Real stories from the ‘All Are Welcome’ celebration
Story and photography by Michael Cooney | For On Mission
APPLETON, WI — The “All Are Welcome” celebration at St. Thomas More Parish in Appleton is, on the surface, a simple gathering: a warm noon meal, children’s crafts spread across long tables, the steady chatter of parents comparing winter boots and sizes, volunteers kneeling beside children to help wrap gifts.
But conversations with the people who walked through the doors at this year’s annual event on December 6, 2025, revealed something more.
Lives were in motion — some unraveling, some rebuilding, all of them complicated.
The significance of the event became clear.
No one was reduced to a need or a crisis. Each person arrived with a story that began long before that day. Volunteers served meals and handed out coats, but they also listened, noticed, and made room. Those who came were not categories. They are neighbors, parents, workers, survivors. They are doing the best they can.
The stories that follow offer a glimpse of who came through the doors and what they carried with them.
Jeff — Trying to hold a family together through homelessness
Jeff came with his six children — four boys and two girls — while his wife was at work. The family has been homeless for four years, drifting between places that were never meant to be home.
They were renting a house until the city condemned it. The landlord hadn’t maintained it, and when the city ordered everyone out, Jeff and his family had nowhere to go. Since then, they’ve stayed in shelters, campgrounds, anywhere that wasn’t a street corner.
Today, they live in a motel costing $550 a week. That’s more than $2,000 a month — far more than a family in crisis can manage.
“My wife works,” Jeff said. “My son has Social Security. Mine just got approved. But after paying for the motel, there’s nothing left.”
He has mental health and medical issues that keep him from working. His wife’s hours vary from week to week, sometimes dropping unexpectedly. SNAP benefits were reduced once Social Security came through, so they piece together meals from food pantries and community dinners.
What weighs on him most is the feeling of letting his family down.
“I feel like I failed my family,” he said. “But we’re reaching out for help. We’re trying.”
Coming to the “All Are Welcome” celebration, he said, gives them one day when everything isn’t falling apart.
Serena — A young mother rebuilding her life after violence
Serena arrived with her daughter and her mother. She grew up loving Christmas, and she still does. She’s staying at Harbor House, working to rebuild her life after leaving an abusive relationship.
“The situation I was in made me stronger and wiser,” she said. “I’m never going that direction again.”
She recently started working at Walmart and is slowly stabilizing her life. Money is tight.
“Coming here today means a lot to my family. I like to see people involve themselves in opportunities like this and share, and look out for others. I like to help people too. I’m a caregiver as well.
“My daughter said the best part of today might be shopping for her grandma. She wants to keep it a secret what she’s getting her. She’s having a good time.”
“It’s really nice how people come together for families like ours,” she said. “God bless you guys.”
Phoeasha — Holding life together as a single mother of two
Phoeasha is also staying at Harbor House. She works full-time factory shifts while raising her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. She shows up every day because she wants her children to know what it feels like to be safe.
“As soon as they walked in here and felt the energy, they were so excited,” she said.
She tries to make Christmas happen, but the numbers rarely add up. She talks about the challenges quietly — not with self-pity, but with realism. “There are a lot of single parents, a lot of homelessness in Appleton that I don’t think gets addressed enough, and it feels like there aren’t enough resources to go around.”
Still, she keeps going. Her dream is simple: “I want my kids to grow up and live happy lives. I want to provide a good, solid future for them.”
Enola — Parenting three toddlers while trying to rebuild her stability
Enola came with three children under the age of 3. Her situation is uniquely difficult. She is staying at Harbor House, working to stabilize her life, while her children are temporarily living with their grandmother. She and the children’s father are co-parenting, though each is, for now, functioning as a single parent. “It’s a hard time for us. I do work, but things are difficult.”
Her kids toddle around the hall, enchanted by Christmas trees and shiny ornaments. For a moment, they get to simply enjoy being children. And she gets to breathe. “It’s been very welcoming,” she said. “Everybody has been so kind.”
Wanda — Starting over at 37 after surviving abuse and homelessness
Wanda’s story is heavy. She asked that her real name and photo not be used.
She has three children and no income, no SNAP benefits, no savings. She left an abusive marriage only to be kicked out of the house twice. The second time, she walked from Kaukauna to Appleton with her 1-year-old because she had nowhere to go and no money for transportation.
“The first time, I walked from Kaukauna to Appleton with our 1-year-old,” Wanda said. “A man on Wisconsin Avenue came out of his house and asked if I needed a ride. I told him no. I had nothing left — everything I had worked for my entire life was gone. He handed me a $100 bill, and that got me to Harbor House. It bought milk for my baby. It helped me get a few things we needed just to survive.”
She had once worked her whole life and raised not only her children but her husband’s three children from a previous marriage. Leaving them was heartbreaking.
“It’s hard for me to ask for help,” she said. “I never thought I’d be in this place at 37. But I’m trying to start over.”
“Does this feel like Christian charity to me? It feels like help,” she said. “And that’s hard for me, because I’ve always been proud of being able to take care of myself. I know who I was before all this. I don’t wish what I’m going through on anyone.
“But everything these wonderful people are doing for us today — I could not thank them enough.”
Fabiola — Supporting Hispanic families who live with quiet fear
Fabiola works at St. Therese Parish in Appleton, serving Hispanic families who trust her in ways they don’t trust many others. She was born and raised here, so she doesn’t live with the fear that shadows many immigrant families. But she sees that fear clearly in others.
“Some don’t leave their houses much,” she said. “Some are afraid to talk to anyone with a camera or microphone. Some are afraid to register at a parish because they think their information will go to law enforcement. That is something we hear a lot.”
She explains that many of these families have ITINs — individual taxpayer identification numbers used by people who cannot obtain a Social Security number but still pay taxes and work steady jobs.
“Once we explain the process and that everything is confidential, and that we never share information with anyone, they’re more open,” Fabiola said. “But some still want to keep everything private. They fear the consequences of simply being seen.”
“These are working families,” she said. “They’ve been here for years. They’re trying to live normal lives, but they live with a level of caution most people never have to think about. For them, events like this offer a chance to be part of a welcoming and safe community.”
Ariana — Finding courage to leave and create safety for her daughter (Image 2242)
Ariana came with her 4-year-old daughter, who spends the afternoon laughing with other children and running from craft table to cookie tray with limitless energy.
“I was in a pretty abusive relationship with her dad, so I moved in with my mom to get away from him,” Ariana said. “But my mom was also very abusive. We went from one abusive situation to the next, and that’s how we ended up at Harbor House.
“Leaving was the hardest part — taking that step to go to Harbor House. It was the scariest.
I’m working now. I work full-time at Touchmark. I’m working on putting my life back together. It’s hard, but I’m doing it.”
“Christmas felt uncertain at first. My daughter was asking how Santa was going to bring her presents where we’re staying. I didn’t know what to tell her. But after today, I feel excited. This helped a lot.”
More than a celebration
Taken together, these stories reveal a shared theme — not one of charity, but of recognition.
Each person who walked into “All Are Welcome” carried more than need. They carried fear, exhaustion, resilience, hope, and a desire to protect the people they love. What the parish offered wasn’t merely winter coats or toys. It was a moment of belonging. A place where their full humanity was acknowledged without hesitation.
No one needed to earn compassion. No one needed to justify their story. No one was judged for how they arrived. They were welcomed. They were listened to. They were treated with dignity.
In a year when so many families feel invisible, this day made them visible again.
This — quietly, without fanfare — is who the parish serves. And this is what it looks like when a parish opens its doors and means it.