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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Hero Quest Chapter 2 part 6

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“Anton! What is going on here?”  Mike greeted him as he cracked open the drink.
“You were in jail and I didn’t think you would mind if my wife and kids stayed here for a couple of days. When did you get out?” 
“About twenty minutes ago. The jails are so crowded they just told me to make sure that I make it to the trial in two months.”  Mike snorted derisively.  “What are you doing here, Anton?  I thought your old lady needed to stay in a more stable setting so that you could keep your kids?” 
Anton groaned. “She got kicked out, man, but I don’t think the social worker can find us here.” 
“Kicked out?  For what?” 
“Nothing.  The guy running the place is a jerk.  He was having some sort of power trip. Somebody needs to put that guy in his place.  What kind of a man runs a women’s shelter anyway?”  The two laughed for a minute. 
“He hit me.”  Suddenly the two became aware of the others in the room.  The lump sat up and they both looked at Sarah.  “I told the police and we had three witnesses; but the police still believed him.  See, I’ve got marks.  Stupid cops.” 
Anton became enraged.  “He hit you, baby?”
“Yeah, see the marks on my arms, Anton?  The cops wouldn’t do nothing about it.”  She kind of liked it when he was jealous for her.  At least there was some emotion she could get out of him.  Besides, she really did want to get revenge on that pastor guy running the Shelter.  He had it coming.
Over the next several hours the old friends drank beer, talked and laughed.  Mike ordered a pizza.  Several people seemed to come and go.  Drinks flowed freely.  A short, solidly built man entered the room and gave Mike a small wad of bills and whispered in his ear.  Mike looked through the wad and motioned to a bedroom down the hall. 
Pocketing the wad and taking another swig, Mike got a quizzical look on his face.  “Business seems to be picking up.”  A hush came through the house, as the occupants sensed something important coming.  “I have five hundred dollars for anyone that will take out that fake Christian who would throw women and children out on the streets.”  The pile of trash in the hallway began to shuffle.  The clicking of cell phones sending text messages filled the room as they all sent the word out. 
“Thanks Mike.  I owe you one.”  Sarah said with a slur.
 “How about one right now?”  Mike pointed with his head to what had once been a master bedroom.  Sarah looked at her husband who was too drunk to care.  Thoughts came to her slowly as she realized what he wanted. Mike seemed to be better at making money than Anton.  He might even make a better dad for her kids.  Sarah’s last wisp of a thought was to once again wonder where her kids were as the two disappeared down the hallway to the bedroom and shut the door.
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The rest of the work day went by fairly quietly by Shelter standards.  People checked in, people checked out, and many just stopped by to chat.  Darlene and John rode the wave of emotions as they shared the lives of the ladies who had awakened to the fact that they were at a shelter. 
The time passed quickly and Maggie came in to work the afternoon shift. John and Maggie were working in the office when the lights seemed to dim.  They looked up to see a large man filling the doorframe.  “I’m looking for my daughter.” 

Monday, May 28, 2012

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 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: