Florida Catholic | Daystar Life Center

Daystar at 25: A life raft for St. Pete

CARLOS BRICENO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC ST. PETERSBURG BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 11.30.07

Daystar Life Center volunteer William Howard prepares peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for clients at the social services center. CARLOS BRICENO | FC

ST. PETERSBURG | What do you do when the utility company has turned off your water because the bill is overdue, you have four kids and you’re looking for work?

You pray. You hope.

And, in Tammie Harrison’s case, you try to get help.

Harrison recently dropped by Daystar Life Center, a nonprofit organization that started 25 years ago in the basement of St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Parish in St. Petersburg. The pastor at the time, Msgr. John McNulty, started other Daystars in cities where he had served, and decided the parish should take the lead in helping the poor in the downtown area, said Mary Venezia, Daystar’s first director. She still volunteers there once a week and is a member of its board of directors.

While at Daystar, Harrison talked to volunteer Marty Sweeney and told him she had been unemployed for four months because she lost her cleaning business. She had an operation to remove cancerous tumors from her back, she said, and her work was so strenuous that she couldn’t continue after the surgery.

Although she has been looking for work, she hasn’t been able to find a job, and while she was getting financial help from her family and the Pentecostal church to which she belongs, she reached the point where she couldn’t keep up with all her bills and rent.

She remembered going to Daystar years ago after a divorce, when her children were small. She remembered that it helped her then, so she decided to see what kind of assistance it could offer her now.

“This place is very kind,” she said, as she waited for Sweeney to come back with a check to pay for her water bill. “They stay patient, focusing on what I need and wanting to help me.”

On the chair next to her were two bags that Daystar gave her, each containing food and toiletry items for herself and her four children, who are now 12 to 19 years old.

Nearby, the waiting room was packed with people waiting for assistance; people were also waiting in line outside the door.

According to its annual report, the organization helps those who have been affected by economic changes in Pinellas County, such as increases in electric, water and gas utilities, and higher rent and mortgage payments due to homeowner insurance and property tax hikes. In fiscal year 2005-2006, Daystar experienced a 22 percent increase in dollars spent to assist people with housing support.

Other help the organization offers, said executive director Jane Walker, includes emergency food provisions, grocery gift certificates, bus tokens, referrals to other agencies and help with getting birth certificates and state identification cards. Daystar also provides a place for clients to receive mail and packages; about 600 people have their mail sent there.

Once Daystar sees a need, then it acts upon it to help clients, she said, which is why the organization has branched out to provide mail service.

“One of the unique and special things is that we recognize the need to be fluid and flexible when it comes to community needs and we respond as needed,” said Walker.

The organization wouldn’t be able to survive without its volunteers, numbering 200 in total, 100 of whom are regulars. The majority of volunteers are Catholic, Walker said. She is the only full-time staff member and Sister Rosemarie Infinito, an Allegany Franciscan nun, is on stipend.

Sometimes the needs are so great, Walker said, that she wonders how everyone will be helped. And she admits to feeling “overwhelmed” at times. But the generosity of people has always bolstered her spirits.

“My philosophy is that we are doing what we need to do, and we have to believe that God will provide,” she said. “That’s worked. You have to open up your heart and hands and say (to God), ‘OK, here it is; help me get it done.’ And somehow, it gets done.”

For instance, the other day, representatives from St. Petersburg Catholic High School delivered canned food to help fill Daystar’s shelves during the busy Thanksgiving holiday, she said.

She also mentioned the many “miracles” she’s witnessed, where Daystar will need something and then, unexpectedly, something will show up to fill that need.

“I can’t tell you how many times the shelves are almost empty and (we wonder) what are we going to do for food?” she said. “And then a car pulls up with food to drop off.”

Sweeney, the volunteer addressing Tammie Harrison’s case, said one of the major reasons why he drives 45 minutes from his home in Bradenton twice a week to volunteer at Daystar is because he respects how helpful and loving the charity is to people.

“I’m serving the Lord and giving back all the blessings that have been given to me,” said Sweeney, who is not Catholic.

After he told Harrison that Walker approved the payment of her entire water bill — $119 — she started to cry.

“That’s a blessing,” Harrison said. “God is so good. I didn’t expect that.”

It is rare, Sweeney said, for Daystar to pay an entire bill. Usually, it just pays about $45 of a person’s bill once a year, but because of extenuating circumstances in Harrison’s case — her surgery, losing her job and having children still at home — Walker approved the entire bill, he said.

And when Daystar does so, the person doesn’t get a check in his or her name, but in the name of the company being paid, he added.

“I’m so appreciative,” said Harrison. “I’m grateful not just for the money, but the way they treated me and the love I received was so important. People care. They genuinely care.”

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