“St. Patrick Center is hope to me… hope.”

The child of an alcoholic mother, Cedric Winthrope battled alcohol abuse since youth. He cared for his mother until her death, but family problems afterward led to his homelessness.

When Cedric was doing a demolition job two years ago, a building wall fell on him and broke his neck and leg. “Doctors told me I’d never walk, talk or work again,” Cedric recalls. He stayed with this sister for about a year, until she motivated him to get up and get stronger, and he eventually proved his doctors wrong.

Cedric first came to St. Patrick Center for lunch, but noticed the opportunities available to him. He attended a drug class and graduated from the Living Skills program. Through volunteering at his church, he met a man who referred him to the Clean Team, and he was soon hired to wear the purple uniform and maintain the streets of downtown St. Louis!

Today, Cedric is a Clean Team supervisor at Busch Stadium, where they clean the outside of the stadium during baseball games. He feels compassion for the homeless men and women he runs into while working. “I can see myself in them and I tell them to go to

St. Patrick Center. If they’re serious about making a change, there’s no way they can fail.”

Cedric lives in an apartment and is working on his GED. He would like to run his own company some day, as well as a non-profit organization. “The rest of my life, I am going to volunteer and give to others.”

1. Hi Cedric... .

   July 22, 2010 at 8:24 am

   I’m Kathleen keep up the good work.I lost my job at Chrysler and started volunteering at Almost Home. After volunteering a few months I have a job not the same money as Chrysler but I have a job that is rewarding in other ways.
2. Brigitte hamilton

   October 26, 2010 at 7:23 pm

   Hello Cedric keep up the good work and God Bless you. Passing to the next person a blessing will keep a smile on someone else face in need. take Care and remember there’s always someone needs your love.