- ONLINE EXCLUSIVE -
Story by Alexandra Kocik
Cherish Larson and her three children, the youngest yet to be born, found a home in fall of 2008. The family moved into an eight-bedroom house with seven other mothers and their children to begin healing after a lifetime of drug abuse.
Occupants share a common living room, laundry room, four bathrooms and kitchen area. Children play on the playground equipment in the backyard protected by a tall white fence. Living with seven other mothers and their children was tough because everyone had a different parenting style, Larson says. Any annoyance with her living situation was worth it to the 25-year-old Bellingham resident after seeking help from the nonprofit organization Lydia Place gave her a chance to turn her life around.
Coming from a long family line of drug and physical abuse, Larson never thought her life would improve. Before getting help, she was living on the streets of Bellingham nursing a drug addiction. Child Protective Services took her two children away and her life wasn?t improving, she says. Missing her children encouraged Larson to seek rehabilitation in September 2008. After?? finishing the program, she moved her family into a rehabilitation home two months later, Larson says.
?I never dreamed my life could be like this,? Larsen says. ?I?m currently going to college for a degree in radiology and now have three happy, healthy children who I will be able to provide for because of the help I?ve received.?
Halfway homes are not all the same. Supportive houses are designed to help those recovering from addiction or who are homeless. There are also organizations devoted to helping those who cannot live independently due to mental illness or medical issues.
Transitional homes help those who can?t afford to pay for housing by providing resources to get them back on their feet.
In Bellingham, the need for housing often outweighs the available space. More than 600 people are on the waiting list of the Opportunity Council Homeless Housing resource center at any given time, Emily O?Connor, executive director of Lydia Place says. In winter, more people seek help to escape the inclement weather, she says.
According to a recent report, there are around 13,000 homeless in Whatcom County, says Sarah Emerson, housing referral specialist for the Opportunity Council. People are able to sign up for a housing waitlist at the downtown Opportunity Council community resource center from noon until 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. Around 40 outside volunteers at places such as Womencare, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services and the Lighthouse Mission are also trained to fill out paperwork to get people on the list, Emerson says. The waiting list is not getting any shorter because for every person helped, another one moves into the space, Emerson says.
Lydia Place is one of many resources in Bellingham for those who are at risk of becoming homeless. Their oldest program, and the one that helped Larson get back on her feet, is a six-month long rehabilitation for women and children wanting to improve their living arrangements, O?Connor says.
?This particular program is for women and children only. The majority of women who enter that program are from domestic violence relationships, so we try to work a lot with our community partners and organizations like Womencare, the domestic violence shelter,? O?Connor says.
To be part of this program, women must meet with a case manager several times a week and pay 30 percent of her wages to rent each month. Lydia Place, along with all other Whatcom County nonprofits, does not handle its own waitlist. People looking for help contact the Opportunity Council Housing Services, which is a community action agency. This large nonprofit acts as an umbrella organization for other groups devoted to helping homeless and low-income residents in Whatcom County. The council sends particular people to a Whatcom County nonprofit with space, O?Connor says.
Two important components of rehabilitation programs are counseling and job resources, O?Connor says. Lydia Place offers psychiatric help for both women and children of domestic violence and classes focusing on resume building, interview skills and career education. This is to help shelter users become independent and remain in society without returning to a shelter, O?Connor says.
Larson says these classes were the best part of rehabilitation for her whole family. The children were taught the importance of nutrition and self-esteem by helping grow a community garden. Psychiatric help was available for the children and their mothers. Parenting classes for specific needs, such as abuse survivors, were also available during the program.
?I learned how to help my children gain self-esteem. I also learned how to be a better parent, like not using negative words to teach them,? Larson says.
Larson now uses positive wording such as ?use nice hands? over telling her children to ?stop hitting.? This is used to encourage a positive outlook on life, Larson says.
Larson hopes people learn from her experience to make their own lives better.
?It?s not easy for me to tell my story but I?ve done it pretty frequently in [Alcoholics Anonymous],? Larson says. ?I?ve learned that sharing my story, even with a complete stranger, can have the power to help somebody.?
Larson now lives in a three-bedroom townhouse with her children. She will graduate with a degree in radiology from Bellingham Technical College in fall of 2012 and hopes to find work in Bellingham so her children can to grow up near their grandparents. She also serves as a contact through Lydia Place to share her experience of successfully using the halfway housing program.
Source: http://www.klipsunmagazine.com/?p=4563
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