<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Katie Burr, 19, cares for one of her children, Justice Graham, 22 months, at a transitional housing project run by the Life Changes Ministry of Everett. Twelve women and five children are living in the Everett home, which teaches life skills. (click to enlarge) Tina Bohlin, a recovering alcoholic, eats breakfast at the housing program run by Life Changes.

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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Shelter trains women for successful lives

By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Writer

Housemates with hard histories, these women are living by new rules.

Leona Martin, 37, battled methamphetamine and alcohol addictions. A transplant from Montana, she now works at an Everett hotel. She's looking forward to the birth of a grandchild.

Valentina Taylor has a 10-year-old son. Homeless for a time, she pitched a tent and lived near an apartment complex. Sharing a room with her boy in a temporary home, she's now on track to complete training to be a hair stylist.

At 19, Katie Burr has two children, 9-month-old Kandice and Justice, almost 2. She's lived in dangerous places, surrounded by drug activity. Burr nearly lost custody of her children but now cares for them full-time. Self-sufficiency is her goal.

Sonia Holmes-Miller found herself homeless with two teenage daughters. Living in a motel and trying to shield her kids from nearby drug-dealing, she prayed for a safer place.

"It's been a long, hard road," said Holmes-Miller, 38.

Sitting in the cozy living room of an old house near Everett High School, the women talked frankly last week about troubles that brought them to the faith-based Recovery for Life Training Center.

The program is affiliated with Everett's Life Changes Ministry Church. For several years, the church has sponsored "Queen, It's a New Day" events, providing career clothing and makeovers to women who've survived domestic violence, substance abuse and homelessness.

Founded by Judy Hoff, a counselor and the church pastor, the Recovery for Life Training Center runs the transitional housing facility on Wetmore Avenue. Residents attend services at the Life Changes Ministry Church, 2532 Virginia Ave. in Everett. Previously, the ministry had a facility on Hewitt Avenue.

Right now, the house is full. "We have 12 women and five kids -- two teens, two babies and a 10-year-old," said Hoff, 58, who has a two-year degree in human services and is a graduate of Puget Sound Christian College. Before founding the ministry, she was director of the Everett Gospel Mission's women's shelter.

Hoff emphasizes that the Recovery for Life Training Center is a program, not a shelter. Residents pay $400 per month. Some have jobs, some are in school; some are on welfare, others get money from family. They share rooms and are provided food, instruction and counseling.

Upstairs, cramped bedrooms are tidy. Bunk beds are made. Clothing is folded. On shelves and makeshift bedside tables are Bibles with dogeared pages.

The ministry leases the house from owner John Iseman. The program survives on the women's fees, fundraising and donations, Hoff said.

Residents agree to rules and requirements: random drug tests, a 9:30 p.m. curfew, morning and evening devotions, church attendance and participation in life skills classes.

There's no sitting around all day, Hoff said. The women are expected to get up, clean house, do laundry, watch the kids and take care of outside responsibilities. A teacher involved in the ministry, Gardner Farwell, conducts basic classes in math, reading and understanding credit, taxes and how to handle paperwork.

Marsha MacLean, the program's director of housing, has climbed up from the dark places some of the women have seen. She was once a resident and participant.

In 2005, she spent 81 days in jail on narcotics charges. A meth user for a dozen years, beginning at 15, MacLean said she managed to lead a double life, finishing high school and even starting college. "I worked two jobs -- drugs are expensive," said MacLean, now 29. By 27, her life had crumbled into a mess of drugs, crime and homelessness.

She found Life Changes Ministry on a housing resource list at the Snohomish County Jail. "I had run my life into the ground, so I gave my life over to God," MacLean said.

MacLean now has her own apartment and a job managing a convenience store. She is also Hoff's assistant. She hopes to one day start her own ministry.

Change isn't automatic. It's a twisty road, sometimes with discouraging detours.

"I've been off meth one year and two months, and off alcohol for seven months; I had a relapse," said Leona Martin, who's been through Snohomish County Drug Treatment Court. "You need a lot of support, and the church gives a lot of support."

Martin plans to stay two years, the program's maximum stay. Women who stay at least a year have a good chance of long-term success, Hoff said.

"We do lose some. They don't make the choice," Hoff said. "You have to be motivated to choose change."

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Women's ministry

For information about the Recovery for Life Training Center and Everett's Life Changes Ministry Church, go to www.recoveryforlife.org or call 425-252-6484.