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Do You See Success?
The state average for permanent housing exits out of emergency shelters is 25%.
At Anchor House, our rate is over twice the state average at 59%.
Titus
In record time! Titus found work, saved, saved, saved, and got himself this nice place in less than a month!! What a champ!
We want to know your secret! How did you do that?!
To sponsor a guest like Titus, donate using the link below:
We want to know your secret! How did you do that?!
To sponsor a guest like Titus, donate using the link below:
Barry & Tina
After two stays at Anchor House and completing a drug addiction treatment program, Barry and Tina Lawson recently moved into their own apartment in Seymour.
On Aug. 5, with help from some Anchor House guests, they began moving their belongings into their new place.
“Going into Anchor House, you’re pretty much at your lowest point, and while you’re there at Anchor House, you can feel yourself getting out from the dark,” Tina said. “Slowly but surely — sometimes slower than most — you feel different. Then when the outcome is something like that, it’s crazy. It’s crazy cool.”
As Barry looked around his new apartment, he said, “You’re not going to find this anywhere else in town. It’s a nice apartment.”
The Lawsons have been together for 28 years and married for four years. Tina is originally from San, Diego, California, while Barry grew up in northern Indiana and Kentucky. They moved to Indiana in 2002 and to Seymour in 2004 for work.
Both worked at local factories over the years. Last year, Barry lost his job, and the couple found themselves homeless for the first time.
“It was down to the wire then, and wintertime was coming. We needed to just get off the streets,” Tina said.
Barry said they also needed treatment for their drug addictions.
“Anchor House is a good program if you work it. It really is,” he said. “I’ll never talk bad about it. If you try to go to any other town and try to find a homeless shelter and go to it, you will not find one like this in Seymour. They actually try to help you. You’ve got a bed waiting on you as long as you’re abiding by the rules.”
Tina said it was beneficial to her because she was disabled at the time.
“I can’t do the walking not knowing where I’m going to be,” she said. “It was real comforting to know that. It was a relief that we’ve landed for a little while.”
After about four months, the Lawsons went to a treatment center. In February, they returned to Anchor House since they still didn’t have a home, and Housing Director Amanda Schrader was ready and willing to help.
“We came back, and Amanda with her arms wide open, she said, ‘Yep, we’re starting over. Let’s do this the right way,’” Tina said. “We came back with a clear head. We’re just done fighting the system and just knew we had to settle down. We’re not spring chickens anymore, and the streets aren’t as cool as they used to be.”
Earlier this summer, Schrader connected Barry to the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which pays wages for someone 55 and older to work at Anchor House. River Valley Resources placed Barry at the food pantry.
“Amanda is absolutely amazing,” Barry said. “This last time we went in, I saw people actually moving out and doing things. Me being a tenant there made me feel hopeful because of the work that Amanda does, like positive things can happen.”
Tina said Amanda is one of the most caring people she has ever met.
“If she cares about you, you know about it. If you mess up, you know about it. I call her a unicorn for that reason,” Tina said. “She’s very special, and you don’t meet many people like that. She’s unique.”
Amanda helped the Lawsons get on waiting lists for housing, which led to them landing an apartment.
“Just unbelievable, coming in and just feeling a weight fall off my shoulders,” Tina said. “There’s the confidence of knowing that I can go forward and not have to worry about being homeless. That’s added a lot of confidence to me. It’s a humbling experience being homeless, but at Anchor House, you don’t feel homeless. You don’t feel it because you have your space. I’ve met friends there that I could say I have lasting relationships with because it’s all clean and sober, and that’s very beneficial.”
Amanda said hard work got the Lawsons to where they are today. Plus, the love between them and the love they have for their five children.
“I think they just had a lot to work for,” Amanda said. “They have two new grandbabies on the way and a little grandbaby that’s almost a year old, so I think they knew that it was time.”
Tammi Hunnicutt, program case manager for Anchor House, said the Lawsons have done great and accomplished a lot.
