Happy Endings

We often talk about our members, how far they have come and their successes. Usually we give the abbreviated version. Truthfully, sometimes I worry about sharing the "whole story" because I don't want it to reflect badly on the PARC or our members. I wonder though if it might be good to hear the whole story; to see the amazing things that happen here at the PARC and how very important what we do truly is. You know how at the beginning of a movie they put up the captions that let you know that there will be violence, bad language and flashing lights. I feel that I should give a warning before this story. Read knowing these things in advance.

Teri is one of those stories. Teri was coming to the PARC perhaps 3 years ago, maybe 4. In that time we did our best to love her. I will be honest that she was a hard one. Teri was very angry and any little thing seemed to set her off. Sometimes she would make it a few hours and other times she would need to leave right away. In those times she would yell and sometimes throw things. One time we let her call her dad. She began yelling and cursing so loudly that we had to make her get off the phone. That wasn't fun. It got to the point that we could not even let her use the phone any longer.

There would be times she would hurl accusations at us that she was homeless and we were supposed to help. She would yell and call names and on and on. You get the picture. There was one day that she got so mad at us that as she was leaving she began tearing pages out of a bible and throwing them all over our parking lot. I am telling you these things because I want you to understand her a little. The last day that I remember Teri was when we had her leave and she stood outside our windows. She then took the food that we had given her and began smearing it all over our windows. She began to throw herself against our windows, screaming and yelling the whole time. She was just completely out of control. After a while she became tired and wandered off. It was not long after that that Teri got arrested and went to prison. 

The other day, two years later, when I walked into the room she greeted me with a huge smile on her face and gave me a fierce hug. Teri then exclaimed, "I'm out and look! I brought friends!" I was truly happy to see her and asked her how long she had been out of prison. "I got out yesterday." So often the PARC is the first place that they come when they get out of jail or prison. They know that this is the place where they were loved and accepted. This is the place where they never run out of chances. The place where they were believed in. This is the place to start over, get a fresh start and hopefully do things right this time.

When our members get released from jail or prison they are basically just dropped off. There is no place for them to go and they are homeless all over again. Many of them can't get into the shelters because they are banned because of past behavior, so they are outside and trying hard to not repeat what sent them to prison in the first place. It is not easy to be successful. 

Teri has been sleeping in a tent and she is working hard. She comes by the PARC most days and has made all the necessary phone calls and jumped through the necessary hoops. We heard her wrestle with Social Security to find that she had to go to the office, which is a very long bus ride. Some days she would miss her bus and have to wait until the next day to start all over again. There have been the calls to find housing, get her medicine and on and on. Sometimes we see that temper flare up again, but with a quiet reminder, she quickly brings it under control. 

Teri's story still isn't over. We are still rooting for her and have high hopes for her moving forward in the way that she longs for and her heart desires. She mentioned to me the other day that it is hard to find housing when you have felonies on your record, but her attitude was still positive. We are SO PROUD of her. She is delightful and tenacious. THIS is the true Terri. The beauty of the PARC is that we get to take the journey with them. At the PARC we still believe in happy endings.