When one door closes
For the past two years, people needing a safe place to live, even temporarily, have benefited from SERVE Moses Lake's Transformation House program.
Men and women with personal challenges, including those recovering from drug addiction, or who have finished jail time, have been allowed to live at the Transformation House. The program grew in popularity and later expanded to four homes in Moses Lake.
We were sorry to hear the Transformation House is closing on July 31 because of financial difficulties, SERVE Moses Lake Director Tim Cloyd wrote in an email to supporters on Tuesday. (The Transformation House is an outreach program of the nonprofit SERVE Moses Lake, which opened in 2006 and will continue providing services to people who need them.)
We are sorry that maintaining The Transformation House wasn't financially possible and hope the situation can change in the future.
The Transformation House program was referred to as a "family environment" by one House resident in a 2013 Columbia Basin Herald article, while others spoke favorably of the structure and routine provided by the program. The house was also called safe and drug-free by another resident.
The program helped some people from re-offending, which kept them out of further trouble with the law, a state Department of Corrections officer told the Herald at the time.
In the meantime, we ask you to look deep within yourself and ask if there's something you can do to help someone in transition.
Perhaps there is a family member or friend who has made poor choices, or an acquaintance who was born into a negative environment they couldn't overcome.
If possible, consider welcoming that person into your home and provide the structure he or she needs to succeed and get back on their feet.
This isn't an easy or comfortable act of service for many of us. Perhaps a loved one's behavior or lifestyle choices make it difficult or impossible to help on such a personal level.
Maybe you have children or a spouse you want to protect. Or perhaps the person who is hurting (maybe your son or daughter) will continue to wreck havoc on your home life and a separation is needed. These are tough questions to ask yourself and tough choices to make. Only you can decide what to do.
At the same time, everyone needs a place to call home. A Columbia Basin Herald video taken two years ago shows how much of a home the program provided for others. Structure and companionship were provided for people in transition.
The video shows a group women playing dominoes and a group of men visiting in a living room. Simple pleasures, perhaps, but the people seemed happy, relaxed and contented.
Visit http://bit.ly/1okfsjD to read the Columbia Basin Herald's 2013 story on the Transformation House and to watch the accompanying video.
And ask yourself what you can do to help someone in transition.
- Editorial Board