Deborah
As long as I have my family, I’ll be all right,” Deborah* says. She had shared a rented house with her children and grandchildren until one of the owners returned and needed a place to stay. Deborah and her family — eight in all — were evicted. Her primary concern was they all be together and not where they would go to sleep or where they would store their belongings.
Deborah’s mother-in-law took care of storing their belongings, and Montana Rescue Mission welcomed Deborah and her family as guests.
“I’m so thankful for this place,” Deborah tells us. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, but my mother-in-law told me about the Mission. It’s a roof over our heads, we get three meals a day, and we’re all together.”
Deborah’s daughters are taking parenting classes and her son is volunteering in the kitchen. Her pride in her children spills over as she speaks of them. “I get a lot of good feedback about how good my son is, how respectful he is. I got all my kids through high school, and they all have some college. It’s always been all about my family. I put my family before myself.”
Asked about the hardest part of being homeless, Deborah says, “I couldn’t give my family what I could before. I want them to have spending money, to have nice stuff.”
Now, two of Deborah’s children have jobs, and Deborah recently started working for the Bureau of Land Management as a crew boss. “Forestry is my life. I’ve done it for ten years. Now I can help with my family again.”
Now that she is working, Deborah is focused on finding housing. “Every day we’re going out to find a place, but it’s hard,” she admits. “But we’re going to do this on our own again. We’ll start from scratch.”
In the meantime, Deborah says, “I love everybody here. They’re really helpful. I thank God every day when I wake up that this place is here, and I pray for my family. God is looking out for us.”
YOU are also looking out for Deborah’s family and for all those in our community who are going through hard times. Thank YOU for helping families in need at Montana Rescue Mission, especially during the Christmas season.