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by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published December 4, 2009

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic James and Judy Pawlowski pore over bills as they wrestle with a difficult financial situation this year. The Pawlowskis and their nine children are among the families on this year's Adopt a Family list.

EASTPOINTE – It's not just families that are out-of-work that are struggling and in need of assistance this Christmas season, but many that are underemployed as well.

Many people in southeast Michigan eventually find some work to do after losing the better jobs then used to have, but often their new jobs are not full-time or may pay only a fraction of what they used to make.

That is the situation of some of those on this year's Adopt a Family list, the annual archdiocesan effort to assist local families in need as Christmas approaches. Families are proposed for the program by Christian Service directors, pastors and St. Vincent de Paul conferences.

For James and Judy Pawlowski of Eastpointe, and their nine children, the economic downtown Michigan began experiencing even before the national economic crisis made life increasingly difficult. They almost lost their house, and say they just couldn't make it but for the generosity of friends, family members, neighbors, their parishes and fellow parishioners.

The decline of the automotive industry in recent years led to the decline and eventual end of James' work as an independent sales contractor for a major photocopier company.

Selling the premium-brand product on commission in a declining market to increasingly cost-conscious customers led to several years of declining income, followed by 10 months of unemployment before he found a low-paying delivery job.

"There's a lot of struggling going around in southeast Michigan, and we're part of that struggling," says Judy Pawlowski, 48.

Like many families, they had taken on debt that became unsustainable once they lost the income they used to have.

For about the final year of his independent contractor relationship with Xerox, James had pretty much no income, then couldn't get unemployment compensation after the arrangement ended. "If you don't make any money, you don't qualify for any unemployment," he says.

With no luck finding a new job, they soon exhausted all their resources and could no longer pay their bills. "I basically ended up going bankrupt, and we came within 10 days of actually being kicked out of our house," James Pawlowski recounts.

With the help of Fr. Stan Pachla, pastor of St. Veronica Parish in Eastpointe, James had landed a new job in November 2007, making deliveries for a local medical equipment company. But they were already well into the foreclosure process, and the new job only pays about $20,000 a year.

Friends and family members had come up with $45,000 to help them save their house, but the bank was refusing to negotiate with them – it was all or nothing.

But they had two things going for them: "One Sunday, after Mass at St. Veronica, about three weeks before we were to be kicked out, I picked up a third-class relic of St. Therese, the Little Flower, that someone had left – people do that at St. Veronica; leave holy cards and scapulars and things for people to pick up," James says.

James and Judy decided the whole family would make a novena to St. Therese.

At about the same time, they had met Pamela Beech, archdiocesan human resources director, who lives in their neighborhood. She mentioned their situation to Msgr. Michael Bugarin, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in St. Clair Shores, and he enlisted the help of a certified public accountant in his parish who was able to get through to someone and negotiate an arrangement with the bank.

James says he has "no doubt" that the novena played a role in helping them find the help needed to stay in their house.

But the situation has continued to be difficult for the family, James' low-paying job doesn't cover all their bills, and he says they have benefited greatly from assistance provided by fellow parishioners at St. Veronica and at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Grotto), the Detroit parish to which they also belong.

"We have continued to realize the charitableness of a number of people, who keep on helping us. If there's an upside to this, it is that I wouldn't have known about this depth of goodness in people," he says.

And Judy adds, "A lot of those people have helped us without ever even having been asked to. They just heard about our situation, and wanted to help."

James says he hopes to find better-paying work, and wishes he could one day be able to pay everyone back who has provided assistance, "but I'm unlikely to ever be able to do that unless God sends me a really, really good job."

The Pawlowskis say some of the lessons they have learned from their situation have actually been beneficial. "We have learned to be very frugal," James says.

And Judy says the family has changed the way they eat. "Less meat, cheaper cuts of meat, more noodles, more rice; we don't go out to restaurants; and we cook pretty much everything from scratch," she says of their new regimen.

But if the Pawlowskis benefit from the food pantry at St. Veronica, family members also do volunteer work to help operate the pantry.

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic James and Judy Pawlowski are surrounded by their nine children, (clockwise from lower left) Patrick, 9, John Paul, 12, Thomas, 15, David, 16, Abigayil, 17, Bernadette, 10 holding Barkley, Emma, 4, Magdalen, 2, and Anna, 7.

Because their hardship has required the family to work together and do things together, it has brought them closer together and closer to God, they say.

"It regards to our faith, it has been a tremendous positive, because you focus on prayer and put your trust in the Lord," James says.

Judy says the collapse of their economic situation made her very upset and caused her to worry a lot at first, but she eventually decided that didn't accomplish anything.

"I was especially worried about possibly losing the house, but in time I just gave it up and decided to trust in the Lord. I figured, if that's His plan, then there's a reason for it and a goodness that would come from it, and I would just have to accept it."

Plus she says she thought it important for James and her to remain strong and cheerful for the sake of their children.

The Pawlowskis say they realize their children have had to do without a lot of things, but they express the hope that some of the lessons and experiences will benefit them in the future.

Asked about that, Thomas, 15, says, "I don't think it's affected us all that much; we're doing OK."

Abigayil, 17, says, "Sometimes, it would be nice to have a better TV or a more updated computer, but we are happy."