“People are like stained glass windows…”
Fall: 2008
Shortly after coming to Partners in Housing, I quickly found that our stereotypical image of chronic homelessness – a single adult male sleeping under a bridge – was way out of line with the growing reality of homeless families with children in our country. These families are usually not “chronically” homeless – more often than not, they and their children became homeless as a result of a catastrophic event, often involving domestic violence, or perhaps loss of income due to the economy or serious illness, or some other series of circumstances beyond their control. One cold winter night in early 2006, a young mom named Karen (named changed to protect her identity) and her two young children found themselves literally running for their lives from what had become an increasingly violent domestic abuse situation.
In fear and despair, and with not much more than the clothes on their backs, they had no money and nowhere to go. For fear of being found by their abuser, she could not return to her job, and she couldn’t let the kids go back to their school.
Facing a bleak, uncertain future, Karen was told about Partners in Housing. We call our families “Partners” rather than “clients” because we work with them, not for them as they strive to put their family’s lives back together. That’s precisely what Karen and her children needed at that moment.
Karen’s story is based upon the real life experience of one of our Graduate Partner families. She and her children are one of well over 500 homeless families helped by Partners in Housing since its inception in 1991, and we currently have the capacity to help 70 families at any time. Most of our families are headed by a single mom, and about half are escaping violent or abusive relationships. About 70% successfully complete the two-year Partners in Housing program and go on to become productive, contributing members of our community.
As for Karen, she took full advantage of the opportunities afforded by Partners in Housing and went on to complete a degree and begin a successful career in medical sales.
In fact, in June I was fortunate enough to be present when Karen closed on the purchase of her first home. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room. Think about it – through her hard work and some help from PIH, she and her kids went from homelessness and utter destitution to homeownership and a happy, healthy life in less than 2 years.
I have a favorite quote from Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross that makes me think about our Partner families: “People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine in the light of day, but when the darkness of night falls, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within…” Karen and other hardworking, deserving Partners like her have shown that spectacular things can be accomplished by people sometimes prematurely judged by our society to be less than brilliant.
In overcoming incredible obstacles, our Partners have found their “light from within” and have become shining examples to all of us.
