PROVIDENCE — Thomas Mathieu, 67, is down on his luck. He’s had 16 surgeries during the last 12 years and is unable to work due to a heart condition, as well as a bone deficiency that causes severe issues with his back, knee and neck. He also suffers from emphysema, one of multiple diseases known collectively as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
But he said his life hit an all-time low 10 years ago when his wife died, leaving him to care for their children on his own.
“It’s been tough,” Mathieu said. “I use every penny I get from SSI to keep our house. I fend for my kids as much as I can. My kids are my pride and joy.”
Still, he feels blessed because he recently received 50 gallons of oil, courtesy of Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s “Keep the Heat On” campaign. He spoke with a staff member from the Diocese of Providence, who assured him a donation.
“I’m so glad that they helped me and gave me the oil,” said Mathieu, who lives in the basement of a one-family home in Providence, while his 24-year-old daughter and her three-year-old son live upstairs. “Oil is $4 a gallon. When I was a kid, we used to pay 19 cents a gallon. It’s unbelievable.”
Mathieu said the donated oil he received helped heat their house during most of January, but they’ve been unable to stay warm the last week because their boiler is leaking water. He’s not worried about himself, he said, but is concerned for his grandson and daughter, who is six months pregnant.
“I don’t care about me; I don’t want them to be cold upstairs,” he said, noting that a friend of the family, along with her nine-month-old son, also live in his home. “I feel the cold so bad, but I try not to turn on the heat. I’ll put the oven on for an hour before I go to bed and stay warm under the covers.”
When they’re not busy caring for their children, his daughter and their friend are working part-time. But his daughter deals with medical issues of her own, as she had to be rushed to the hospital during last week’s snow storm after developing bronchitis and having an asthma attack.
Despite not feeling well, she went to work the day she was released from the hospital. She ignored her father’s pleas to stay home and rest because she didn’t want risk losing money or her job.
“She goes to work no matter what,” Mathieu said. “She tries to pull her own weight by helping me with the rent. She’s a good girl. She doesn’t buy anything for herself.”
Mathieu also recently battled with bronchitis. He had it twice in the last two months, on top of a bout of pneumonia.
“My resistance is low,” he said. “I could hardly eat.”
But Mathieu is feeling better. He is grateful for the oil, especially since his home was without heat for three days earlier this month.
“We didn’t have any oil and it was getting really cold. It was 4-below,” he said. “I don’t know how people live on the street. It’s a shame.”
Mathieu, who heard about the “Keep the Heat On” campaign via an article featured in The Rhode Island Catholic, is a former parishioner of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Providence. He used to regularly attend Mass, but no longer has transportation.
But it doesn’t stop him from communicating with God.
“I always say my prayers and talk to Him,” Mathieu said. “He helps me when I need it.”
Mathieu said the homeless, as well as the Diocese of Providence, will be in his prayers. He’s thankful for the assistance.
“I appreciate it very much,” he said.
