Brazilian Au Pair Victoria Gives Back to her Community

Houston Au pair Victoria looked forward to celebrating her first holiday in the United States, since arriving from Brazil last February. Her first Easter turned out to be even more special than she had ever imagined. When she found out that her church, Saint Simon & Jude Catholic Church in Houston Texas, was looking for volunteers to serve the community during the week of Easter, Victoria jumped right in. She and fourteen other church members teamed up to work with an organization called Loaves and Fishes, to provide food and clothing to the homeless community.

For two days leading up to Easter, Victoria and her team served the homeless community. They packed food and delivered them to the homeless as they wished them a "Happy Easter." They also distributed shoes and socks. Due to COVID-19, Victoria said that she didn't know what to expect, but she shared it was an amazing experience.

It was so touching to see them just take their old shoes and throw them in the trash and leave with brand new ones. And then there was this one guy that came and asked for a size that we didn't have. One of the missionaries simply took off his own shoes and gave them to the guy and walked back to church with just his socks on!

On Easter Sunday, Victoria enjoyed a lovely day of celebration with her host family to cap a meaningful week. "It was definitely a special Easter for me, being able to pray, make new friends, help the homeless, share sweet memories with my host family, and think about the real reason of the season!" Victoria said.

Victoria’s unforgettable experience is the perfect example of how so many au pairs give back to their communities, despite it being a relatively new community for them. Not only did she get to contribute to helping an important cause, but she met so many wonderful people along the way including the organization called Loaves and Fishes who have been helping the homeless community in Houston for almost 50 years. Her host mom shared,

We are truly blessed to have Victoria as our au pair and love this story of her experiencing our culture of giving.

Victoria’s kindness and selflessness to take the time to give back to those less fortunate is truly admirable and speaks volumes of how amazing she is as an au pair to her host family.

‍