Floating somewhere in the gulf between the stereotype of a woman facing homelessness and the reality of the situation stands the warm-hearted, cheery Beth.
Many instinctively associate the plight of the homeless to be a chronic condition of roaming public transportation and street corners looking for food and money. Lots of otherwise well-meaning people tend to write off those unable to meet basic human needs as people who just refuse to “get a job” and assume they have never had one.
Beth, however, has lived a long while as an employed, contributing member of society. She has taken classes in and graduated from various business programs; education clearly is not the problem. Unfortunately, the economy can act mercilessly at times, and cutting costs will occasionally demand that people’s livelihoods suffer. Consequently, for the first time in her adult life, Beth found herself unemployed.
At first, Beth turned to the REST Shelter for a place to protect herself from the elements while she adjusted to this condition of an inability to sustain herself, one previously foreign to her. Talking with the women at REST gave Beth the idea to visit Sarah’s Circle, where she could receive the occasional meal, update her résumé, search for jobs, and always have someone to talk with about whatever she felt the need to discuss.
Beth’s brimming appreciation and affection for her case manager, Mandee, has led Beth to refer to Mandee as her “angelic jewel.” Looking to the future, Beth hopes to once again acquire fair and meaningful employment and to find her son, one she has not seen in nearly half a decade. Those goals may be more simply stated than completed, but with the help of Sarah’s Circle, Beth knows that they are both certainly possible.
