Susan, who asked that her real name not be used for safety reasons, goes so far as to say it saved her life.

“I don’t know how I could have survived all that” without the Everett Women’s Shelter, she said. “We need more places like this. It’s harsh out there without work.”

Susan worked for years at Boeing, living with three kids in a 3,000-square-foot house. Then, in her late 50s, she lost everything within six months. She quit her job after developing a borderline personality disorder, along with depression. When she had to move she lost about half of her possessions when they were stolen by a moving business she found on Craigslist. She lived in her car for a few months and then used unemployment to live out of a motel.

“If this hadn’t been here…,” she said of the shelter. “Being homeless is unnerving. Where do I put my stuff? Where do I lay down to rest? Where do I lock up my medicine?”

Susan is now back at Boeing, working the swing shift, plus some overtime, on the 767 so she can move into her own place in a few months.

Counselors there helped her with mental health. “When you find out you have something – now you have something to work with,” she said.

Susan has found that she appreciates so much more in life now. “A set of keys is like gold to me,” she said. “I know I’ve made it when I have the jingle jangle of keys” signifying a house and a car. “We take those things for granted.”

She remembers her first night at the shelter, sleeping on the couch with a fan blowing in her face. “It was paradise,” she said.

She’s looking to buy a ’97 Toyota from a friend. “It’s like a BMW to me. It’s the cutest little thing in the world,” she said.

She’s even excited about bright red sheets. “Everything looks better, seems better,” she said.

One important reason Susan is working hard to get her life back in order is her youngest daughter. She lost her father in 2007, and then became homeless with Susan in 2011.

“I was the strong, central parental unit,” she said, adding her daughter ended up dropping out of high school. But, like Susan, she is now recovering mentally and physically, thanks to Boeing’s great benefits. Susan is making sure she can attend college.

Susan is in such a good state of mind that she feels she can help others. She met a woman who said she has been homeless for 10 years. She tried to recommend her to places that have helped her.

“But the only person who can help you is you,” she told the woman. “If drugs are your first love, you will never be free” of homelessness.

Susan said, “I’m the new face of homelessness – 60 and starting over.”

Charlene has been living at the shelter since June. She had been living in an apartment in Marysville and was facing eviction. She moved out and turned to couch surfing with her 19-year-old daughter.

They went to the women’s shelter, and while her daughter has since moved out with friends, Charlene stayed and entered a training program at Everett Community College in property management. She did an internship with Housing Hope using her new skills and hopes to get hired there full-time.

Until then, she works at the shelter as a resident assistant, adding more skills to her resume.

Charlene said she used to work in customer service, but felt under-appreciated and wanted to learn something new.

Born and raised in Seattle, Charlene moved to Snohomish County when her daughter was in the second grade.

“I prefer it; it’s not as crazy, and I like the schools,” she said.

Charlene said she had a hard time holding down jobs. “I’d quit and not worry about the consequences until the rent started piling up,” she said.

Charlene said because of the family shelter, “it’s not as bad as it could have been,” but she has had to live without her boyfriend of 15 years. She hopes to solve that issue by getting a job and her own place soon.

She said at EvCC she learned about fair housing laws and time management. At the shelter she has learned conflict resolution but also how to rest, rejuvenate and be positive.

“I just need to get my foot in the door somewhere,” Charlene said.

Suzanne Peterson is the program manager at the women’s shelter. As for Marysville’s effort to have one, Peterson recommended that churches, social services and the community need to all embrace the home. “It’s all about developing relationships,” Peterson said.

She said many clients who have left that shelter for jobs actually come back to volunteer because they want to stay connected.

Peterson said there are 800 homeless families in the county so a Marysville shelter certainly is needed. She said homeless are living in tents, cars and hotels trying to get their kids off to schools.

“The community needs to wrap their arms around them,” she said.

Peterson said the recession and the reduction in public services as a result reduced the ability of homeless to get back on their feet.

The goal is for women and children to only stay there up to 90 days, but it can be longer if they go to school, work or enter a recovery program.

“Our goal is not to make them homeless again,” Peterson said.

They can be more flexible because they operate through public donations, not government grants.

“They need to have a place to begin to rebuild and be safe with their children,” Peterson said.

 

 

BY STEVE POWELL

spowell@marysvilleglobe.com

SMOKEY POINT – The Lowe’s here is one of 13 from Bellevue to Bellingham that is fixing up four housing units for homeless women and children in Lowell, near Everett.

Jim Wilde, human resources manager, said Lowe’s like to give back to the community, and it has been helping the Everett Women’s Shelter for about five years. It spent $30,000 on new appliances a few years ago, and has also done cabinets, countertops and landscaping.

This year, $20,000 is being spent on new decks that will last a lifetime. The composite is made of recycled sawdust that is painted and waterproofed all the way through, so maintenance is zilch.

“We help these ladies get ready to go back to work and then we hire them,” Wilde said.

He talked of one woman in Arlington who was homeless. She went to the nearby McDonald’s, got cleaned up, went to Lowe’s and got a job. When Wilde found out she was homeless, he went with her to her campsite, helped her gather up her things, then called to get a room at the Everett Women’s Shelter.

“They just need a start and a stable place to live,” Wilde said.

He said there is a misconception that the homeless are not clean and sober.

“Anybody can make bad choices, and life can throw anybody a curve ball,” he said.