Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness
1. Beacon
I was sleeping on a park bench in Vancouver, homeless, depressed and stressed out on September 21st, 2009. I went on my hands and knees and prayed to God to let me have one night's sleep and meal in a bed so I could recuperate. I would be forever grateful. (I would not beg or steal food. I only drank water.)
God led me to go to Oppenheimer Park. There I met Ben Israel, a Park employee, who guided me to the Beacon Men's Shelter.
I had an ear infection, severe weight loss. The staff at the Beacon were brilliant. At the Salvation Army Harbour Light Corps they helped me, guided me and placed a Bible in my hands.
I was at the Beacon for 9 months. During this time I attended Celebrate Recovery, the 12 Step Program, A.A., ACOA, SA, OEA and my favourite, Al Anon – and on and on.
I wanted to give back to the Salvation Army 100 times more than they gave me. I wanted to help people, serve people, direct people and follow the Word of the Lord: freedom from pain = comfort and mostly serve God first! I attended Bible Studies – 35 a month, attended 3 corps of The Salvation Army and met and greeted people.
Without a fellowship, without the Bible, without brothers and sisters in Christ, to me, it is like eating on the moon, there's just no atmosphere.
Although the care I gave to The Salvation Army came back 900% I was overwhelmed in a loving, caring and grateful way.
2. Belkin House
In August of 2010, I was accepted into The Salvation Army Belkin House for residency.
There was structure, people to help me for what I was going through at the time. Peggy, Eva, Les, Simeon, Larry, Carlos, Sara, Collin, Leo, Stephen, Rebecca, Dawn Samson and Captain Jim who gave me his time when there was a situation that I had no clue how to handle. Praise be to God!
All the staff I thank for the services they gave and the extra mile each and everyone of them gave. I thank them for helping me in a caring and safe environment to guide me to a nurturing path of emotional and spiritual growth.
I benefited from taking Living Skills, Life Skills, Anger Management, and volunteering in the Kitchen. When I extend my hand all things progress, and when I accepted a hand, all things progress.
Patience, time to think, freedom to express are some of my Belkin House experiences. I have full gratitude to all of the people here, the residents and the staff of Belkin House.
3. Soldiership
It is my heart's desire to become a Salvation Army Soldier.
A soldier expresses their commitment in every area of life and through the ministry and work of a local Salvation Army Corps. They show their action = people need help.
Why a soldier?
I love to help people
I love to follow Jesus
I love to serve God first
I've never done this perfectly, I make mistakes; every single day. I pray, I'm prayed for.
To me it's simple – it's pray back time.
I am now an adherent. It has been over 1 1/2 years of study. It's gone like a blink. It's my calling, my duty and personally my desire to worship the Lord.
I would like to share a heartfelt scripture with you.
Ephesians 5:31-32 "Let all bitterness and wrath, and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
God bless each and every one of you. We are all blessed. I've learned to softly accept those blessings.
At any point in your life you could get taken down and become homeless. No one expects or wants this, but "There but for the grace of God go I" is an adage ringing so true.
I'm bipolar and my ex got tired of living with my mood disorder. My 30 year marriage ended and I wound up living in my van, then in homeless shelters where I was ripped off, assaulted, and treated abusively by some staff…until I fell upon the Salvation Army's Belkin House and their PDP program.
Because of Belkin's high security, I was soon able to relax and gain trust so I could take in the essence of the programs. Having had a childhood filled with abuse it was easy for me to be cynical. At first I didn't think I was learning much but down the road I'd be saying to myself, "Oh, hey, I just dealt with that situation in a really good way by drawing on what I learned from that course!" I truly benefitted and grew.
Eventually I was ready to take courses outside Belkin, thanks to my Sally Ann councilor, Peggy Barrett. She saw my needs and encouraged and supported me. She's been an integral part of me getting not just back in the saddle, but riding the horse with grace.
Now I'm ready to take advantage of everything I've learned along the way and re-enter the job market on a part-time basis. I can't say I haven't been scared about the steps I've taken, but I keep going with faith. I never saw this day coming a few years ago!!!
I can't thank Belkin House enough…the overwhelming majority of the staff are friendly and good humoured but most of all give respect, which has restored my dignity. Not once did they impose their religious views on me and I was certainly allowed to maintain my own belief system. "Salvation" is truly what I found here.
Thank you, Belkin House!
My name is Ken Acker. I was born in a small town in Nova Scotia on August 29th 1964. With the death of my parents at the age of two and being adopted at the age of three, growing up was difficult.
In my childhood as things happened, I asked myself, if Jesus loved me as his child, why was this happening to me? I became angry and withdrawn, and turned to alcohol and drugs as a means to numb the pain. As these feelings intensified, I learned that if I used these substances, they would blanket my frustrations. This was the beginning of a self destructive path and I soon found myself in jail and wanting out of this life.
My addictions were so powerful that I couldn't stop. My path was becoming worse, leading me deeper into addiction and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. A park bench soon became home where I would sit without hope.
April 1st, 2009 was the day I decided something needed to change for me. Soon after that I began my healing at a local treatment centre. On October 1st, 2009 I came to Belkin House.
I believe today Jesus brought me here to renew my faith and walk with him. Belkin House is a special community with counselors, chaplains and staff who really care. I have found great opportunities here, being involved in the various programs.
Through involvement in numerous volunteer opportunities at Belkin House I have been able to participate and contribute to the healthy growth of my community which has enabled me to live a happy and productive life.
Many people think bad life choices and drugs are the reason people become homeless. In my case it was due to a violent attack that left me unable to function that drove me to the streets. It was not a good time to be homeless, as I was unable to walk, talk or think very well. This left me unable to work and that lead to my homeless state. I lost all faith in life as I drifted.
