We asked Angela to share her story about the difficulties she faced as a returning citizen and the need she had for a place to stay and the support a shelter can provide.

My name is Angela. I am in recovery. I am a mother of 3. I have two daughters.  When 16 years old, I lost my first-born, a son. to a medical condition while he was infant. When I was 13 years old, I started using with my older sisters. I gave birth to my oldest daughter shortly after graduating high school. When my infant passed away, I dealt with a lot of bullying and ended up in Juvenile Detention for fighting. On the day I got out of juvenile detention for a 28 day sentence my brother was killed. Soon after my cousin was killed in an alcohol related car accident.  One can start to see that by 18 years old there was already a lot of inner turmoil in my life.

I have been convicted for minor misdemeanors, felony (receiving stolen property) and forgery. My first time being incarcerated as an adult was in January, 2013. I was indicted in December, 2012, for felony charges and had pending court for a misdemeanor theft charge. I was 24 years old, addicted to crack cocaine and opiates. I did not receive re-entry services or aftercare from my incarcerations.

When I went to court, I begged for help with my addiction. I knew I was powerless on my own. Instead, I served 30 days and was out. The court could not help.  The one option I was recommended was to attend outpatient services.  After 90 days, without accompaniment, I relapsed, and return to jail for failing drug testing.  Another 45 days. 

The St. Vincent de Paul Mens Shelter of Delaware County will purchase or rent a home or building in the city of Delaware, Ohio. The shelter aims to initially accommodate 5 men being released from jail, prison or treatment facilities and with nowhere to go upon release for emergency or short-term stays.

Men leaving incarceration will be referred to the facility after having been screened by the jail facility.

There will be written policies and procedures governing staff and clients that will be reviewed upon the arrival of a client. Men will be required to do household chores, follow requirements of case managers, apply for jobs and follow the rules of the facility.

Living necessities will be provided for clients. In-house services planned include meals, toiletries, laundry, showers, a mailing address, transportation, access to phone and voice mail and a locked area for prescription drugs and personal items.

Shelter alone is not the sole aim. Plans are to provide mentorship to help the individual to find employment and permanent shelter. The shelter will provide training in life skills and self-reliance by skilled volunteer mentors and community service agencies. SVdP Mens Shelter recognizes the value that the community plays in helping to reshape the lives of those in need and has developed relationships with individuals and community organizations throughout Delaware County to assure our residents will receive the care and services they need during and after their stay in the shelter. 

As you saw in our last blog post by Phil Hanus, the Men’s Shelter of Delaware County received a Systemic Change grant from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s National Office. "Just what is systemic change," you ask? I am going to attempt to explain just what that means to you.

The Vincentian Family of North America has defined Systemic Change as:

Systemic Change among those living in poverty aims beyond providing food, clothing, shelter and alleviating immediate needs. It enables people themselves to engage in the identification of the root causes of their poverty and to create strategies, including advocacy, to change those structures which keep them in poverty. Systemic Change requires transforming attitudes.

Or – to put it more simply – “systemic change happens when change pervades all or most of the system leading to change in the system itself.” Well, my 3^rd grade vocabulary teacher would not like this definition because the definition used the word being defined.

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