Keeping families together through crisis is one of our unique traits…and an opportunity for families who were forced to separate to be reunited.

Like many women and children, when Sue and her 4 children were forced to flee their home because of domestic violence, they had no place to go other than an emergency shelter.

Since the shelter couldn’t house the family together, Sue’s older children went to stay with a distant family member. Can you imagine how that must feel? You make the life-saving decision to leave a violent home and you are left with nothing and nowhere to go. First, you lose your home. Then, you lose your children. At a time when you are in crisis, when trauma is raw and fear is very real…you have nowhere to go and have to deal with more loss.

Sue was devastated. But she knew that she had to keep what was best for her kids as her priority. For them, it meant going to live with a distant relative — it meant being separated from their mom at a time when they needed her the most.

After several months, as Sue’s exit date at her emergency shelter approached, she held on to faith that God would reunite her family somehow. It was then that Sue was accepted into our program which enabled her family to be reunited!

Door of Hope is one of the only shelters that houses a family together — regardless of the number of children — regardless of the age of the children. It’s what makes us unique!

Today, Sue is hopeful that her time here will not only allow her family to be together, but also that they will all find restoration and peace as they pursue individual goals!