Hope is Holy

“Hope is holy,” reads the first line of a poem written by a group of women at Calvary.  To have “hope” isn’t something these women take lightly. Rather, hope itself is sacred.  Without hope, one is immobilized. But with hope, there is a future and one’s goals can be achieved.

When Ann came to Calvary the first time, she didn’t really expect that change was possible for her. She knew she needed a safe place to live, but she wasn’t able to look beyond the self-described craziness of her life to what could be different. She had no hope that her life could change for the better. And, it didn’t.

But the second time, when Ann returned to the program several months later, she knew in her heart that this was her time. She remembered the support she had received and the resources that were offered to her. Ann experienced a sense of hope that led her to make tremendous changes. “I started to see myself differently, because I could see that the staff at Calvary saw me differently. They looked past my attitude and saw what was possible for me to achieve.”

In less than a year, Ann has seen her hopes turn from goals into reality. She has reunited with her family, maintained her sobriety, completed her education, gotten an apartment with a roommate, and started a job that has encouraged her to stretch and grow.

For many women like Ann, the transition from hopeless to hopeful is not one that can be made alone. Hope can’t be given out as easily as a warm bed and a healthy meal can. But by providing women in need a safe place to build relationships, new skills, and health, we have our own hope too – that each woman’s next steps towards independence are soon to follow.