Dignity Health Presentation
Liberty House 2024
The women and children who are served at Liberty House are tired, they are afraid and they are simply trying to survive. The needs are great and it takes time to assess the extent of the services needed.
The Common Spirit mission states, “As CommonSpirit Health, we make the healing presence of God known in our world by improving the health of the people we serve, especially those who are vulnerable”
Just as CommonSprirt is driven by their spiritual mission to serve all, so are we. It is our beliefs that motivate our care for the women and children. Just as CommonSpirit provides services for all in need, so do we. There is no criteria other than need and desire to change. Yes, this group of women are vulnerable. And we take our responsibility to care well for them seriously. A specific religious belief is not a requirement of our program and we sacrificially serve, care for and love every woman equally according to her needs.
With this clarification, however, our program is Christian in nature. All women are made aware of this prior to entrance. Our desire is to offer rest and safety for vulnerable women and children so they can have a new life filled with hope and change.
Jesus says in Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Our belief that Jesus Christ offers the hope, healing and rest needed for the world is what drives our care. Our staff, volunteers and community partners sacrifice greatly to serve the families – in VERY practical ways. We do share with the women about who Jesus is but we do so as an act of mercy, never as a means of control or manipulation. Liberty House is an invitation for weary women from across the Valley to find rest and let go of the burdens they carry. Women like Olivia, who came to Liberty House last year 7 months pregnant, uncertain of her future. Julius was born August 2nd and Oliva had the time she needed to be supported in being a new mother and bonding with her son. She had the opportunity to do so without the pressures of immediately returning to work and in October they moved to Freedom House. Julius celebrated his first birthday with big party at Freedom House with all of Olivia’s new friends and community along with grandparents. Olivia will begin school in January, something she never thought possible after living most of her young life trying to survive on the streets, fully immersed in a heroin addiction.
Just as Jesus came and lived among man, we live life with the families, walking alongside, and bringing safety and stability to their chaotic lives. Our faith is what motivates us… the love we have received from God motivates our love for others. This love pushes us past barriers and allows us to be longsuffering with hurting people, not forcing women to conform to an outcome, but genuinely knowing her and her needs and ensuring that we do our best to meet those needs.
Our program is unique because we adapt our services around the individual needs of the women and the children. Some women will stay up to 4 months to become stable enough to transition to Freedom House or on her own. Others need more support and are assisted to transition to a program that better fits her needs. Others leave after a shorter time because they are not yet ready for the structure or simply are not ready for change. Because each situation is different, we anticipate the number of families based on full capacity at 2 families at a time, some staying 4 months and others as short as 2 weeks, which gives the anticipated number of 16 families. No matter how long women are in our care, we are “all in” to provide the best services, love and support possible and we track the progress and outcome for each woman.
Every woman and child is precious and receives the same level of love and care, a profession of faith or not, yet each one’s life is changed for the good as a result of being at Liberty House.
