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Deanna and kidsmake 180° turn

Like a withering flower, Deanna grew up undernourished, lacking even the mother an

father who brought her into the world.

“I had my grandma, but I desperately wanted my mother,” said Deanna, who grew up

south Minneapolis. “I loved mom so much. She was pretty and had so much potential, bu

she did drugs.”

“When I visited, I insulted her because I was so angry. I got in her face and made her hit m

to get her attention. I wanted her to change.”

Compounded Confusion.  Deanna’s insecurity escalated at age 15 whe

for the first time, she met her father. “Some people said I wasn’t his, but

looked exactly like him.”

Deanna “was just not there mentally” in her childhood, sh

said. “I snuck out of the house all the time. Finally, in 11

grade, I quit school.”

The Great Escape.  Deanna became a youn

mother with five children by age 27. By then she fe

utterly overwhelmed, and the desperation drove h

to drugs.

Ecstasy, like a morning cup of coffee

became a daily escape, she said. “Gettin

high, I could forget about it all. I got the kid

dressed and off to school so people thoughI was responsible. But when they cam

home, I turned them away and let the T

raise them.”

Finally Deanna lost so much weight that she w

embarrassed to look at herself in the mirror, sh

said. “People told me I looked terrible. When

thought about my pain, I’d get physically sick.”

CityS

Volume 1 • January 1, 2008

Healing House

Table of contents

Letter from the Director p2

Measured results p3

Success stories p4-5

Program spotlight p6

Donor profile p7

Thanks to you! p8

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Facing Facts. Last year Deanna decided to come

clean. “For my sake and my kids’ sake, I was ready to

deal with it and let God heal me.” But being separated

from her kids was unthinkable.

Leaving her kids during a previous rehab experience

tormented Deanna with painful flashbacks of her own

childhood without a mother. When her aunt told her

Healing House would take her kids, Deanna jumped

up and hugged her. “I was so happy.”

“Healing House has been a perfect, welcoming envi-

ronment for me to open up,” said Deanna, who began

to deal with the emotional roots of her troubles.

“Abandonment, fear, rebellion and a ‘perfor-

mance trap’ has held me hostage since my child-

hood,” she said.

“I’m dealing with my mistakes and learning how

God feels about me. I’ve stopped blaming myself for

everything.”

Parenting Skills. is has begun a turnaround

in her relationship with her kids. “Now I can set an

example for my children,” said Deanna. “I’m learning

to encourage them with positive words and not tofocus on the negative.”

Healthy discipline has been restored to Deanna’s

family. “I used to let them eat sweets and do anything

they wanted. Now I restrict their television and make

sure they eat right. I pay them more attention.”

All five of Deanna’s children, ages 6-12, attend

Hope Academy in south Minneapolis where she

 visits their classrooms twice a week. Her active

involvement has helped create an environment in

which they can succeed.

Deanna’s turnaround at Healing

House has included persona

healing, weekly visits to her kidsschool, her own GED, family

counseling, church membership

reunion with her mother and

father, and will soon include

help with job preparation and

placement.

 Work Skills. Meanwhile, Deanna is finishing work

on her GED. Soon she will receive job and moneymanagement training, resume help, and job placemen

assistance, thanks to Healing House’s partnerships

with area agencies Promise and Twin Cities Rise.

She hopes to build on previous experience as a

caretaker and house manager for Salvation Army

adding administration or management skills that wil

increase her salary, she said.

“A higher position will get us beyond living just hand

to mouth,” said Deanna.

Family Reconciliation. One of her deepest joys is

Deanna’s reunion with her mother, who is off drugs

and her father, who now calls weekly. Deanna’s family

attends New Life Church in Richfield where her

mother sings in the choir.

“God has soft-

ened my heart,”

said Deanna.

“Now I partici-

pate, and actu-ally smile!”

anks to all

who have made

the Healing

House a refuge

and strength

for mothers

and children in

crisis.

p2