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Perpetual Help Home is a permanent supported housing program helping women and their children in hardship circumstances. Their situations vary: recent release from prison or jail, serious substance abuse problems, homelessness, or domestic violence.
We have helped these women get on their feet through job training, network building, and a focus on financial stability. The program is structured in increments to slowly transition residents from dependence on the home though they are still living here.
We are a registered Christian Women's Job Corps site, and we provide job and life skills training through this program. We also provide volunteers who guide our women through this process. Residents must attempt several milestones -- from purchasing their own vehicle to saving toward a down payment to buy a home, or saving enough money to prevent future homelessness.
We are a Christian ministry, and we believe involvement with a local church is a vital part of providing support to women who are trying to move out of a difficult situation. This prevents the isolation from society so many of these women experience and provides accountability to both the women in the program and the community to support them.
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RESIDENT HIGHLIGHT - Bonnie, 22
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
Today 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." |
When Bonnie found Perpetual Help Home, she was beyond homeless and penniless. "I was everything-less," she said.