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Sojourner Truth Ministries’ latest efforts help women get back on their feet

Following God’s lead

This year, Sojourner Truth Ministries celebrated 20 years of helping members of the community in need, not only by providing meals, but also by opening the "House of Hope" for homeless women to have a safe place to live and the chance for a better future.

"We are a transitional living facility," said Pam Temons, director of the house. "We want women to come in and learn the skills that they need to develop the confidence that they need and to experience healing so that when they're done with the program, they're ready for autonomy independence and not going to fall back into homelessness."

The women have arrived at a state of homelessness for various reasons, Temons said. Some through the choices they have made and some from life experiences they have had.

"Virtually all of them have experienced some level of trauma and carry the scars of that," Temons said.

"Until you really heal, it's hard to be well-adjusted and take care of the things that need to be taken care of because you're constantly dealing with this trauma -- it's just constantly kind of there," she added.

The faith-based program offered at Sojourner helps in that healing process. So far, three women have entered the program which is designed to last from six to nine months, although that is flexible depending on each woman's situation.

"Like any curriculum, there are goals and objectives, but if somebody has already come in meeting those goals and objectives, they don't have to do anything more with it," Temons said.

One of the challenges the program has encountered is just getting women who are homeless to participate. Temons attributes this to the fear of the unknown.

"Everybody's excited when they hear about it (the program). We talk about love. We talk about healing. We talk about God's grace and how this home is filled with it and everybody's excited about it," she said.

"But, in the last analysis, it's really unknown," Temons said. "Like, are they really going to do those things? Are they really going to help me solve my problems, figure things out? Because most of these women have never experienced that, ever. And so believing that somebody will actually do those things is really hard."

For Joann Spencer, one of the residents at the House of Hope, the program there was an answer to prayer.

"I was already in a shelter, and it didn't agree with the hours that I work," Spencer said. "So, I started looking around, and the number just popped up. And that was after a prayer.

"This whole thing I've been through has been prayers answered."

When she called the number for Sojourner, Temons answered, and Spencer told her about her dilemma. It was a hot day, and the shelter where she was staying closes during the day, so Temons told her to come in and they would talk about the House of Hope program, which had that time was not officially open. Spencer came in, got on a waiting list, and, after about two weeks, she moved into the house.

"I loved the atmosphere when I walked in -- it was very positive and very light," Spencer said, explaining that some places make you feel uncomfortable, but she didn't sense that at Sojourner.

Spencer attributed the volunteers in the program for making it special for the residents.

"I've never met a group of women, there's about eight of them, and in all, there's not that one. They are all absolutely wonderful people. And that's very rare," she said.

"Every last one of these women are willing to help you in any way. I know being here was the right decision," she added.

Spencer sees being at the house as a win-win situation.

"If you are coming off the street and you're trying to change your life, this is the place to be. You're going to get somewhere. You have support just in your face all the time. They have resources and if they don't have them, they will get them to help clients. So, they pretty much cover everything," she said.

"Everyone is kind -- they don't judge. I can honestly say they don't judge. You know we all do things sometimes or make bad decisions, and they're right there as if they were with you when you made those wrong moves, so there's not 'judgmentalness' or cattiness," she said. "I've just never seen an organization like this before."

Pastor Brian Moyer, vice-president of Sojourner's board of directors, spoke about the issue of homelessness and how Sojourners' House of Hope addresses it.

"When you're having fun and you're on vacation, you're traveling and seeing things, towards the end of that vacation, what's running through your mind? 'I can't wait to get home,'" he said.

"For many people in this world, so many people in this community, don't have the privilege to say, 'I can't wait to get home.' When you don't have that home, you lose that sense of security. You lose that sense of protection. You lose a sense of warmth and you almost lose that sense of belonging," he continued.

"For people in our community who experience homelessness, they don't have the privilege of saying, 'If I have a horrible day, I can't wait til I get home.' They have nothing. It's organizations like these that give those people a place to belong. In the Christian world, in a Christian tradition, we all belong as a part of one large family," he added.

In terms of statistics, through the past year, Sojourner Truth Ministries has served close to 20,000 meals, creatively adjusting to life in a pandemic.

"So ways that we have adapted, they have been serving all takeout for a significant season and then when the mandates changed, the we started to serve and welcome people to come back inside," the Rev. Angelique Labadie, executive director of Sojourner, said.

The most critical thing right now, she noted, is that Sojourner is trying to "stay ahead with stocking up on things so that we're prepared to do a couple hundred takeout meals if we need to in a couple of days."

"So we've just learned how quickly we go through certain things and trying to stay ahead of that. Whereas a couple of years ago, we were just trying to make the day, and now we're trying to stay ahead of that," she said.

Other ways they have adapted included working with other agencies because many of the population they serve are also served by other groups in the community.

"I would say other area agencies and people from the community have been an enormous support system for us in that if the Rescue Workers has an abundance of something then they call us and offer to share. Just knowing there's that support and that we're not a silo and we're not intended to be a silo has been a huge comfort," Labadie said.

The timeliness of God has played an important part of the ministry.

"He's an on-time God. I'm a very time-centered person and just watching Him do His thing and trying to not be in the way of that and obedient to what He's offering to us -- it's amazing," Labadie said.

"You know the ups and downs of this year give a person whiplash. You know there's a catastrophe or there's something that's very challenging and then something follows it up with just, above and beyond, what we could ask for to cover whatever that need was," she said.

"Things that were devastating one after another or another within a couple of days of each other and it's like you can't even wrap your brain around it, but then God's grace is coming in and providing for that challenge and it's amazing. I don't really have all the words but He fills the gap. He provides for the need," she said.

As the new year begins, Sojourner is busy prepping an adjacent house to serve as the next step after residents complete the program at the House of Hope.

Progress on the house at 663-665 Center St. is very slow, due to the fact that it was empty for so long.

"There was some water damage and damage into the house. One side doesn't have electricity because we can't safely turn on the electricity," Moyer explained.

"Also, when you purchase a house like that, that needs a lot of work. Our budget wasn't designed and ready for us to put a bunch of resources into it," he added.

Volunteers from Penn College and Lycoming College have been putting in service hours helping with the project, cleaning debris left by the previous owners. There have also been contractors come through the structure to assess what needs to be done.

"Right now this week, we have quite a few volunteers over there sort of doing a blitz work on it," he said.

So what is in the future for Sojourner Truth Ministries?

"The only way that I can answer that is God's will and God's purpose," Moyer said.

"If you had asked us what our future for Sojourner Truth was three years ago, we probably would have never said the 'House of Hope' in our building next door, but it is things that God slowly places in our heart. He puts a calling into our hearts and the board starts talking about options and possibilities. And then things present themselves," he continued.

"So, for the future, we just want to continue to remain to be faithful to our calling, to recognize the sacred worth of each individual person, give them a place to belong and to try to address the food insecurity issue and the homeless issue," Moyer said.