The point of entry for most of our women is the emergency crisis shelter. One of our goals is to make each woman and child feel that they belong here, since they are so accustomed to feeling that they don’t belong anywhere. We understand that their crisis-to-crisis lifestyle offers few options. So we must help our women learn to develop options and take personal responsibility. Women come from a variety of situations, but one thing most have in common is something called disaffiliation – they aren’t connected to anyone or anything positive and they feel increasingly isolated in their struggles with issues such as homelessness, poverty, bad choices, depression, substance abuse or relational violence. The crisis shelter provides an opportunity for them to take a deep breath, clear their minds and help get started in a more positive direction. In addition to providing shelter, we prepare and serve three meals a day, give clothing and necessary personal items, offer counseling and hold Christian chapel services twice daily.