From The President

...A Haven for Homeless Women and Children

HAVEN NEWS

One Woman at a Time

This feature highlights the stories of people who are improving their lives with help from The Haven. Names may have been changed to protect client anonymity.

RUBY: At age 41, she had lost 21 years to drug addiction, had been arrested more than six times and ended up in jail numerous times. She had a loving and supportive mother, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the addiction. She had lost everything and had nowhere to go.

“The last time I was arrested, I didn’t even run. I saw my life flash before my eyes. I knew the drugs were killing me,” Ruby said. And so she accepted treatment and successfully completed a 12-step program at an in-patient treatment center in the Chicago area.

Newly sober, Ruby wasn’t at all sure what was on the other side of treatment. She had no home to go back to. “If I couldn’t get into anywhere [like The Haven], I would have to go back to my old neighborhood, and I knew I couldn’t go back. I had to have a new start,” she said.

She applied for a spot at The Haven, but wasn’t sure if she would be accepted. She prayed for the opportunity, and her prayer was answered. “It was a blessing to be accepted into The Haven,” Ruby said. “It was just so good to have a safe place to stay.”

Ruby’s new home came with responsibilities. “I had to live by the rules. We all had to learn to budget our money and look for jobs right away,” she said. Like all Haven clients, Ruby was expected to apply for ten jobs a day until she found work and could start to help pay rent and begin saving money.

Ruby did not graduate from high school, but had worked lots of different jobs including restaurant and factory work. She had the right attitude, and with her persistence and guidance from her case manager, she found a dishwashing job at an area restaurant, and worked her way up to line service. She was promoted to supervisor last summer.

“I remember the day they gave me the keys and a code for the safe, and that just felt wonderful. Wonderful,” Ruby said. These days, Ruby has earned the right to other keys. She shares an apartment with a friend, pays her own rent, and has been saving money for a rainy day. She’s working on her GED, and after she accomplishes that, she’ll be working on getting a driver’s license.

Ruby believes her experience at The Haven played a crucial role in helping her get on track. “The Haven got me on track to learn how to manage money and take responsibility for myself. The things I learned from [my case manager] help me right up to this day.”

“I can go to the bank and take out money and pay my rent. I am proud and happy to get up early and go to school, go to my job. That’s a big change in my life,” she said. “Now that I know how to budget, I can even buy myself something small if I want. It’s the little things that mean the most.”

“My mother was the one who was always there for me, and I know she’s proud of me. And I’m really proud of myself,” she said.

Back to the Newsletter