When Elisia shares her experience with Bethlehem Inn, the first things she talks about are, “…catching your breath…getting your bearings.” Elisia, her kids, aged two to thirteen, and her husband Kevin were out of breath and money…and nearly out of hope when they found the Inn. They’d  been in Salem and came to Redmond to be near Kevin’s mom. They both found work.  They got a rental in Redmond. Then came a layoff which meant they couldn’t pay the rent or their bills. A painfully familiar story for so many folks who had never been without a place to live and suddenly were homeless.

The folks at St. Vincent de Paul in Redmond pointed them to Bethlehem Inn. Of the Inn staff, Elisia said, “They were very helpful, very kind.” There was housing guidance and help with school supplies for the kids. They were able to start saving money. Inn staff connected them with a FAN [Family Access Network] advocate who helped keep the kids in the school they’d been attending. Elisia adds, “We’re eighty per cent out of debt..we’re very optimistic.” Elisia, Kevin, and the kids are about to move into an apartment.

Amazing how major life transformations can start with things as basic as “…catching your breath…getting your bearings.”

For Melanie, Bethlehem Inn was a bridge. Melanie knows about bridges. For a time, she lived under one in California.

“I was lost, lonely, afraid, without my boys, without hope.”

Drug charges landed her in prison for a year. Prison and that bridge drove her to her knees. She prayed. She resolved to get clean and sober…and did, nearly five years ago.  She came to Bend to escape an abusive relationship and stay with a relative. She brought her youngest sons, eleven and sixteen, with her. She had a job lined up. It fell through. She lined up a place to live. It didn’t work out.  Melanie and the boys were facing sleeping in their car. She called Bethlehem Inn. No family units available that day. But a few days later one opened up.  Melanie says,

“It was a miracle. We had our own space. We were safe and warm.”

Melanie wasted no time finding a job, two jobs in fact. And on her days off she’s taken a third job cleaning homes and offices. Inn staff helped connect the boys to schools. Next up: a place to live. It was a team effort: Inn staff connecting Melanie with resources. Melanie doing the footwork, a lot  of footwork. But it all paid off. Melanie and the boys are in their own apartment. That bridge Melanie lived under is way back in the rear view mirror. She and her boys were shown a new bridge by Bethlehem Inn: a bridge to a promising future.

Jonathan Paul has a good job. And a future. Oh, he’s had other jobs. Lots of them. A future? Not really…until now. It began, he’ll tell you, at Bethlehem Inn.

Jonathan was a lost kid. Addict parents; no food in the house; electricity and water turned off. The streets became his home. Drugs…using, selling. Four prison stays over the years. Evicted and broke, he first found Bethlehem Inn back in 2013. The angry young Jonathan stayed only a few hours. But he came back later and with staff help joined the Heart of Oregon program, stayed with it, earned some money and a school grant. He got clean and sober…for a while. Then, in his words, “I started a moving company, got comfortable and careless.” He started using again. Depressed, broke, fighting with his girlfriend, sleeping in his car, time in county jail. He remembered Bethlehem Inn and went back, desperate enough to look at the Inn with a new pair of eyes. This time, he had “…an awesome relationship” with the staff. He found “…support and a foundation for living.” He’s landed an apprenticeship with the electricians’ union. For now he’s working on a big solar panel project in Prineville. He and his girlfriend are in counseling. He’s clear-eyed, clean, sober. He even laughs now and then. Jonathan Paul is moving, one day at a time, into a future rich with promise.