A Place to Breathe: How Sweet Dreams Helped Jesse and His Family Find Their Way Home

For Jesse, homelessness did not happen all at once.

It began when the Baton Rouge apartment complex where Jesse lived with his wife and three children shut down, forcing everyone to leave. Jesse did everything he could to keep his family together and find them a place to live.

For a while, he managed.

The family moved into a hotel, and Jesse used his paycheck to cover their room each week. But when his job became uncertain, their housing did too.

Soon, they had to start paying for the hotel by the day instead of by the week. It cost seventy dollars each day.

Every morning, Jesse woke up with the same worry. He needed to find enough money so his wife and children would have a place to sleep that night.

“My mind was always in a frenzy,” Jesse recalled. “I’m trying to make sure every day I make the money to make sure I have what I need to pay for this room.”

Eventually, the family ran out of options and money.

“The improvising ran out,” he said.

With no relatives to stay with and no other safety net, Jesse started looking for help. Someone told him about St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge and its Sweet Dreams Shelter for Families, a place where his family could stay together while they worked toward stability.

Sweet Dreams gave Jesse and his family a safe place to stay. The shelter also gave him something he could not find in a hotel. He finally had the chance to stop worrying just about the next day and start planning for the future.

“It gave me time,” Jesse said. “It gave me time to think and breathe.”

Jesse did not come to Sweet Dreams to get comfortable. He came because his family needed stability and structure to move forward.

“I wanted somewhere where I could go that I could just breathe—not relax, not get comfortable, but just breathe, to let me figure out what I wanted to figure out and how I wanted to do it.”

At St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge, Jesse found that opportunity.

 Once Jesse no longer had to worry about finding money for another night in a hotel, he could focus on rebuilding. Sweet Dreams gave his family a safe, stable place to stay and the structure he had been searching for.

And he made the most of it. Today, Jesse and his family are home.

He also found an unexpected new chapter in his professional life. During his time at St. Vincent de Paul, a staff member saw his potential and offered him a chance to join the organization.

Now Jesse works at the same organization that once sheltered his family.

“I got that stability in my life,” he said. “Now I got a really good job that I love to do, love to come here, and be a part of this organization.”

For Jesse, this job is more than just a paycheck. It is the stability he worked so hard to find. Most importantly, Jesse says he can now go home knowing he can take care of his family.

“His story also reminds us that homelessness does not have just one cause or look the same for everyone,” said Sunnie Johnson-Lain, President and CEO of SVDPBR. “Sometimes it happens because of a series of events, like losing housing, unstable work, running out of savings, and not having a family or a support system to help.”

For families facing this kind of crisis, Sweet Dreams Shelter for Families offers more than just a place to sleep. It gives families the stability, support, and space they need to start dealing with the problems that brought them there and begin working toward a permanent home and more independence.

But when asked what he considers the most important thing his family received from St. Vincent de Paul, he does not mention shelter, employment, or even housing.

“I didn’t think I was going to come here and connect with the amazing people that I connected with,” Jesse said. “St. Vincent openly welcomed my family and me into theirs, and I’m forever grateful for that.”

What began as one family’s search for a safe place to stay became something much bigger.

For Jesse and his family, Sweet Dreams was never the end of the journey. It was the place where his family finally found enough stability to start over.

Sweet Dreams Shelter, operated by St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge, provides emergency shelter and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness. Through safe housing, case management, life-skills development, and connections to community resources, the shelter helps families achieve long-term stability and permanent housing.

For more information about SVDPBR, please visit www.svdpbr.net.

Together, the community is helping families move from uncertainty to stability, one night, one step, and one new beginning at a time. For more information on how you can contribute to our mission, visit https://www.svdpbr.net/donate.