When Nevaeh called our Family Shelter on a cold October evening, she could barely even lift her own head.

She had been sleeping in the doorway of a church with her children after being asked to leave the domestic violence shelter they had stayed at for the last five years. Whilst trying to keep warm on those cold stone steps, Nevaeh did what she could for her children, but found herself limited due to her disability, a rare degenerative muscular condition, which had progressed to the point she couldn’t move her own wheelchair or even speak when she got tired.

During the day, Neveah would get on the city bus with her kids to drop them off at school, and then would ride the bus until the kids got out of school because she could not physically move herself.
Some drivers told her she couldn’t do this, and would move her off the bus at the transit stations.
Neveah would have to sit there and wait for her kids to come find her, or for one of the other drivers to move her back onto the bus.

“I was trying [to move] but it was really hard. I would get stuck in the middle of the road and nobody would help me.”

“People would walk past me. They called the police on me… They thought I was [on drugs]. It was like I just couldn’t keep my body up. Before, I was in a room and couldn’t bother people with my body. But being homeless, they saw me more and it felt really bad.”

– Neveah, Family Shelter guest

When our Family Shelter staff received the call, they immediately welcomed Neveah and her children in. “The immediate answer was yes, get them here,” recalls Janet, our newly retired Director of Family Shelter Ministries. “But after that, Teresa (our current Family Shelter Ministries Director) and I realized she shouldn’t be here. We’re a working housing program. We thought, ‘we can’t take care of somebody who can’t move’. And yet, unbeknownst to us, God had a plan.”

So they got to work to help Nevaeh and her family find safe, healthy solutions. Teresa, who had recently been hired at that time, had a background in the medical field, and had some connections to providers in town. New agencies started working with us to help find Neveah and her family ADA accessible housing. Our Family Shelter Prayer Team started praying, and we saw God beginning to move.

An amazing partnership soon blossomed with Pacific Northwest University, where their Physical Therapy program accepted Nevaeh as a patient for their students to practice on. But another challenge arose: the medical transportation systems in town wouldn’t transport her to those appointments, as they were deemed “educational” rather than medical, due to where they occurred.

Suddenly, our Director of Care Center Ministries, Dr. Trickett, began writing letters and making phone calls to convince medical transportation companies that this was a medical appointment for Nevaeh.

They finally came around.

Yet another way we saw God move.

This Physical Therapy was essential for Nevaeh, who is slowly gaining her strength back. She can now pick up her head, and raise her arms and hands. Exhaustion now doesn’t remove her ability to talk.

But summer came, and with it, the end of those classes. What could have been a major setback never occurred, however. Instead, the supervisor of that PT program took Nevaeh on as a patient in her own clinic so that Nevaeh could continue her care.

“Only God could do this.”
– Janet, former Director of Family Shelter Ministries

In the middle of all of this, Nevaeh qualified for a caregiver, who has become a good friend for Nevaeh and the kids. And by the end of summer, Nevaeh and her kids received keys to their own place – something her kids have never had, and that Nevaeh herself hasn’t experienced since she was 15.

“I am so blessed and so very thankful forever for everybody that has helped. I honestly don’t think we would’ve been able to make it.” Nevaeh recalls tearfully.

“[YUGM] is like a garden, and we might all be different, from different places and doing different things, like different flowers. But it’s a beautiful garden that I really appreciate. You hear so much talk about the homeless… but we’re all in the same garden. I love everybody here.”

– Nevaeh, Family Shelter guest

Through all of this, the book of Esther had been on the minds of our Family Shelter staff, and specifically the phrase “for such a time as this”. Our staff had no idea what God had in store when He brought Nevaeh to us.

And yet, for such a time as this, we had our medical clinic available to help support Nevaeh when she first came to us.

For such a time as this, Teresa, with her medical background and knowledge, was here to support Nevaeh.

For such a time as this, PNWU’s Physical Therapy was able to help Nevaeh get her physical strength
back.

For such a time as this, an ADA Apartment was available and able to take Nevaeh and her family.

“It’s been one miracle after another,” confirms Janet.

What’s next for Nevaeh?

“She’s gonna be walking again,” Janet says proudly. PNWU has machines that have allowed Nevaeh to be held up while practicing walking, something she hasn’t been able to do for years.

“All the students there, they pushed me, they encouraged me,” Nevaeh recalls fondly. “Sometimes I don’t want to try because it hurts or I’m feeling too weak, but I keep going and I’m seeing improvement.”

As Nevaeh continues to build her strength again, she also is working with her children to overcome the trauma they have come from, and they have all begun going to therapy. “I don’t want them to fall into the cycle. I don’t want them to live like that.”

Today, Nevaeh and her children are doing well. They are safe, independently housed, and getting stronger every single day. “Without the darkness, how would we see the stars?” Nevaeh had said when speaking of her challenges.

Nevaeh’s story is one that has resonated with staff here at the Mission – and it’s just one of the many awe-inspiring stories we get to witness.

As often as daily, our staff hear stories that simultaneously break our hearts and fill our spirits. While our heart absolutely breaks some days from the trials, tribulations, abuses, and traumas that our clients experience, we also see God move in their lives – oftentimes in ways we never even thought possible.

Perhaps God brought us staff members to the Mission – for such a time as this. Perhaps He brought this newsletter to you – for such a time as this. While we never know His plan, we know He will continue to show up for His children. And that’s why we keep up this hard work.

For such a time as this.