The Mesa nonprofit helped him get back on track | News

MAurice Murry remembered living in a sober living home and not going anywhere in life.

“It was more beneficial for them than for me,” he explained. “It seemed like they wanted us to stay in the program and not thrive and grow.”

Even though the 53-year-old worked full-time, he couldn’t afford to go out and live on his own.

He stayed in the group home for 1.5 years until he met someone who told him about St. Joseph the Worker, a nonprofit organization with offices in Mesa and Phoenix that provides a path to self-sufficiency for homeless, low-income and other disadvantaged people.

Murry applied and was accepted into the nonprofit’s 90-day Workforce Villages program this year.

“They taught me how to save money and learn other skills,” Murry said. “They taught me how to balance a budget and act more responsibly as an adult.”

According to Murry, he was once careless with his money and the program taught him “not to spend just because I have it.”

Under the program, clients who receive free housing save 80% of their net income in their own bank accounts, the nonprofit said.

In addition to learning financial literacy, people also learn food budgeting, meal preparation and planning, and other vital life skills to be self-sufficient.

Murry was able to save $4,800 in 90 days and find an apartment in Mesa using his own funds. He noted that it would have been difficult for him to get into an apartment with him criminal background without the help of the program.

According to court records, he filed criminal charges for drug use and trafficking in stolen property.

Murry said he started using meth when he was going through a divorce, which “felt like I lost a little part of myself.” Today he is two years clean.

To date, the Workforce Villages program has helped over 200 people obtain an apartment with a lease in their own name.

St. Joseph the Worker, which has also provided employment services since its founding in 1988, helped just over 51,400 people in the last fiscal year.

It has helped 5,091 so far this year, according to Daren Strunk, the nonprofit’s COO.

“This year, 1,966 people used the Mesa location and 3,125 people used the Phoenix location,” Strunk said in an email.

Although the majority of people seeking help at the Mesa site live in the city, people also come from east Phoenix, Tempe and south Scottsdale, he said.

Strunk said the range includes the unemployed, the underemployed, those experiencing housing insecurity, those not in transitional housing, survivors of domestic violence and virtually anyone who wants assistance on the path to financial independence.

The non-profit organization relies exclusively on grants and donations.

And thanks to the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, Christmas came early for the nonprofit with a $500,000 grant spread over two years.

“Growing up poor as a church mouse in inner-city Baltimore, I watched my parents struggle to stay afloat,” said Bob Parsons, co-founder of the foundation and founder of the GoDaddy group of companies, in a press release. “Many people never get the chance to learn the type of life skills and financial discipline that St. Joseph the Worker offers.

“This important training can help people find stability, make informed financial decisions and live more fulfilling lives.”

Strunk said the grant will allow St. Joseph the Worker to expand into the East Valley and increase the number of people it can serve.

Murry says he owes a lot to St. Joseph the Worker, otherwise He said: “I would stagnate. I would get stuck.”