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RESIDENT HIGHLIGHT - Bonnie, 22
When Bonnie found Perpetual Help Home, she was beyond homeless and penniless. "I was everything-less," she said.
She was two days off of drugs. She was tired. And she was walking across town one night to find a way to get through another night and another day.
"I had nowhere to go," she said. "I had a breakdown on the side of the road. I kept walking, and I looked to the side and saw a friend's house."
Fortunately for Bonnie, it was a friend who could give her some direction. "I know that God was answering my prayers," Bonnie said. "The next day, he told me about this place. I called and filled out an application."
That was in March. After coming to Perpetual Help Home she started working and remained a month and a half, then felt she was ready to move. She left to share a house with people she trusted. They were a supportive, Christian group, she said, and she stayed clean. But old problems caught up with her and she was arrested on warrants for past misdemeanor offenses. She missed work for too many days and lost a job that she enjoyed.
"I got depressed. I felt like all my blessings were being stolen out there," she said.
Bonnie again called on Perpetual Help Home and asked if she could return. "I wanted the structure and the rules, because I don't know how to live on life's terms," she said.
Only God
Bonnie admits that when she first came to Perpetual Help Home, she had no respect for herself or others. With some spiritual guidance, she found what she needed in God. "I knew God before. I had a foundation (in Christianity), but I turned away from that. I was just so much in the dark. Now I know God is the only thing that can fill the void."
Today
Bonnie has a full-time job and has plans for a healthy future. "I want to save some money and go to school," she said. "I never went to college."
And, although she dreams of having a family one day, she wants to be sure that she is a whole person first. "I don't want to feel like I have to have a man to make it; to be OK. I want to be independent."
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