Rob and his daughter, Anna, Benedict House residents.

Planting Seeds of Hope and Change

Anna skipped into the room wearing her favorite dress - red with a white fuzzy collar, accessorized with pink tights. With an ear-to-ear grin she sat down to draw flowers. She looked up and eagerly explained that art class is her favorite thing about first grade. Her father shared that Anna loves to read and that she is in the Spanish immersion class at Naval Avenue Elementary school. Anna interrupts and confidently states “my favorite book is James and the Giant Peach.” Anna is a typical first grader, happy-go-lucky – and, she lives at Benedict House with her father Rob.

Catholic Community Services’ Benedict House in Bremerton is an innovative program that provides emergency shelter and transitional housing for single homeless men and homeless men with children. This unique program incorporates two elements of the continuum of care model, emergency shelter and transitional housing. The underlying purpose is to help residents rebuild their lives. “Benedict House has allowed me to catch up on my life. 2011 was a great year,” said Rob. Other clients who overhear the conversation agreed.

Rob is one of 20 men currently staying at Benedict House. All arrived at the program because of a hardship – unemployment, divorce, addiction or some other unforeseen event that devastated their life. They share their stories and struggles and overtime they bond like brothers.

Before Rob arrived, he was couch surfing, had little contact with his daughter and was trying to make ends meet with a handful of low-paying jobs. Once at Benedict House, he quickly moved from emergency shelter to the transitional housing program. Rob now pays a modest rent earned from his job at St. Vincent de Paul. He has been granted sole custody of his daughter. He discussed his plans to move into an apartment in a few months. “I want my daughter to have a yard to play in with her friends from school. Maybe she can grow flowers instead of drawing them. She deserves it and I now know I can give that to her.”

Click here to learn more about Benedict House.

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