“They’ve stayed sober. They’ve worked really hard at doing that, and I think that was a big accomplishment for them,” Tammi said. “I’m proud of them. I know it’s been a rough ride for all of us. I have just as many emotions as they do.”
Tammi also is excited for the Lawsons to be reunited with their dog, Dusty, soon.
“I can’t wait. He’s like my kid,” Tina said, smiling.
To sponsor a guest like Barry & Tina, donate using the link below:
On Aug. 5, with help from some Anchor House guests, they began moving their belongings into their new place.
“Going into Anchor House, you’re pretty much at your lowest point, and while you’re there at Anchor House, you can feel yourself getting out from the dark,” Tina said. “Slowly but surely — sometimes slower than most — you feel different. Then when the outcome is something like that, it’s crazy. It’s crazy cool.”
As Barry looked around his new apartment, he said, “You’re not going to find this anywhere else in town. It’s a nice apartment.”
The Lawsons have been together for 28 years and married for four years. Tina is originally from San, Diego, California, while Barry grew up in northern Indiana and Kentucky. They moved to Indiana in 2002 and to Seymour in 2004 for work.
Both worked at local factories over the years. Last year, Barry lost his job, and the couple found themselves homeless for the first time.
“It was down to the wire then, and wintertime was coming. We needed to just get off the streets,” Tina said.
Barry said they also needed treatment for their drug addictions.
“Anchor House is a good program if you work it. It really is,” he said. “I’ll never talk bad about it. If you try to go to any other town and try to find a homeless shelter and go to it, you will not find one like this in Seymour. They actually try to help you. You’ve got a bed waiting on you as long as you’re abiding by the rules.”
Tina said it was beneficial to her because she was disabled at the time.
“I can’t do the walking not knowing where I’m going to be,” she said. “It was real comforting to know that. It was a relief that we’ve landed for a little while.”
After about four months, the Lawsons went to a treatment center. In February, they returned to Anchor House since they still didn’t have a home, and Housing Director Amanda Schrader was ready and willing to help.
“We came back, and Amanda with her arms wide open, she said, ‘Yep, we’re starting over. Let’s do this the right way,’” Tina said. “We came back with a clear head. We’re just done fighting the system and just knew we had to settle down. We’re not spring chickens anymore, and the streets aren’t as cool as they used to be.”
Earlier this summer, Schrader connected Barry to the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which pays wages for someone 55 and older to work at Anchor House. River Valley Resources placed Barry at the food pantry.
“Amanda is absolutely amazing,” Barry said. “This last time we went in, I saw people actually moving out and doing things. Me being a tenant there made me feel hopeful because of the work that Amanda does, like positive things can happen.”
Tina said Amanda is one of the most caring people she has ever met.
“If she cares about you, you know about it. If you mess up, you know about it. I call her a unicorn for that reason,” Tina said. “She’s very special, and you don’t meet many people like that. She’s unique.”
Amanda helped the Lawsons get on waiting lists for housing, which led to them landing an apartment.
“Just unbelievable, coming in and just feeling a weight fall off my shoulders,” Tina said. “There’s the confidence of knowing that I can go forward and not have to worry about being homeless. That’s added a lot of confidence to me. It’s a humbling experience being homeless, but at Anchor House, you don’t feel homeless. You don’t feel it because you have your space. I’ve met friends there that I could say I have lasting relationships with because it’s all clean and sober, and that’s very beneficial.”
Amanda said hard work got the Lawsons to where they are today. Plus, the love between them and the love they have for their five children.
“I think they just had a lot to work for,” Amanda said. “They have two new grandbabies on the way and a little grandbaby that’s almost a year old, so I think they knew that it was time.”
Tammi Hunnicutt, program case manager for Anchor House, said the Lawsons have done great and accomplished a lot.
“They’ve stayed sober. They’ve worked really hard at doing that, and I think that was a big accomplishment for them,” Tammi said. “I’m proud of them. I know it’s been a rough ride for all of us. I have just as many emotions as they do.”
