Cate Fierro: A Voice of Inspiration

From the food shelf lines to leading fundraisers, Cate Fierro sings success.

By: Andy Greder | From the issue: March 2011

Photo: Marshall Franklin Long

Cate Fierro with daughters Ellie, 6, Maria, 8, and Tea, 5.

The refrigerator was barren. The living room only had a leftover couch. They kids slept on donated beds.

That was home for Cate Fierro and her three daughters after a divorce and bankruptcy forced them from their four-bedroom home on five acres in Big Lake and into the Maple Grove townhouse they were squatting in. “I was hopeless, depressed,” Fierro says. “I was very scared, but miracles kept happening.”

Since the difficult times began in 2006, Fierro set out to make it as a singer in the Twin Cities music scene. She did it. This year, she played more than 150 shows around the metro area, and she had a song on a Christmas CD sold in Target stores over the holidays.

“Seeing that she is a single woman with three kids and knowing where she has come from and where she is going is a testament to how strong she is,” says Mick Sterling, the front man of The Irresistibles, one of the many bands in which Fierro sings.

Taking a Helping Hand

Fierro, 40, owned a hair salon in Brooklyn Park, but sold the business to stay home and raise her three daughters under the age of 8. Her husband worked to support the family, but other financial hardships—which Fierro keeps private—played a part in ending their 14-year marriage.

The divorce left Fierro jobless when she sold her business and she and her daughters homeless, but Fierro’s pride kept her from accepting charity.

Fellow members with the religious group New Life Community in Maple Grove heard about the difficult times Fierro and her daughters were enduring. They chipped in help. Cathy and Ray Ahlgren gave the girls a low-rent place to stay in the townhouse they had up for sale. Lynette Rohde encouraged her to fill that empty refrigerator with the help of CROSS (Christians Reaching Out in Social Service) Food Shelf in Rogers.

Finally putting her pride aside, Fierro learned that it’s OK to accept help. They stayed in the townhouse for about eight months and had plenty to eat. “It doesn’t matter how people end up, how they got there,” Fierro says. “If the bottom falls out, if people need help, they need help.”

Fierro described her depths as “depressing,” but CROSS coordinator Char Lake says Fierro showed “inspiring faith.” “Her attitude is that she is going to make it,” Lake says. “I don’t think ‘self pity’ is in her vocabulary.”

With Lake’s voucher and assistance, Fierro and her three daughters—Maria, Ellie and Téa—were able to get approved for housing despite the financing limitations of Fierro’s bankruptcy. “They are really respectful of you,” Fierro says of the staff at CROSS. “No one is looking down on you. That’s important because you have this sense of hopelessness, and people are scared.”

To fend off trepidation, Fierro says CROSS gives “with a smile, tenderness. They have complete compassion.”