Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Jul 10, 2020DONNA| You Don’t Have to Stay Stuck in Your Grief“He started hitting me in the kitchen. I was stuck between the refrigerator and the stove. He was kicking me so hard in my ribs that my ribs had cracked. When I was 13 my parents got a divorce. I was lost. I took my first hit of methamphetamines. …Grief5 min readGrief5 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Jun 24, 2020LTS. GIN & STEVE | Harvesting Hope in Centralia, WashingtonLieutenant Ginnifer Pack (Lt. Gin) “Centralia is the center point between Portland and Seattle. It’s rich in history. At one time it was a big economic place, but we have seen a decline in job availability, in housing availability.” Lieutenant Steve Pack (Lt. Steve) “One thing about our community is…Sustainability4 min readSustainability4 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Sep 20, 2018MAJORS KEVIN & TINA | Making doughnuts to make ends meetMajor Kevin Bottjen “Hoonah is on an island and as an island there is two ways to get here: fly or float. It’s a beautiful place to live. We see whales in our front yard, deer and bear in our backyard. A population of 750 to 800 people year-round. Subsistence…Food4 min readFood4 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Jun 15, 2018JIMMY | “I was this horrible person that the drugs made me be”Jimmy White “I was seven years old and I knew I wanted to smoke for the rest of my life. I started using marijuana on a regular basis and started messing with the girls. I ended up having my first kid at 15 and, you know, from there on… I…Life Lessons4 min readLife Lessons4 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Mar 2, 2018CLAY | “I never pictured a clean life while I was using.”Clay “Cocaine is one of those strange drugs. It doesn’t like get you all inebriated and stuff. No, it kind of like makes you better, almost. You’re better; see better; smell better. So, when cocaine showed up it was socially acceptable. If you’re in business and you happen to have…Addiction5 min readAddiction5 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Feb 13, 2018LYNN | “I became homeless. I was 12.”My mother was an eighteen-year-old unwed mother. I went to relatives here and there but there was nowhere for me to go. I became homeless. I was 12. I had a teacher who took me to meet some friends of hers. …Christianity2 min readChristianity2 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Nov 7, 2017HECTOR | ‘If You’re real, I want to know You’“I think I was maybe one of the most cynical people about church, and church people, and maybe even God. I had a stepfather who required us to go to church. And we’d go to mass and do the whole thing. I say this person was my stepfather but I…Christianity4 min readChristianity4 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Oct 24, 2017MARK | “Walk by faith not by sight”Mark “I was an infantry officer in Iraq, Desert Storm and I got out in 1991. Unfortunately I was beginning to lose my vision from cataracts. It covers over the eyes so you can’t really see out of the eye anymore. It got real cloudy in my right eye. I…Blindness4 min readBlindness4 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·Aug 18, 2017MIKE | “As long as Jesus has got a hand in it, anything is possible”Mike “Just say no? Sometimes it’s hard to say no, especially when you’re an addict. We were doing methamphetamines, me and my wife. I have a family: my two girls and Michael. We knew other people that were involved in the same stuff but they had their lights shut off…Drugs3 min readDrugs3 min read
Published inThe Salvation Army | People·May 23, 2017KIM | I want people to know that homelessness doesn’t look a certain way“As far back as I can remember my dad would beat my mom; break her nose and black eyes and things like that. We had a family portrait. My dad had beat my mama and made her smile for the camera. After my mom and dad got divorced my…Christianity4 min readChristianity4 min read