“I never could have imagined having my own place, it looking so beautiful, and having you and Miss Betty here in my living room.”
Kat (latest H2H recipient)
Yesterday we had just finished putting Kat’s house together in our tenth House2Home ministry project of 2020. After Kat’s family came back to see the transformation of an empty rooms into a cozy home completely furnished by Deed and Truth, she sat in her new home and she told us about her journey.
Kat shared with us that her journey of homelessness had begun with a broken heart and an addiction to cover the pain. Then she recalled the journey out of homelessness starting at the Union Rescue Mission. Kat mentioned that within two hours of her arriving at the URM she met Pastor Dan who was giving a group tour of the mission. We had a conversation that continued, as she stayed 96 days on skid row before moving into Hope Gardens.
The very first week at Hope Gardens we had another lengthy conversation as she told me all about her past history. Yesterday, Kat told us all while sitting in her living room yesterday what she wanted when she came to Hope Gardens. “I wanted to get my head on straight, get God in my life, overcome an addiction, and become a good woman and mother.”
Looking back and saying this out loud brought a shortness of breath and tears to her eyes. Then she said, “I never could have imagined back then that I’d have my own place, it looking so beautiful, and having you and Miss Betty here in my living room.”
Kat added, “You aren’t going to leave my life are you?” Betty assured her that this is just the beginning of her transition and that we, along with our friends at Deed and Truth, will walk alongside her in the journey just as we have to this point. We want her to have a life coach, a phone friend, and prayer partners. Would you like to be one of those people who create a healthy support system for Kat?
Kat was humbled to tell us she spent a significant time living homeless plus 96 days on skid row, and almost three years at Hope Gardens. She has been clean and sober for three years! Today she works full time at a counseling center for women who are going through a similar journey. She has a daughter and a grandson that she is raising. Kat is a hard-worker and devoted mother. She has experienced a life-changing transformation. She got God in her life and now Deed and Truth wants to walk alongside her as she does life OUTside the INstitution.
Will you consider being a part of Kat’s support team? Would you consider being a mentor or life coach, a phone friend who texts and calls on a weekly basis, or maybe a prayer partner who consistently lifts her name and needs up to the Lord.
A special thanks this week to Jan & Mark Stilley for donating a large portion of the furnishings that had been in their family for decades. It was really quality stuff. We could tell because it was really heavy ☺. It was so perfect for Kat.
Check out these videos and pics to see the delight and amazement in eyes that could never have imagined this incredible transformation of her home and in reality, her life.
