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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