Interview with Matilda Amaral Amaral, Matilda Maria interviewee King, Danyelle interviewer mixed material 2008-03-19 Amaral, Matilda Maria Matilda Maria Amaral A member of the same parish for 33 years, Matilda Amaral’s life has been marked by her respect for the Church and concern for others. Her connections to Fox Point reflect these interests expanding her reach in the community through her food pantry and work with the needy. Of this she says, "I always had a soft spot in my heart for the less needy and coming here to this parish I’d always see the homeless… and I always felt bad so I decided to do something about it…our [Holy Rosary Food Pantry] mission is to help the needy, regardless of race, ethnicity, no matter who they are we help anyone that comes to our door and its to help them toward self sufficiency." Matilda’s experiences in Rhode Island draw connections between these two aspects of her life. After moving to East Providence as a young adult, she says she still maintained contact with the Portuguese population and the church. Her involvement with Holy Rosary Church emerged following her arrival in the Fox Point neighborhood and served as a connection to the larger lusophone community. "The neighborhood. It was mostly Portuguese in that street and they were very welcoming, the people, actually, when we came." She immigrated here in 1973 and of her expectations in coming to America she says, "I was 11 ½ and all I could think was like paradise, and you could have chocolate for breakfast and lunch." She describes the church and the broader Portuguese community as being definitive of the Fox Point neighborhood. The Fox Point Project 48 http://dl.lib.brown.edu/foxpoint oral histories (literary works)