Women thrive at Folsom's Powerhouse Ministries

Steffi Broski
CNS Staff Writer

Homelessness is not always a big-city problem. Just ask Patty Record.

Record is the coordinator for Powerhouse Transition Center, a transitional living program for women in Folsom, a well-to-do suburban enclave of less than 70,000 people.

“Some women have been homeless and slept in a car, some have been in programs for years, some come to us from broken families or bad relationships,” Record said.

In 2004, Powerhouse Ministries opened the Powerhouse Transition Center on Wales Drive, offering a 9-month to 2-year transitional living program for women. Now, eight women live there, a few of them with their children, and plans are underway to expand the center.

While Folsom residents receive priority, the program accepts women from the entire Sacramento area. Residents follow a daily program of classes on finance, anger management and parenting skills. Many enroll in academic classes to earn a GED and find out what kind of work they want to do upon completing the program. Counseling is a fundamental part of their stay too. A case manager helps each person to set individual goals.

Record knows the need is much bigger. There are no overnight shelters in Folsom; homeless are forced to “disappear in the night,” she said. Record said in suburbia, the homeless are not as obvious as in downtown Sacramento.

“If you go to the park at certain times, you might see people playing cards- and all of them are probably homeless,” she said. “People have been in denial for a long time.”

Record said she knows of at least 30 homeless in Folsom, some of them children. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimated that in 2006, 30 percent of the homeless were families with children. Single women comprised 17 percent, and minors without families, 2 percent.

But exact numbers are difficult to determine, even in a community as small as Folsom.

“I know when the light rail was coming in a lot of people were against it because they were afraid that the marginalized were coming into our society,” said Stephenie Carr, the missional living director at Folsom’s Oak Hills Church. “But they are already here.”

This month, the transitional living center is planning to start an expansion. There are plans for an exercise room, a visitor’s area, a bigger classroom and a commercial kitchen. Record said she is accepting applications as there will be room for two or three more adults and a few children.

To be accepted into the center, women must be drug-free and are tested randomly during their stay. Though the program is faith-based, it is not mandatory for the women to be or become Christians. But, Record said, classes are designed with a spiritual perspective.

One of the current residents is Kathy, who declined to give her last name because she wants to shield her teenage daughter’s identity.

“I learned a lot about myself,” she said. “It was mainly the love and support that gave me an open mind to change.”

Kathy said she began using drugs at 13 and spent time in prison. Now, she is planning to become an EMT.

She said the biggest problem for women entering the center is low self-esteem. The center gives woman a safe and caring environment to build up their self image and turn their lives around, she said.

Powerhouse Ministries Pastor Nancy Atchley gives tours of the center on the first Thursday of every month.

“I feel sometimes like people think we have a bunch of addicts and alcoholics here. We started the tours so people see this is not a dump,” said Record. “It’s a bunch of neat ladies in here that picked themselves up and are doing something with their lives.”

Several area churches, volunteers and non-profit organizations assist Powerhouse Ministries. Oak Hills Church volunteers cook and serve dinners to women and children at the center for two to three months per year.

Like other non-profit organizations, the economic downturn has had an effect on Powerhouse Ministries, Carr said. Powerhouse receives about 100 calls per week asking for assistance with food, rent and gas.

“People used to turn to family members and close friends when they lost their home, but now you have whole extended families that have this problem,” said Carr. “It’s a really complicated issue.”

With a declining economy, the need for funding and volunteers for programs such as the Powerhouse Transition Center, or its other areas of service like the Drop-in-Center and Neighborhood Outreach, is bigger than ever. Unfortunately, resources dwindle as fewer people are able to donate money.

“No matter how hard we are hit by this economy, there are people that are hit harder,” she said. “Some people have to eat a dinner that costs less, but others don’t eat anything.”