Serve Moses Lake opens new 'transformation house' for women
Night manager Kenny Kern relaxes at Serve Moses Lake's men's Transformation House in March 2013. Serve Moses Lake opened its fourth Transformation House last month.
MOSES LAKE - Serve Moses Lake recently opened its second "transformation house" for women, the fourth operated by the private, non-profit agency.
The transformation house project started with one house for men in August 2012. "That immediately filled right up," Serve Moses Lake Director Tim Cloyd said. The agency opened a house for women in November 2012, its second home for men in April 2013 and the second house for women in the last month, Cloyd said.
The people who come to the transformation house sometimes have a substance abuse problem, some have been homeless, others are just getting out of jail. But "the root of it, we think, is very similar," he said.
Most of the problems faced by transformation house residents started with choice, he said - bad ones that left them in a bad spot. The transformation house is for people looking to get out of that spot, he said.
Residents commit to live in the house for a year, Cloyd said. During that year they do chores around the houses and help with community projects, he said, work on acquiring employment skills, participate in the house's Christian living curriculum and Bible study.
The goal is to give residents a breathing space so they can take stock of their lives and make the changes they need, Cloyd said. "A safe environment where they can begin to recognize the patterns that led them down certain pathways."
Some people come from an environment that encourages good choices - but some don't, he said. For some, "healthy choices seem natural. But for some it's so foreign," he said.
The transformation houses are about helping the residents find the right path, he said. "It's a lifelong journey. We need each other," he said.
The houses are "fully locally funded. It's being completely supported by Moses Lake," Cloyd said.
"We're helping local men and women who want to turn their lives around."
Donations are always accepted, Cloyd said. Currently the transformation houses need, along with money to keep the program going, a vehicle, preferably a van, to allow residents to get to appointments and work, he said. They also need work-appropriate clothes for men and women, Cloyd said.
People who want more information about the programs, or want to donate, can contact men's program director Gary Pierce, 509-431-2529, or women's program director Tanya Maxfield, 509-989-3537.