St Teresa Ministries is a local organization that provides food, basic necessities and emergency services for low-income wage-earners and the elderly by using St Teresa Thrift Store assets and by developing and enhancing community partnerships.

We are dedicated to helping those in need in our area. The St Teresa Thrift Store is the main outreach program of St Teresa Ministries. Your support of the thrift store helps us help those in need by supporting two local food pantries and supplying those in need with clothing and household items, transportation, utility assistance, bedding and more. We guarantee a pleasant shopping experience, quality products and great customer service.

St Teresa Ministries also provides meaningful opportunities for volunteers to serve their neighbors in need with great love and compassion. We follow the words of St Therese of Lisieux by “doing everyday things with as much love as possible” and those of St Teresa of Calcutta “Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love”.

Did you know that St Therese of Lisieux and Mother Teresa were named after St Teresa of Avila?

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
St Teresa was a Spanish noblewoman who was as holy as she was straightforward. St Teresa is credited with reviving Catholicism in the 1560’s and 1570’s. She’s most widely known for her books, “The way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle” in which she describes the stages by which a soul attains to spiritual perfection and union with God. Although much of what she relates to is far beyond the comprehension of most of us, nevertheless, she has left the church an invaluable guide to mental, or contemplative prayer and its possibilities. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970. We celebrate her feast day on October 15.

Teresa of Lisieux (1873-1897)
St. Therese’s story is a brief, yet impactful one. She became a Carmelite nun at age 15 after her mother died years prior with the sole intention just to save souls.

While there, she discovered the “Little Way” to become a saint. “To do small things with great love”.

St. Therese translated “the little way” in terms of commitment to the tasks and to the people we meet in our everyday lives. She took her assignments in the convent of Lisieux as ways of manifesting her love for God and others. She showed love for all and played no favorites. Her “little way” seems to put holiness of life within reach of ordinary people. She wanted us to live out our days with confidence in God’s love for us. Recognize that each day is a gift in which your life can make a difference by the way you choose to live it. St. Therese called everyone to be more like a saint and do everyday things with as much love as possible; recognize your weaknesses and give them to God, recognize your strengths and thank God for them. The feast day of St Therese is October 1.

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Teresa of Calcutta, best known as “Mother Teresa” is the woman who gave up everything to live with the poorest of the poor in the slums of India, the woman who lived in the Gospel in a way most of us are too afraid to even dream about. By the end of her life in 1997, Mother Teresa had received numerous awards from organizations and institutions around the world, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, when she famously refused the traditional celebratory dinner asking that the money for it be given to the poor instead. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, which number more than 5,000 women in 139 countries. She was canonized September 4, 2016 as St. Teresa of Calcutta. Her feast day is September 5th.