Have you ever attended an elementary school play? Dozens of adorable children are shining on stage and the light in their eyes and their smiles literally illuminates the auditorium. Every adult there is delighted and entertained even if none of the children is ever going to be the next Shirley Temple or Macaulay Culkin.

Most of these children have had the benefit of a bed with sheets, regular health care, stable schooling, a caring family, a home. The families of Sisters Place could tell you that these blessings should not be taken for granted. Most of our mothers and their children did not have these basic necessities until they arrived at Sisters Place. But how often they blossom after they move in!

I learned my first lesson about this phenomenon several years ago from a tiny four year old girl I'll call Jenny. She arrived at one of my former places of ministry from the chaos of homelessness and abuse. Her story was one of the most painful I had ever heard. As a result she rarely spoke and hardly ever smiled. One day as I was doing the dishes I found myself singing "This Little Light of Mine." On the second verse, I heard a tiny little voice joining in. Astonished, I turned around and there was Jenny with her arms over her head twirling, smiling and singing! Clearly her light was not extinguished. It just needed a calm, safe place . . . and a spark . . . to burst forth!

That's what Sisters Place provides for families – opportunities, security and a place where they are safe enough to begin to grow, to learn, to live up to unrealized potential: to let their light shine!

• Donna finished her elementary education degree and is now a teacher down south. Her two children are both doing well in school.
• In spite of her battle with post traumatic stress brought on by childhood abuse, Sharon is meeting little goals like attending her meetings and therapy sessions and providing a healthy home for her two children.
• Janet finished a successful internship, landed a full time job and is now in a home of her own with her ten-year-old son.
• Laurie will soon finish her undergraduate degree in counseling and is already working part time for a local non-profit, helping women overcome some of the very same issues that led her into homelessness. She has reunited with both her children and is planning to move into her own home within the next few months.
• Marnie is working at an area convenience store and saving money to go back to school. Her dream is to operate her own day care program. She recently received an award for being an outstanding mother.
• And our very first Sisters Place mother has been working for an area engineering firm for five years, owns her own home, successfully raised her children and is the newest elected member of the Sisters Place Board of Directors. Congratulations, Mitzi!

We have so many amazing stories of the triumph of the human heart. Stories that reveal how our formerly homeless mothers and their children can succeed when just a little "light" (support) is provided. It is our great privilege to witness these wonderful moments of joy and accomplishment. To see the courage they summon and the success they achieve.

Thank you all for helping us to provide the support, the regular health care, the educational opportunities, the transportation, the beds with sheets! We are so blessed, and with your continuing help we will never run out of stories to share! Let them shine, let them shine, let them shine!

Mary Parks

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