new shoes to replace the severely worn ones, preventive medicine for the poor and homeless is nonexistent, simple needs for infants are unaffordable, and the list goes on. There is a deepening need among our brothers and sisters, whether it is seen or unseen, the terrible need is there.

The following are a few statistics taken from “The State of Poverty in San Bernardino County – A 2004 Statistical Description.”

According the census, in the year 2000, out of the 1,709,434 people living in San Bernardino County, California, 263,412 (15.8%) persons were below the poverty level. There was a 24.4% increase in the percent of population below the poverty level from the 1990 Census to the 2000 Census. Ages 18-64, one out of three persons was under 200% poverty and ages 65-74 or 75+, one out of every four persons was under 185% poverty.

Veronica’s Home of Mercy documents all the calls received requesting service. During our fiscal year 2007-2008 they received 441 calls from homeless women and teens whom we could not accommodate nor was there any place to refer them, due to lack of beds available in the county. These calls represented 390 women and 31 teens of whom 92 were pregnant. Of the 553 children with these women and teenagers, 44% were five years old and under.

These are startling facts!