Mary

Mary is only 22 years old, but already has a lifetime of sorrow. You wouldn’t know that from her sunny smile and mischievous eyes though.

Mary was born in Anchorage but lived most of her life in Michigan. She moved away from Michigan in July two years ago to leave a bad lifestyle and a worse relationship. She arrived in Fairbanks pregnant and with her 2-year old son, Kaden. She came to the Rescue Mission that September with Kaden and by then her baby daughter, Layla.

Layla was a beautiful baby who all the women doted on. As Mary related her story to me her eyes shone with tears. “I can still remember so clear that moment when I brought her out of her winter bundling and one of the women said, ‘She’s white! She’s white!’” I remember that day too, how Jeff tried to resuscitate her, our frantic waiting for the ambulance, the prayers, and Mary’s wails - a terrible accident that left Mary floundering.

She buried her baby in Nuiqsut and went back and forth between Fairbanks and there, everything very unstable for her for the next two years. A week ago that instability brought her bruised and exhausted to our door again. What came to her mind in that moment of need was Becky, the women’s shelter manager. Becky had arranged a lovely memorial service at the Mission for Layla and had told Mary if she ever needed help to call her. Mary wants to get her life back on track and she said the stability here, the getting up at the same time, having chores, and being safe had helped her do that before and she wants to try again. She wants to get a job, find housing, get her son back from her relatives, and continue to work on building a positive relationship with her new boyfriend.

Claude

It was hard to imagine that the healthy 6’1” man in my office had once been down to 133 pounds and in a wheelchair. My experience of him in the Mission was as a soft spoken, hard working man with kindness in his face. When I asked him what circumstance had brought him to the Mission, he said, “Well, let me start at the beginning.”

He had been in Alaska since 1991 and had worked canneries and boats from St. Paul to St. Petersburg. He was a wanderer until, at 50, he married Jackie. After so many years he had found the right woman and their life was good. Claude had a little business and he adored his wife. He said that she helped him change so many things in himself. Two years into that happy life, Jackie began to sicken and by the time Claude could get her to go to the doctor, it was really too late. She died of cancer 2-1/2 years after their wedding.

Claude sank deeper and deeper into depression, using alcohol and drugs to try to numb the pain. He got more and more sick from the drugs and alcohol, from not eating, from not taking care of his diabetes, from sorrow. The VA in Anchorage placed him in an assisted living home because he was so weak and wasted he couldn’t care for himself. Angry with God he said to Him, “If you’re gonna take me, take me!” He felt he’d been placed there to die.

Nine months later, Claude was still in the same home, and he said, “Something just clicked.” He got up out of his wheelchair, gained weight, and got healthy. He realized he was wrong for cursing God for the loss of his wife and asked God for forgiveness. He left the home and was on his own again. But “on his own” was not a good place for Claude to be yet. He turned to alcohol again to fight the loneliness; that, plus his diabetes, put him back in the hospital. As the hospital planned his discharge, Claude told the medical personnel, “I am not going to leave until I get help. I’ll most likely keep on drinking and I’m not going back to that. I have to have some help.” He had dug in his heels and was not budging. VA got called in and that very afternoon Claude was on a flight to Fairbanks and the Mission. That was in April and Claude says he thanks God everyday for the Mission. He says, “It’s boosted my morale and it’s easier to stay positive here. This is a great place and there’s really good people here.” I asked him if he had hope for the future and with a small smile he said, “Oh, yeah”.

Ashley

Rodney came out of his office, curious about the animated talk and laughter in the hall. The Women’s Shelter Manager, Becky, told him the story Ashley had just shared with her of how amazingly God had provided for her. After all of them rejoiced together again, Rodney asked Ashley to share her story with all of you.

Ashley pauses often as we talk to smile at and gently touch her 2-1/2 month old son as he grins winningly at her from his carrier. Ashley is 25 and has two other children, a girl aged 6, and a boy aged 3. She had been at the Rescue Mission since April and was just able to move into her own place last Friday. When she moved into the Mission seven months ago she was pregnant and devastated by the breakdown of her relationship with her children’s father. She had lost her house and a full-time job in the emotional aftermath. Living at the Mission was really hard at first, getting used to the schedule and the rules, but she says, “people were patient with me.” She found a community of mutual support with the other moms.

Early last week she was unable to stop fast enough when a car darted into traffic ahead of her. Though she and the baby weren’t hurt, the front end of her van was completely smashed in. While waiting for the police at the accident she got a call telling her she could move into the housing she had been waiting on. If – she could move in by that Friday. It was a panicked, overwhelming moment for her. She desperately wanted her and the kids to have their own home, but she didn’t know how she could accomplish a move without a vehicle. To get the wrecked van out of the street, she called a garage that had done work for her before.

A day later, Ashley got a call from the owner of the garage. He started his conversation in a curious manner, by asking her if she believed in a higher power who takes care of those who take care of others. She hesitantly said, “Well, yes.” And he said, “I know how you are always giving other people rides . . . and I have a van you can have.” And he didn’t mean just use. In half an hour he had the vehicle signed over to her, complete with auto-start and four studded winter tires, a wonderful miracle for this single mom. I ask her, “What can the people who read your story pray for you?” She answers softly but with conviction, “The kids’ dad and I both had rough childhoods. My mom is on the streets, his is living sofa to sofa because of their drug use. Pray that we’ll find healing. Pray that we’ll find peace.