Today is World Homeless Day. With the goal of transitioning to permanent housing, Catholic Charities of Oregon gives those living outside the resources and support they need to build lasting stability and self-sufficiency.
In honor of World Homeless Day, today we’d like to share a story of hope.
Gail was a long-time client of Catholic Charities of Oregon. She had a very difficult childhood and became homeless at a young age. She engaged in various youth services in the Portland area, but never found housing and continued to struggle and seek stability and safety. Gail continued to experience homelessness when she met our program staff at our drop-in center. She engaged in our day services and built a relationship with our program.
Gail remained homeless for some time after we met her and then with the support of our team, she was able to get into subsidized housing. In the best of stories that would have been the happy ending that we always hope to see.
Unfortunately, Gail continued to struggle. As a result of her childhood trauma, Gail continued to turn to drugs and alcohol to cope. She became involved in the legal system and because of that involvement, Gail went into Alcohol and Drug treatment. She worked very hard on achieving her sobriety and began to move away from her old way of coping and use her new support system to achieve the goals she set.
Gail graduated treatment and had a strong desire to give back to the recovery community that helped her reclaim her life. She entered college and studied to become a Drug and Alcohol Counselor. Gail graduated college! After graduation, she was hired as a peer recovery mentor for a program that serves women who are involved in the justice system and are in early recovery.
Gail continued to strive for more. She went on to test for and to receive her Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor (CADC) certification. Throughout her journey Gail has stayed connected with the Housing Transitions staff at Catholic Charities because we believed that she could overcome the obstacles she was facing.
Here in the Housing Transitions Program, we strive to remain hopeful for our clients no matter what barriers they are facing. We believe in the resilience of spirit and that no matter where people find themselves today, they have a future.
Gail was the author of her happy ending, but it was our honor to bear witness to her journey and to be a small part of her story.
For more information on our Homeless Services: https://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/services/homeless-services/
#WolrdHomelessDay2021 #homelessness #love #help