"What we would like to do is change the world...by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world."
- Dorothy Day
Sarah-Jane Bend was born in Alberta, Canada, and spent her early childhood in Chicago while her father attended seminary. Growing up with four brothers, she longed for a sister—and her prayer was answered twice when her family welcomed two younger daughters. After moving to Colorado for her father’s pastoral work, her family’s life changed forever when he contracted West Nile virus, resulting in a permanent brain injury. Though Sarah-Jane has few memories of her father before the illness, she carries a profound witness from those years: her mother’s unwavering faithfulness and sacrificial love. Watching her mother serve, accompany, and remain devoted to her husband in suffering became one of her earliest and clearest images of real love and the true gift of self.
School also brought challenges. Years of phonics instruction seemed useless, especially as her younger brother learned to read before she could. Only later did they discover she was an auditory learner—unlocking her ability to succeed. A painful preteen and teenage season followed when her family returned to Canada, yet these experiences deepened her compassion for “the least of these.” Inspired by Mother Teresa, Sarah-Jane felt a growing call toward a life of service, as well as a call from God to enter the Catholic Church (Purchase Sarah-Jane's book about her journey to Catholicism below). She joined the Church and continued forward despite personal health struggles and heartbreaks.
In the fall of 2019, Sarah-Jane traveled to Kolkata, India to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. The experience profoundly shaped her heart. There she first learned about attachment, and shortly afterward she became involved in caregiving for a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder. She fell in love with this work and desired to become a Missionary of Charity herself. When her health prevented that path, she faced another deep heartbreak.
During that season of discernment, her spiritual director encouraged her to pray a novena to St. Joseph, asking for clarity about her vocation. On the Feast of St. Joseph, Sarah-Jane received no clear answer—but her father did. At Mass, he encountered an image of St. Joseph protecting Mary and Jesus on their flight into Egypt—displaced, vulnerable, and afraid. Her father felt strongly that St. Joseph was calling their family to create a place of safety and rest, and that they should name their home St. Joseph’s House of Repose. It would be a place that supported Sarah-Jane in her work with the least of these by offering therapeutic respite, affordable living, and rich spiritual support through prayer. Her father—despite his brain injury—had long helped Sarah-Jane when she needed extra support managing dysregulated children and keeping others safe, making this new mission a natural extension of his own quiet service.
As a caregiver to a child with RAD, Sarah-Jane gave 40% of her time and heart, searching relentlessly for tools to help the child heal and bond with their foster family. Her search led her to Camp Attach, where she discovered approaches that brought real improvement. This transformation confirmed her calling to help families navigating trauma.
Working with vulnerable children is profoundly challenging and often misunderstood. Sarah-Jane herself experienced hurt and abuse from a child while caregiving. Even through that trauma, she stayed committed to Camp Attach, determined to help break cycles of fear, dysregulation, and rejection. Through suffering, she came to more deeply understand the “hell” many of these children have lived through—and the depth of compassion they require.
Supported by family, community, prayer, and the steady intercession of St. Joseph, Sarah-Jane continues this work with greater wisdom, grounding, and tenderness. She remains an active volunteer with Camp Attach and is completing her Trauma-Informed Coaching Certification through Moving the Human Spirit. She is now accepting clients—rooted in confidence in God’s goodness and dedicated to helping children and families find healing, connection, and rest.
“Every analysis must necessarily start from the premise that—although each person lives in a particular concrete social and historical context—every human being is endowed with a dignity that must never be lessened, impaired or destroyed but must instead be respected and safeguarded, if peace is really to be built up.”
St. Pope John Paul II The Great