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Feb. 24--Glenda Fallgren found the support she needed to quit drinking at the all-women Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. She learned Microsoft Word and Excel in the computer lab.
Deanna Thomas got sober, too, and now has a full-time job as a nurse's assistant. She still drops by the Women's Hearth Drop-In Center every day, a habit since she was homeless last summer.
For many of the women who visit the center each day, it starts as a couch and a hot cup of coffee, a way to get out of the cold. For some of them, it becomes a new way of life.
Women's Hearth, one of several programs operated by local non-profit Transitions, celebrates 15 years of helping women with an open house on Friday. It will feature a theater performance by Gonzaga University students and a remembrance of the center's milestones.
The center is publicly funded with additional support from sponsoring communities of Catholic sisters. This year the center has extended its winter hours, thanks to public and private grants. The 11-person staff, plus 80 volunteers, can now keep the doors open six days a week. They log over 2000 visits per month, serving an estimated 360 women.
Many of the women who visit are homeless, battling addictions or in abusive relationships. Over 90 percent are in the lowest poverty range.
"A lot of people who come here don't feel welcome anywhere," said Marie Pizelo, who has been coming to the center since day one and has been the self-appointed greeter for 13 years. "Here they're treated with the respect of a country club."
Respect is at the heart of Women's Hearth. They offer workshops on building self-esteem and healthy relationships, but the staff would rather teach by model what it's like to be a part of a safe community.
They don't preach or pass judgment. They display the women's art and publish their poetry. They remember everyone's name.
"We're not trying to fix people," said Mary Rathert, program manager. "They'll have the resources inside to fix themselves when they're ready."
The women who visit the center are just as likely to find the support they need in a knitting circle as at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The therapy is in the conversation, in the spirit of encouragement and in the respect the women show each other.
"This is our family for a lot of us," said Fallgren, who has been visiting the center for three years. "This is our home."
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
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