Drueding Center

Letting the Future In
Drueding Center/Project Rainbow is a place that homeless
women and children can call their own. Kareatha lost her job
when she broke her ankle and was unable to keep up her rent. Prior
to coming to Drueding, she and her two children were sharing
living space with other families
in a shelter, and she feels
extremely fortunate that her family
has a private unit at Drueding
now. “I get to cook my own
meals here and do my laundry in
the building.”
Kareatha says that the computer
lab available to her as a
resident is invaluable in looking
for employment that will enable
her to live independently. She is
on several subsidized housing
lists and looking forward to
having her own home again.
Once she’s there, case managers or family advocates from
Drueding’s After Care program will follow the progress of each person
in her family for the next seven years and provide whatever
support is still needed.
Of 86 Drueding graduates now being followed, 53 percent of the
mothers are now holding full-or part-time jobs. An additional 20
percent of the women are enrolled in job training programs or are in
school and on their way to living independently.
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“The people at Drueding are here for
"I had to learn how
you,” Janeen says. The petite mother of two
to be a mother and arrived three months ago with her two children.
Life is still a struggle, she sighs, but
build a relationship notes the programs at Drueding are just what
she needs. “I’m taking classes here now
with my kids."
because I want to be able to read to my
5-year-old.”
Looking back, Bev says that the parenting classes she took while a
resident at Drueding were critical in getting three of her five children
back from foster care. “I had to learn how to be a mother and build a relationship
with my kids. I learned the difference between their needs and
wants, and the difference between being their parent and their friend.”
Today, Bev is employed and living in her own
home with five children who are able to
count on her. She works as the coordinator
of Drueding’s on-site thrift store and
serves on the Drueding Board of Directors.
“I know I’ve accomplished something
from the look in my kids’ faces,”
says Bev. “They love me, every
last one, and they know
I love them.”