I shuffled from friend to friend and eventually was on the streets, alone. It was my good fortune that I found shelter at Belkin House. From the first day, I felt cared for. I felt safe. My body and soul began to heal.
When I was accepted into the Personal Development Program, I was overjoyed that I had been given a chance at a new start. My stay in the shelter gave me the peace of mind and stability I needed. It not only restored my faith in life, it restored my belief in people and, most importantly, in God. Through this faith and through the wonderful guidance offered at Belkin House I was able to sort through the dark thoughts that had overcome me and dispel them. Now when I think of those days, I am so thankful that my feet were directed to Belkin House. I do not know what would have become of me if it had not been for the caring staff of the Salvation Army.
I was raised as a child in two very different places: Vancouver and the land of the midnight sun, Dawson City, Yukon. I was fortunate to have an environment of music, theatre, sports and a variety of colourful characters and stories in my life.
As an adult, living mostly on Vancouver Island, I have worked in film distribution and tourism, as a gold miner, landscaper, musician, painter, potato picker, mill worker and environmental lobbyist. My focus over the last 10 or so years has been working with youth and children. Thirteen years ago I was blessed with the most wonderful gift- my beautiful and amazing daughter.
One is not always prepared for what happens in life, even less if untreated wounds from the past are brought to the surface. When I arrived at The Belkin House I was broke. I had my heart broken and had broken my own heart. The combination of an unhealthy relationship of seven years and my daughter and her mother moving a thousand miles away, left me shattered.
With the support of the staff, programs, and my councillor and chaplain, Stephen Bell (to whom I am eternally grateful), I am getting back on track as a healthy, happy, productive human being. Working in and for my community, with children at O.B.N.H and as a shelter worker for The Haven, is rewarding to me. I can't exactly say where this journey will end up, but I have faith in the path that I am on.
I was raised by my mother until I was six years old, when she passed away. From age six to nine, I was in foster care where I was subjected to abuse. At nine years old my father came to take custody of me. The next three years was spent in my father's care which was a very unstable environment, because he was an alcoholic, and I suffered a lot of physical abuse. He died when I was twelve years old and afterwards I became a ward of the court again and was placed back into foster care. When I was fourteen years old I ran away. After working for fifteen years and the breakup of my marriage, I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of my life. I soon found myself living on the street. I stopped caring about living any longer. Then I met "Mike on the Bike" (Hope on Wheels) from The Salvation Army New Westminster. He took the time to get to know me and gained my trust. When I reached out, The Salvation Army was there and got me off the street. They then got me into The Salvation Army Paetzold Treatment Centre (Miracle Valley). After treatment, The Salvation Army did not abandon me. I accepted the opportunity to go to The Salvation Army Belkin House. They provided assistance in every area - physical, emotional and spiritual. I flourished under their guidance and encouragement. Thanks to their support, love, care and understanding, I have become confident in myself. I have found peace, contentment, and purpose in my life and now feel complete. I am now able to enjoy the rest of my life and move forward to whatever God has planned for me. It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank The Salvation Army, The Salvation Army New Westminster Hope on Wheels, The Salvation Army Paetzold Treatment Centre and The Salvation Army Belkin House and all the wonderful people involved in my success!
God Bless You All,
Lester Bolen
Drug addiction eventually leads many to the same situation, homeless, hungry and seemingly hopeless. Recovery Centers deal with the here and now of addiction, they make its sufferer aware of the physical mental and emotional reasons that led to our addictions. They help us to formulate tools to assist us in the prevention of relapse.
Yet few realize the importance of helping us to regain self confidence and self awareness when we leave the safety and control of a Recovery Centre. Sure we've learned about all the things above, but how do we carry these things into a productive and responsible future? How do we rebuild and reshape ourselves after so many months or years of societal dormancy?
It may sound easy to someone who has never known addiction, reliance of something outside of ourself that controls, not only our actions, but that affects our morals, relations, our jobs as well as our own physical well being. Something that hinders every course of progress and happiness, a cage from which we, as addicts see no escape, forbidding us from the realization of goals we wish to fulfill.
From what I personally have experienced here at Salvation Army Belkin House I can see that its facilitators and counselors realize that recovery from addiction only begins at the Recovery Centre. It's the starting line to a new path in life.
Once we come to the acceptance that we need to escape the addictive cage, we then must face a world very unlike the one we simply existed in as an addict. Now it's time to live.
I feel that Belkin House is a facility that is a necessity, a much needed second stage in the recovery progress. Self actualization programs such as Life Skills and Living Skills assist us to regain knowledge of who we are and how to better our communication skills so that we become compatible with others involved in our New Future.
We can alleviate emotional distress through participation in various courses, such as Stress Management and Grief Recovery. We can make others aware of our "weak days" in groups such as Recovery Support or when we communicate in our one on one sessions with our counselors.
For me, though I came to regain my Spiritual Self at the Paetzold Centre Valley of Miracles, programs such as Purpose Driven Life and Christian 12 Step have strengthened my personal beliefs and relationship with my higher power. They have also helped me experience fellowship, which is also important in giving me direction throughout my New Future.
Since I arrived at Belkin House I have rediscovered something very important, and that is that "I can"
With the assistance of those around me I can reconstruct a life and a lifestyle in which I can find happiness, accomplish goals and maintain inner peace. I realize some days will be difficult, but here it's easy to find help in many forms.
So it is with great honor that I give this praise to those involved with Belkin House, for I feel immense appreciation to those that helped me rediscover hope and a new future.
Stay hungry
Stay strong
God bless
Dennis James Hewitt
