“Give generously and do so without a grudging heart;
then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”
Giving with a generous heart is one of the things that makes Elvia Rojas, our SVdP Chicago Office Manager, so very special. Some of you know Elvia by the cheerful smile always on her face. Others know her friendly voice and words on the phone or via email when Elvia is helping out conference members. We are very fortunate to have Elvia with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Chicago for more than 29 years!
Elvia, her mother and four sisters came to the United States from Guatemala when Elvia was 17 years old. Her mother wanted each of the girls to go to school and Elvia started working in the afternoons after high school each day. Elvia is the second oldest amongst the girls. After high school Elvia went to City Colleges and then married in 1986.
She started working with Catholic Charities and after a while decided that she wanted a position where she’d be working with clients at The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and helping others. She started out by answering the phone for The Society as a receptionist including talking to client in need. She worked as secretary to the Executive Director, Rev. Thomas A. Grace and soon was advocating for the people who came in to be interviewed about their needs. She really liked talking to others on the phone, finding more about them through the screening process and figuring out how to help them in any way possible.
Over the years Elvia’s passion for helping others has not changed even though her job has grown and changed in responsibilities. Elvia is truly a “Jill of All Trades” working on accounting, office administration, coordination and yes, answering the phone at the Chicago Council headquarters. She really likes her work with clients, Board Members and other Society members who call for help. She’s seen huge changes in how she does her work over the years as well. In the early nineties, she started out computers and eventually worked with floppy disks and even learning how to computer code. Working with computers as for all of us, has been a challenge sometimes, but working with our clients has never been a problem for Elvia.
Elvia is proud of her children, all boys. Her oldest has been in the Airforce for over six years, her next oldest went to Bloomington University of Indiana and works in IT. Her youngest is in high school and soon to go to College.
Elvia’s philosophy is to live day by day, always trying to help others without thinking about her own benefit for in God’s eyes, he wants us to help everyone.
Elvia is very grateful to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Chicago as she has had the opportunity for over 29 years to help people, raise her kids with time off as she needed to help her sisters and other family members. She truly enjoys the people she works with and most of all, giving back to others.