Real Life at the Shelter May 21-27 2012

Weekly highlights

Monday May 21:  One of our volunteers led the Monday night small group and did fantastic!  The focus was on the character of God.              

Tuesday May 22:  One of our singles did not like the small group tonight and became very disruptive.  When I talked to her about in on Wednesday she blamed staff and other guest’s for her angry outburst.  She has been pushing the limits with her tantrums already so she was asked to leave.       

Wednesday May 23:  A mom that moved out last week returned and spent the night in Phase II.  This mom is heavily CPS involved for lots of reasons.  The children showed obvious signs of neglect so CPS was called and they asked us to check her into the shelter in the morning so that they could find this mom who has a history of running.    

Thursday May 24:  A woman from a local church who had brought the mom involved with CPS came to pick up the mom because she wanted her help.  CPS asked us to do what we could to keep her around and that they would be there soon.  We told the mom that we had orientation at 9:00 and that we would like her to stay for that.  I talked to the woman about the situation and that the police and CPS were coming to talk with the mom.  This woman did not care, she wanted the help.  I tried to explain the situation and that we try to work with the authorities as much as possible.  She stated that she did not have to since she did not know anything about the CPS situation.  I let her know that she did know because I had just told her.  She eventually left and tried to scare the mom on her way out.  CPS visited with the mom but they did not have enough information to have the court order.  The police ensured that the mom understood the consequences if she ran during the investigation.  The mom is also dating the husband of one of our former guests so there is a bit of tension around that issue.          

Friday May 25:   Several of our most beloved guests left.  We also had an issue in overflow where a woman was traipsing naked through overflow.  This scared some of our other overflow guests who decided it was time to go.  This naked guest has had many other issues so she has now made the overflow list.

Weekend:  The mom from the Thursday report is using adult suppositories to help her child out.  CPS was informed of this as well.  Tension in room 5 with a guest that came in on Friday from an abusive relationship.  We tried conversation but this woman is hurting everyone else in the room. She was offered same day accountability but chose to leave instead.

General comments:   We are experiencing the lowest numbers we have seen in quite awhile.  Also the staff office is looking more and more professional every day.  Stop on by and check it out!  We established a target of returning all calls and emails within 12 hours at the Crisis Shelter.  We may not always hit this target but we are aiming high!  Also Jackie has taken a position at our new facility in Idaho.  Anna (Part time staff) will be taking on those hours starting June 17,2012 while we look for a new staff member.

    

Current Crisis Shelter Purpose Statement:

 The Crisis Shelter for Women and Children exists to increase the impact of our ministries of rescue, recovery and restoration by partnering with staff, volunteers and donors.  We will do this by meeting basic needs in a safe, clean, temporary shelter, with instruction and guidance for life transformation in a healing environment.