December 2012 Newsletter

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A Home For Christmas

Nadeana, her partner and their children were living in a tent by the South Umpqua River. They had been with some so-called friends in an apartment until they were evicted with a 24-hour notice to leave. Her roommates’ uncontrollable behavior caused her to become homeless. For two months, the whole family camped out. Some people helped by leaving them food, but others harassed them with name calling and racial slurs. One day they returned to camp to find it totally destroyed. Their tent, clothing and food were all torn up, thrown around and urinated on. They were devastated. They left the area, bought a $200 trailer and continued to camp. He became increasingly despondent, at first unable then unwilling to work. A month later, the Department of Human Services (DHS) arrived and took her children for not providing a proper, sanitary living condition. The trailer was impounded for being on public property in a location where permits were not allowed. At that point the children’s father left them; he had a no contact order for failing to properly provide for the family. Alone, Nadeana continued to camp in a tent for another month.

It was fear that ruled the day, fear of losing her children if she had reported the activity that happened in her apartment, fear of DHS when they lived in a tent, fear of going to an unknown homeless shelter. She needed help and would have been much better off going directly to social services first. Her sister, living in another state, located the Mission’s website online. A friend drove her to our Samaritan Inn.

“We were living in a tent by the river”

Abandoned, desolate, vagrant, Nadeana arrived with just one small backpack. At 28-years-old, her only occupation had been that of being a mother. She said, “I had to pull myself together. I was an emotional wreck when I came here, depressed. My father had recently died, my children’s father left, kids taken, never had to live away from family, never in trouble with the law before.” She had a lot of healing to do before she could return to her former state of motherhood. She needed to have much more than a codependent relationship with her children; she needed a healthy, nurturing one. It took a full year of living at Samaritan Inn, taking required DHS classes and regular visits before she was re-united with her children.

Here at Samaritan Inn, Nadeana received physical, emotional and spiritual nourishment. She received counseling, Biblical teaching, prayer and referrals to other social services. Our staff supported her with letters, evaluations and joint meetings at DHS. She went to our chapel, devotions and a church in the community. She had been raised going to church, but now she was convicted of the need for the Lord to do a mighty, ongoing work in her life. Nadeana said that, “While at Samaritan Inn, I accepted Jesus into my heart.” Samaritan Inn was the approved, appropriate living environment to bring her children home to for their reunion. Now they have a home, that they will be moving into by Christmas. And a Merry Christmas to all!