May 2015 Newsletter

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A Safe Place To Be

Lisa was knocked about a room by an overpowering aggressor. She is a victim of domestic violence and suffered a traumatic injury to her neck. Surgery was done, removing bone from her hip to repair her neck. Pain pills were prescribed with this warning, “Misuse of narcotic medication can cause addiction, overdose or death.” The caution includes withdrawal symptoms, impaired thinking or reaction, avoid driving and drowsiness can cause falls or other accidents. The rippling effect of domestic violence had invaded every aspect of her life: health, relationships including her daughter, employment. It caused depression and sleeplessness. When the prescription refills ran out, Lisa said the withdrawals were unbearable. She turned to illegal drugs for relief, but she was only addressing the symptoms, not the actual cause. It only made life worse, with a new more powerful addiction. And the drug supply seemed unending. She said, “You don’t have to look for them; they (the dealers) come looking for you.” Trouble and even more violence followed. She was in a downward spiral.

When all else failed and Lisa needed a safe place to be for herself and her ten-year-old daughter Skylee, she called the Mission’s Samaritan Inn. But we were full, with 50 other women and children in similar circumstances. A housing agency paid for two nights in an inexpensive motel. When she called us back, there was an opening, but it was for emergency use on couches in our living room. Not everyone has been so fortunate to only wait two nights to get in. Before too long, they were in real beds here. Lisa said, “This is the place to be, to be around people that care about you and help you get on your feet. Linda (Samaritan Inn manager) gave me more resources than I ever received before. The love that is in this house is amazing.”

Lisa is a Christian that has struggled in her walk with the Lord. She said, “I see how much Linda loves the Lord and I want that. I thought I had to have a man in my life, and I don’t feel that way anymore. I have always felt a hole in my heart, an emptiness. No man could fill it, no drug, only the Lord can fill that emptiness. The Lord is so present in the house (at Samaritan Inn) that when I am gone, I miss it. It feels so good to be home.”

While Lisa and her daughter were waiting those two nights for an opening at Samaritan Inn, the motel manager offered her a job there. Then a convenience store, that she walked into, asked if she wanted to work there. Suddenly, she had two part-time jobs and never applied for either one. Now while she is at work and sees struggling mothers trying to care for themselves and their children at the motel, she encourages them to go to Samaritan Inn. Lisa says, “It’s the place to be.”