During The Lamb Center’s Oct. 10 banquet, four guests shared their personal stories. Each had obstacles to overcome, and this daytime shelter helped them do just that. To protect their identities, The Connection isn’t revealing their last names.
- Corey said he dealt with his anger issues by hitting punching bags at a gym and then using some $1,500 a month of marijuana. “This put me into a downward spiral, and I ended up in conflict with law enforcement, on the regular,” he said. “I kept losing a piece of myself every day.”
He was living in his truck; but when he lost it to pay his legal bills, he ended up living in a storage locker – requiring him to climb an 8-foot wall each night to get inside. From there, he went to hypothermia shelters and, finally, to The Lamb Center.
“I have them to thank for me accepting help with my anger and getting onto a better path,” said Corey. He said the center transformed him from someone who went to jail monthly to a person who no longer uses drugs and lives in an apartment.
Calling the center’s Jobs for Life program “eye-opening,” he said it helped him obtain the skills he needed for interviewing, conflict resolution and applying for jobs. He said the things he’d done in the past didn’t stop people at The Lamb Center from caring about him and trying to help. “I continue to go [there] and they still feed me and give me valuable advice,” said Corey. “I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done for me.”
- Grace lost her home three years ago after becoming a victim of domestic violence. A single mother, she comes to The Lamb Center for showers and food. “The volunteers are my friends,” she said. “I come in with a broken spirit and leave renewed. They pray with me and support me emotionally when I’m in despair and going through the darkest time. I feel like I’m family.”
“They give me encouragement and lift me up when I’m down,” continued Grace. “I feel safe here. When I come early in the morning to get ready for work, it blesses me. The Lamb Center helps me face the challenges that lie ahead, and I will be forever grateful.”
- Chris was incarcerated for six months in 2014 and was directed to The Lamb Center to get something to eat, take a shower, clean his clothes and get help finding a job. “I had not been homeless before and I was scared,” he said. “I arrived at The Lamb Center to find smiling faces, friendly staff and volunteers, and the assistance I needed.”
Without the services there – including a button-down shirt, tie, shoes and socks – Chris said he wouldn’t have been able to prepare himself for job interviews. “The Lamb Center has been a blessing for me, giving me a place to speak with a case manager, get eyeglasses and help get an ID card,” he explained. “I’ve been able to find work and hold a job and recently got a second job.
“I appreciate all that the staff and volunteers have done for me, as I continue my path to getting my life back on track,” said Chris. “The Lamb Center also opened my eyes to religion, and I’ve accepted God into my life.”
- Piety, a mother of two, initially came to The Lamb Center for lunch and left with basic living supplies and bus tokens. She’d lost all her belongings, and the center helped her get her identification and gave her a place to wash her laundry and obtain toiletries, as well as clothing for her baby.
Having transportation to work was a huge help to her. “When you have a little income coming in, you can sleep in a motel or buy your own products,” said Piety. “It makes you independent and a part of society. The Lamb Center made me feel safe and I’m now a family member. I’m blessed today that God guided me there. If God is in my heart, I am home.”