I see a shift...

I see a shift. Without a close look, it could be missed. But where I once sat down at our Drop-in dining room table and spent the day listening to women share only about the hardships of their life (and there are many!) now I also hear a lot of good news. I hear more and more women talk about getting jobs, getting off the street, seeing their parents and children again, meeting their grandkids for the first time, thinking about going back to school, and attending church. 

It’s nowhere near all of our Sisters – but there are more each week asking for help with first steps – detox or rehab, getting an ID, getting medical insurance, counseling, taking care of their medical needs. 

I don’t want to overstate what’s happening – but I don’t want to ignore it either. Many of the women we see only once, maybe twice. Ours is a transient population, but some Sisters we see nearly every time our doors are open. 

It put a smile on my face not long ago when three different women came in one morning, completely sober, to pick up a lunch on their way to work. That just wouldn’t have happened a year ago. 

Recently we identified over 60 women either already doing well or who we believe are on their on their way. 65 women whose lives have changed significantly because folks care enough to support the minis- try, volunteer to serve in the ministry, cook for the ministry, and pray for the ministry. That doesn’t include women on the Club side of our ministry, because that population is even more transient and difficult to keep up with. 

And that’s just the ladies we know about. There are others, no doubt, who’ve moved on, that we’ve lost track of, who’ve made a decision to turn their lives around. And heaven only knows how many lives we have been blessed to touch in the Club Ministry over the last 19 years. Regardless of where they’re served – in the clubs, in jail, or on the Street, there’s no doubt the encouragement and support each have received through their time with Natalie’s Sisters has made an impact. We know because they tell us so. 

I am in awe. We never would have guessed the opportunities we’d be blessed with to impact lives when we sat at that lunch table in 2000, planning to take our first meal to our first Club. 

God is faithful.

Jani Lewis, Executive Director 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to pros- per you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”