Lebanon facility provides refuge during recovery

LEBANON - She's 28, leaving meth and marijuana behind, trying to regain custody of her 2-month-old daughter.

Her name is not Roseanna, but the transition house wants to protect her confidentiality, and she respects the rules of the house. She needs to stay there, needs to save money. She needs a place where she can learn to live, clean and sober, on her own.

Roseanna is among the first residents at Lebanon's new ChristWalk Supportive Transitional House for women, a faith-based facility where women can live for up to several months while they recover from drug and alcohol addiction and seek financial independence.

Here, she said simply, "I don't have people taking advantage of me."

Formerly known as Lebanon Emergency Shelter, ChristWalk is a nonprofit organization with board members from nine mid-valley churches: Sweet Home Community Chapel, St. Bernard in Scio, and First United Methodist Church, Lebanon Mennonite Church, First Presbyterian Church, The River Center, Lebanon Cavalry Chapel and Crowfoot Baptist in Lebanon.

This is ChristWalk's third residence and second transitional home. A transitional home for men opened in January 2008 on Park Street in Lebanon, and the organization also operated a two-person women's apartment.

The women's home opened about a month ago, at a confidential address because it may eventually serve women seeking to escape abusive relationships, Program Director Annie Daniels said.

The board pays the rent and basic utilities for the residences, which have served 32 people since the men's home opened.

Daniels, a volunteer, lives at the women's home and manages day-to-day operations, assisted by Carolyn Rose. The residents - four, at present, with room for one more - contribute their food stamps for family-style meals.

It took ChristWalk five weeks to get the former drug house habitable, Daniels said. Volunteers painted, replaced most of the kitchen cabinetry, laid new linoleum, tossed out reeking carpets and refinished the wood floors beneath.

One bathroom isn't yet finished, but the rest of the house reflects the results of their efforts: Sun-filled rooms smelling faintly of new paint, floor polish, and the lilacs in the flower-filled bowl on the dining-area table.

Women, Daniels said, are natural nest-builders, which makes it particularly hard to be homeless. They need a place of their own to create a sense of order and beauty, she said.

The women of Christwalk share household and outdoor chores to help give them that sense of ownership. Volunteers currently are tilling the ground in the spacious back yard, but the home's residents will plant and care for the tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and beans.

Chores are just a few of the daily duties at the home. Residents are required to be up and dressed by 8:30 a.m., and are invited - although not compelled - to take part in a short devotional time at 9. Curfew is at 10 p.m.

A whiteboard in the kitchen lists everyone's schedule for the week. One resident puts in time on a work release program through the Linn County Jail. Another has scheduled visitations with her family. Drug treatment programs and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are mandatory.

Residents are to be working or seeking jobs, she said. Their salaries are theirs to keep.

Roseanna plans to start a job next month with a company that employs people with disabilities. She has learning disabilities, she said, and is looking forward to meeting with a tutor who will come regularly to the home.

It's actually a relief to be living in a home with so many rules, Roseanna said. Her housemates know they're not to enter her room or touch her things without permission. They won't be inviting anyone over, and they won't be using alcohol or other drugs.

She drifted into using pot in her teens, first out of curiosity, then out of habit and a desire to stay with her new group of friends. That led to meth, to being kicked out of an apartment, and, eventually, to the loss of her daughter.

Her daughter's birth finally prompted Roseanna to seek help. She's looking to ChristWalk for that, for a haven while she pulls the pieces of her life into a working whole.

"I don't like where she's at right now, 'cause I've been there," she said softly. "I feel she needs to be with her mama, not with somebody else."

Without the transitional home, however, Roseanna said, she wouldn't have a safe living situation. She's learning how to take care of her money and how to say no to "the wrong crowd."

"These," she said, smiling at Daniels and Rose, "are the people I need to hang out with."

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Christwalk Supportive Transitional House for Women is a faith-based program serving single women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and learning to be self-supporting.

Program Director Annie Daniels said the home needs financial donations and consumable items, such as toiletries, trash bags and paper towels. It also could use area rugs for the wooden floors, along with exterior paint for the front door, a set of drapes and a pull-cord curtain rod for a 102-inch window.

The program is seeking ways to connect women with people and organizations that can help teach life skills, such as financial management, shopping and cooking in nutritious, low-budget ways. Volunteers also are needed to help with transportation to medical and other appointments. Volunteers must first clear a background check.

Information about the home, its needs and applying for residency is available by calling Daniels at (541) 405-4088, or online at www.lebemsh.org.

ChristWalk also operates a men's transitional home, which has similar donation needs. For more information, contact Director Randy Tunnissen at (541) 401-0773.