Tammi also is excited for the Lawsons to be reunited with their dog, Dusty, soon.
“I can’t wait. He’s like my kid,” Tina said, smiling.
To sponsor a guest like Barry & Tina, donate using the link below:
Amy
Amy did the hard things, she beat the odds, she had patience with the process, and today we celebrate all she's accomplished!
To sponsor a guest like Amy, donate using the link below:
To sponsor a guest like Amy, donate using the link below:
Ron
Up until last fall, Ron lived out of a tent in the woods. He mentioned times he slept in the snow in just a sleeping bag.
“Because I was deaf and couldn’t hear, I was just doing drugs and just trying to forget about everything,” he said.
Back then, the housing director at Anchor House in Seymour, Amanda Schrader, helped him get food stamps. He said she told him that if he ever needed help, he knew where to find her. He said that stuck in his mind.
Last November, his life reached a turning point.
“I was down and out. I was hungry. I believe it was raining if I remember right,” he said.
In his tent, he got down on his knees and really prayed for the first time in his life, he said. He described the prayer.
“Jesus, I’ve been homeless now for a long time. I have got nothing going for me. I’m a piece of crap, Jesus,” he said.
He asked for a heart attack or something to end the suffering, he said.
“I must have slept for like three or four days maybe, because of the meth, you know, and I woke up. Usually, the first thing on my mind was to get drugs, or to find money to get the drugs. I had none of that.”
Instead, Amanda’s words came into his mind.
“Amanda was my angel,” he said.
Speckner enrolled at Anchor House – the city’s only homeless shelter – on Nov. 17, 2025. At first, he had to communicate only in writing because he could not hear.
He described how Anchor House gave him a place to stay, fed him, helped him get hearing aids, set him up with a job and helped him rebuild his life.
Amanda selected Speckner for a program that sponsors the wages of workers over 55.
“Ron is a great staff member,” said Ben Yee, who is the present executive director of Anchor House. “Just a great attitude. He helps with all sorts of things and is really making a difference in our food pantry.”
Speckner said he saves every penny he makes.
“I’m gonna be wise with my money because wise me have plenty of money,” Speckner said.
Ron was homeless for 20 years before coming to Anchor House.
To sponsor a guest like Ron, donate using the link below:
“Because I was deaf and couldn’t hear, I was just doing drugs and just trying to forget about everything,” he said.
Back then, the housing director at Anchor House in Seymour, Amanda Schrader, helped him get food stamps. He said she told him that if he ever needed help, he knew where to find her. He said that stuck in his mind.
Last November, his life reached a turning point.
“I was down and out. I was hungry. I believe it was raining if I remember right,” he said.
In his tent, he got down on his knees and really prayed for the first time in his life, he said. He described the prayer.
“Jesus, I’ve been homeless now for a long time. I have got nothing going for me. I’m a piece of crap, Jesus,” he said.
He asked for a heart attack or something to end the suffering, he said.
“I must have slept for like three or four days maybe, because of the meth, you know, and I woke up. Usually, the first thing on my mind was to get drugs, or to find money to get the drugs. I had none of that.”
Instead, Amanda’s words came into his mind.
“Amanda was my angel,” he said.
Speckner enrolled at Anchor House – the city’s only homeless shelter – on Nov. 17, 2025. At first, he had to communicate only in writing because he could not hear.
He described how Anchor House gave him a place to stay, fed him, helped him get hearing aids, set him up with a job and helped him rebuild his life.
Amanda selected Speckner for a program that sponsors the wages of workers over 55.
“Ron is a great staff member,” said Ben Yee, who is the present executive director of Anchor House. “Just a great attitude. He helps with all sorts of things and is really making a difference in our food pantry.”
Speckner said he saves every penny he makes.
“I’m gonna be wise with my money because wise me have plenty of money,” Speckner said.
Ron was homeless for 20 years before coming to Anchor House.
To sponsor a guest like Ron, donate using the link below:
Justeen
Once Justeen Vanness changed the people, places and things in her life, she began rebuilding her life.
