Friends of Redeem-Her,

 

This year was a year mixed with joys and sorrows.  We celebrated the high school graduations of four of our women and grieved the loss of a child.  We celebrate that the Toms River House, opened in November of 2008, is full to capacity, but grieve for the women we have to turn away. 

This year twenty-six (26) women called Redeem-Her "home".  They came with 548 prior arrests and 238 cumulative years mired in drug addiction.  85% came to us straight from the prison gates with only the clothes on their backs.  Within 24 hours, they all had a safe and sober place to rest their head, a full wardrobe, a pantry full of food and an introduction to the fellowships of N/A and A/A.  Within 30 days of their arrival, 75% were employed.  In all, 54 women have passed through our doors.  Today 91% of them are out of prison, free from addiction, making choices that keep them, their families and their communities safer.  But we need your financial support to help continue our work.

 

A letter we received this week read:  "My earliest possible parole date is November 2010.  Now I know that's a year from now, but I want you guys to have my application.  I want to come to Redeem-Her House so bad I can taste it.  I need you.  I no longer have the desire to use drugs.  I despise what I allow myself to become when I use.  I know that I have to change everything I do.  I have to learn to crawl again, but I am terrified.  When I saw all of you at Community Awareness Day [at the prison] I was completely taken aback because you all did it / are doing it. You guys gave me so much hope it makes me cry.  I never thought there was anything for me but prison and death.   I want to live.  I want what you have.  I want to know how.  I want to do everything you did.  I will take any suggestion you give.  So that's my plea to you.  REMEMBER MY NAME!" 

Fourteen other letters arrived from the prison the same day.

We rejoice in knowing that what we do is working.  But we reflect on a huge sorrow, when on  August 5^th,  a tragic fire at a men's transitional house in Toms River claimed the life of a 23 year old man.  That fire brought a swarm of state officials to our house and all the others like it in the area.  15 houses were audited.  14 were closed.  Redeem-Her House was the only one to make it through.

While we are overjoyed that our diligence and integrity protected us, we sorrow over the 14 other houses that no longer exist.  We know the reality:  A less-than-perfect place to go is better than no place to go.

 

With the state audits came the great joy that Redeem-Her now has carte blanche to open similar houses anywhere in the state.  But increased state regulations also come with a sorrow: it is now much more expensive for us to offer the same services.  We have joy in that our newly organized Board of Trustees is up to the challenge.  They are restructuring our organization and putting an emergency financial plan in place as we speak.

We need to figure out how to keep Redeem-Her viable despite the increased costs.  And we need to take advantage of the opportunity we have to make our services available to more women. 

I am confident that we will do that.  But right now we need your help to carry us through until we can put a new plan in place.

Please consider a donation to Redeem-Her as we continue to help women STAY FREE.  "Free" is not about avoiding responsibility, but embracing it and growing.  True freedom dramatically affects the individual, but also ripples through her entire family, altering the course of her children's lives and affecting the future for all of us.  That is our specialty.