San Jose Home Makers Deliver Christmas Cheer to Migrant Families

It looked like Santa’s sleigh had spilled its boundless contents in Pam Stamey’s living room Thursday morning. Hundreds of wrapped and unwrapped dolls, stuffed animals, balls and games covered nearly every surface of her Bloomingdale East home.

“It may look like chaos but we actually have a plan,” said Stamey, surveying the cluttered scene. “Well, sort of.”

Stamey didn’t have to wait long for reinforcements. A cadre of enthusiastic volunteers soon arrived to sort the toys by gender and age into large plastic garbage bags and load them into cars, trailers and pickup trucks. The volunteers paused long enough to join hands in a circle and say a prayer of thanks for the generosity of the people who donated the Christmas gifts destined for migrant farm camps in Dover and Thonotosassa where youngsters eagerly awaited their arrival.

“For many of these kids, these are the only gifts they’ll receive for Christmas,” said Heidi Smith, co-founder of the San Jose Home Makers with Stamey.

A ministry of in Valrico, the San Jose Home Makers provide furniture and household goods for migrant farm worker families attempting to establish homes. After traveling from state to state, picking vegetables and fruits, the migrant farm worker families come to this area with little more than the clothes on their backs to take up residence at the San Jose Mission in Dover, a Catholic Charities-run apartment complex for migrant families, and in farm camps around the area.

Stamey was made aware of the needs of these families in December 2008 when she delivered underwear donated by St. Stephen parishioners to Dover Elementary School. A social worker at the school told her about a single mother with four children who were sleeping on the floor because they didn’t own any beds.

She recruited her friend, Smith, to help her get donated furniture to outfit the family’s apartment at the San Jose Mission.

“After we’d furnished the home, I asked what else we could do and was told by the mission director that they had 16 more families that needed furniture,” said Stamey. “We got them 35 beds, and it just snowballed from there.”

Where There's Need, There's Help

What began as a desire to help one family grew into the San Jose Home Makers, which has now furnished more than 500 homes with donated furniture.

Stamey jokes that the area’s social workers now have her phone number on speed dial. Whenever there’s a need, she gets a call. Fortunately, she and Smith no longer do it alone. They now have 15 to 20 volunteers who gather and sort donations, determine what each family needs and then see that the families receive furniture and household goods.

 “These are the poorest of the poor,” said Smith. “They live from hand to mouth and don’t even make enough to cover basic necessities, much less make enough to pay for furniture.”

“The stories are heartbreaking,” said Stamey. “In November, one the coldest days of the month, we got a call about two moms with eight children between them that needed help. One of their husbands had chosen to stay up North and continue working and the other had been deported. One entire family was sleeping in a little room with not a single piece of furniture. It was cold and there was no heat. The children didn’t have shoes and their little faces and fingers were red from the cold. We furnished that trailer from top to bottom. We see families like this constantly.”

However, furniture isn’t the only need.

“Most of these families can’t afford to give their children anything for Christmas,” said Smith. “So we began collecting toys to give to the children at Christmastime. Our gifts are usually the only gifts they’ll receive.”

Christmas Giving

For the past three years, the San Jose Home Makers have collected toys from St. Stephen parishioners and other donors, wrapped them and then distributed them to the children of the farm families.

“We start in November gathering the names and ages of all the children in the farm camps,” said Stamey. “We put the names and ages on ornaments that we put on a Christmas tree in the church. Parishioners are invited to take a name and shop for the child.”

This year, more than 500 dolls, toy trucks, stuffed animals and other toys were donated for the project.

In addition to providing gifts, the ministry provides Christmas trees for the families donated by the St. Stephen Knights of Columbus from the Christmas tree lot the Knights operate at St. Stephen Catholic School.

Families also receive “share boxes” put together by the children at the school containing toiletries.

 “It’s so wonderful to see the children receive their gifts,” said Smith. “The smiles on their faces are priceless. But the most rewarding part is to see the tears in the eyes of the moms and dads. They’re so overwhelmed and so grateful. We give them hope and show them the love of God through our work.”

The San Jose Home Makers are currently in need of warehouse space for storing furniture and a box truck for transporting furniture. Anyone who can help can call Stamey at 813-300-7984 or email her at pamstamey@hotmail.com.