By the time a client participates in GRACE’s Transitional Housing program, the woman or family is usually at their most vulnerable. Often the unseen emotional wounds are raw due to prolonged domestic abuse, sudden career loss, human trafficking or other severe circumstances that brought them to our doors.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure that the families are not only at ease in their new home, they are introduced to the GRACE staff, volunteers and board members as their advocates and extended family.

Each Transitional Housing residence is fully furnished and decorated with great care so that each family feels at home. The GRACE staff brings a platter of cookies or refreshments as a welcome token, and typically a clergy member or pastor of their choosing comes to bring encouragement and pray over their new home.

“It’s incredible to see how empowering encouragement can be to a woman or family who has often felt inferior, defeated or hopeless after hardship,” says Transitional Housing Manager LaDondra Wilson, “assuring the families that they are in a safe, loving environment is a foundational step to establish trust.”

Our most recent client was unknowingly sold to a family that wanted to exploit her legal working visa status and arrange illegal behavior. At the time this woman was wheelchair bound and knew nothing of the language and had no other contacts in the states. She eventually escaped her captors and has since made remarkable strides to pursue her career, master the language and integrate her life with a new culture.

Entering a safe place and receiving the abundance of God’s love after her trial have made a profound impact that will likely change the trajectory of her life. Your prayers and support give hope to women and men who are facing particular difficulties that only a safe place and prayer can remedy.

Please continue to pray for the families in our Transitional Housing program, that their journey is one of progress, redemption and self-sufficiency.