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Success Stories

Brutal Attacks on the Defenseless

L-R sitting: Giovan and Brother Charles Searson; standing Brother Bill Osmanski and Brother Majella Marchand.

By Brother Majella Marchand, BGS

The senseless beating of homeless men in South Florida earlier this year was a reminder that it isn’t a given that people have a heart for the least among us. Not everyone has the ability to place themselves in the shoes of another in need. (Sadly, some fail to recognize their humanity at all.)

But another incident reminded me even more recently that Camillus House, with the generous support of our community, is the only safety net to catch the poor when they fall. Without Camillus House they would have nowhere to turn in their time of desperate need.

This case didn’t make the news, but it’s just as appalling as the other beatings. It doesn’t involve chronic homeless individuals, but rather a hardworking young man named Giovan who was nearly beaten to death right here in South Florida.

If you look only at Giovan’s calloused, weathered hands, you’d never believe he’s only 21 years old. I expect he’s probably already worked harder than most will do in a lifetime. He’s a small man – 5’1” or 5’2” – and so humble that it’s hard for him to even make eye contact.

The youngest of nine children, Giovan came from Juchitán, a small farming town in Central Mexico. Like many before him, he came to the U.S. ready and willing to take up the back breaking work of a migrant laborer. He needed to send money back to help his family – they weren’t able to make ends meet.

He worked hard in the fields and then after in a factory. Some employers took advantage of Giovan and other day laborers. Sometimes they didn’t pay the agreed upon wage. Sometimes they didn’t pay at all.

But Giovan didn’t give up or become bitter. He believed in hard work and was committed to helping his family survive and to building a better life for himself.

After finding work in a supermarket in Homestead he saved enough money to move out of a shared apartment and get his own room. Giovan felt hopeful. He was making progress. His hard work was paying off.

Then one day earlier this year, after wiring $800 of his hard earned wages to his family, Giovan was on his way to make a down payment on the room he’d found.

Beaten & Robbed

Two months after being beaten nearly to death, Giovan still has traces of scars - despite his ordeal, he's never lost hope!

As he walked down the street, four men approached him and told him to hand over his wallet. Giovan speaks little English, and when he hesitated, one of the men, wielding a bat, swung for Giovan’s head with all his might.

As Giovan crumpled to the ground, the thieves pounced on him and continued to punch and kick him, knocking out his teeth. They robbed Giovan of all the money he had – $590 – and left him for dead on the side of the road.

In a daze, Giovan crawled to his hands and knees and began searching frantically for two items. Even more than the money, he was distressed that the thieves had stolen a belt buckle lent to him by a good friend and a gold tooth made from his father’s melted down wedding ring – the family had been too poor to pay for a filling.

Then Giovan collapsed again. Lying on the ground he saw a figure – an angel he wondered? – standing over him. Giovan thought he was dying and going to heaven.

But he didn’t die. The next thing Giovan remembers is waking up in the hospital. After being treated for several days, he was discharged.

He had no money, no family or friends who could help him, and no where to go. He was being put on the streets with rubber tubing dangling from his head to drain blood from his swollen brain.

‘Try Camillus House’

The hospital staff gave Giovan $1.50 for transportation and a suggestion: “try Camillus House.” He arrived here in the evening and was taken in immediately.

We fed him, gave him shelter, arranged follow-up medical treatment and helped him get his medication. We also arranged, through Camillus Health Concern, for Giovan to get dentures to replace the teeth that were knocked out. That procedure alone would normally costs thousands of dollars.

“He didn’t smile much when he first got here,” Brother Bill Osmanski told me. “But he smiles now that he has those teeth. He must have hugged me five times the day he got them.”

For all his problems, Giovan is full of thanks to God and to Camillus House.

Blessed, Not Bitter

“I’ve never seen anyplace like this where they will help anyone who comes to their door,” Giovan told me in Spanish. “It is a great blessing. I’m thankful to be alive and thankful for Camillus House.”

Hearing him express his gratitude, I couldn’t help but think that despite our many blessings in life, so many of us focus on what we don’t have. Meanwhile, this young man who has every reason to be bitter and in despair, has nothing but hope.

I’m sharing Giovan’s story with you to remind you what your support of Camillus House means – you are the reason we’re able to carry out works of mercy like this.

You are the reason that Camillus is able to rescue a person in desperate need like Giovan. The fact that people in our community know to say, “Try Camillus House” when a person is in desperate need is a blessing – but it’s also a great responsibility.

Like the Good Samaritan in the Bible, Camillus House is here, with your help, to care for the abandoned, the forgotten, and all who are alone and in need. We’ve been doing that for 45 years here in South Florida and will carry on as long as we are needed.

But there is so much need now – so many individuals and families in need of help. We don’t have the resources to meet the many needs without your steady help.

It is only through the compassion of our best donors like you that we’re able to provide a safety net for people like Giovan who are alone and in need.

Every gift allows us to extend our reach to the most vulnerable individuals and families. Your generosity translates into incredible good for our neighbors in need.

The Power of Your Gift

Every gift you make is a great blessing. We work hard to stretch your donations to achieve the maximum good. A gift of $32, for example, is enough to feed a person in need like Giovan for an entire week. $100 provides meals and shelter for a family of five for three nights. An extraordinary gift of $250 allows us to house a destitute family for a full month.

You may think $15 isn’t that much, but even that amount allows us to provide a hearty meal for 10 hungry people.

Every gift you make is truly a blessing. Because, you undoubtedly know as I do that not everyone has your compassion.

Not everyone has your empathy, or your willingness and ability to put themselves in the shoes of a less fortunate person. Not everyone realizes what it means to be humble enough to realize, “there, but for the grace of God, go I,” when you see a person in need.

But it’s not enough just to realize that, but to act on it. And when you act to help others in need through Camillus House you make our community a better more compassionate place for everyone.

Entertaining Angels?

When I heard Giovan’s story and saw his humble manner and unshakeable hope, I couldn’t help but think of that beautiful passage in the Bible passage that urges us to serve strangers, “for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

Please help us continue to be a safety net and last hope for people in desperate need in South Florida. Together, you and I might be serving angels.

As long as there is need, Camillus House with your help will strive to lift up all who suffer. When a person or family in trouble hears, “Try Camillus House,” and comes for help, we always want our answer to be, “Yes, come in and rest. We can help you.”

That is exactly what your generous gift to Camillus House makes possible. God bless you for recognizing the need and doing all you can to help today.

Along with this story is a snapshot of Giovan to help you “put a face with a story.” Two months after being robbed and beaten, Giovan is still not fully recovered from the beating; he has headaches, dizzy spells, and is sensitive to bright light. But he has a safe place here at Camillus House where he can concentrate on recovery. Before long, he’ll be back to work to continue pursuing his dream of a better life.