Healing From the Inside
- Cas Marysville
- Jun 22, 2021
- 2 min read
By Sarah Lemas
We all would love to help end homelessness, but it a complex problem. So, where do we begin? “You must heal from the inside." states Judy Hoff who runs an extraordinarily successful Women’s shelter, Esther’s Place, out of Everett. In conjunction Judy also is the founder the Hoff Foundation, Queen, It's a New Day, New Creations Communities Housing and is a Pastor at the Creations Community Church. Judy has been doing this for twenty years and has found out what works and what does not. She has produced a methodology for her program and it that works!
The Hoff Foundation has a 95% success rate of getting homeless women, jobs, vehicles, enrolled in college, getting them into secure homes and becoming a contributing member of society. Judy calls it “The Five-Fold” it is as easy as counting them on your fingers.
Mental Health: Provide mental health checks for the women and help them get to their appointments.
Emotional: One of the foundations, Queen’s for a Day, takes the women to a genuinely charming hotel where they are escorted by Navy members and volunteers. They are given a makeover and at the end of a banquet they are celebrated for their stories and how they have overcome them.
Physical: Provide a safe place to stay, clothing, showers, hygiene products...etc. The New Creations Communities Home have two homes in Snohomish County where they house 22 women. The Hoff Foundation than provides the resources and life skills they need to succeed.
Spiritual: Find a spiritual connection that they can ground themselves with.
Financial: Bring them the resources they need and the means to succeed.
Something that is not in her methodology are pallet homes. They only provide for the physical needs. Yes, there will be a Social Service worker on site, but we do not know how long that person will be on site. What can someone do if they need help and that person is not available? Judy has seen women leave her program to go to one of these sites and they come right back to Esther’s Place because they could not get the real help they needed. They did not feel like part of community.
Generations CC and the NSCO have not outlined any sense of community for the homeless they want to help. They have big hearts, but they have not thought this through. Are these homeless members going to have a form of ID? Are they going to do regular mental health checks? How are they going to emotionally help these people with the continual trauma they have been through? What life skills are they teaching if they are brought meals daily? What are their disciplinary actions?
Pallet homes are a Band-Aid fix, they do not get to the root of the problem. They do more disservice to the members then good. The individual needs to heal from the inside, only then can they have the self-worth, confidence, humility, and love to succeed.
If you would like to Donate or volunteer to a worthy cause here is the link to the Hoff Foundation: https://hofffoundation.org/
Also check out “Healing the Hole in Your Heart” by Judy Hoff:
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