A drug issue led to her becoming homeless and giving temporary guardianship of her son, Wyatt, to her mother.
“She told me that I had four months to get clean or I wasn’t getting him back,” Justeen said. “That was my main focus.”
In mid-June 2025, Justeen wound up at Anchor House for the second time. She had been clean since Oct. 16, 2024, but she didn’t have a home.
While enrolled in the Anchor House program, Justeen took classes to help her with parenting, finances and living skills. Plus, she went to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, got a job at White Castle in Seymour and submitted applications to apartment complexes.
“I never wanted to get clean, and then I went to all of these meetings and just stuck with it,” she said. “You can talk about anything over there, and whatever you talk about stays there. It just keeps me from going back to doing drugs again. I’ve got plenty of NA books that I can read. You’ve just got to change your people, places and things.”
This time around, she was focused on attending classes at Anchor House so she could have a better life for herself and Wyatt.
“It’s my safe place here,” Justeen said. “This was the second time I’ve been here, so I can talk to Amanda (Schrader, housing director) about anything. This is my safe spot.”
On March 20, she had saved up enough money to leave Anchor House and move into her own apartment. Even better, she reunited with Wyatt, and they are now living there together.
Wyatt is Justeen’s encouragement to stay clean, and so are the tokens she receives from NA. On April 17, she’ll receive her eight-month token.
“If it wasn’t for my son, I’d probably be back to doing (drugs),” Justeen said. “He’s a big motivator. My main motivator is him.”
She hadn’t had her own place since 2012.
“I love it,” she said. “It was nerve-racking signing the lease because I haven’t been on my own sober, so this is a new opportunity. I’m on my own, I’m sober and my kid has his own room, his own space.”
She has been working at White Castle since September 2025, but she hopes to work toward a different career that has been a longtime passion.
“I eventually want to go back to school to be a CNA,” Justeen said. “It’s been my dream since like elementary school. … That’s my dream is to be a nurse. My whole family has been in the nursing field, so that’s my main focus.”
She also wants to get her driver’s license, as she has a permit now.
Her accomplishments so far have been big thanks to Anchor House, and she will continue to apply what she learned there to her life. She also thanks her mother for helping with Wyatt.
“If It wasn’t for here, I don’t know where I’d be,” she said. “It’s been a struggle, but I’ve done it.”
Amanda said she’s most proud of Justeen for being 18 months clean. Justeen continues to attend NA classes even though she’s no longer at Anchor House.
“I just think that’s amazing,” Amanda said. “She got a job, worked hard, saved her money, saved her tax check, just did everything correct, just the ideal way that you want someone to come in and work the program, attended classes. She just was wonderful.”
Seeing Justeen move into her own apartment was a big deal to Amanda.
“The difference between the first time she was here to now, she has just grown so much, especially in her parenting,” Amanda said. “She’s very hands-on with Wyatt, doing chore charts, giving him responsibilities. I’m anxious to see how their relationship grows now that they are on their own. I think the most rewarding thing for me to see with her is just the way that they get along so much better now and the way that she parents.”
To sponsor a guest like Justeen, donate using the link below:
A drug issue led to her becoming homeless and giving temporary guardianship of her son, Wyatt, to her mother.
“She told me that I had four months to get clean or I wasn’t getting him back,” Justeen said. “That was my main focus.”
In mid-June 2025, Justeen wound up at Anchor House for the second time. She had been clean since Oct. 16, 2024, but she didn’t have a home.
While enrolled in the Anchor House program, Justeen took classes to help her with parenting, finances and living skills. Plus, she went to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, got a job at White Castle in Seymour and submitted applications to apartment complexes.
“I never wanted to get clean, and then I went to all of these meetings and just stuck with it,” she said. “You can talk about anything over there, and whatever you talk about stays there. It just keeps me from going back to doing drugs again. I’ve got plenty of NA books that I can read. You’ve just got to change your people, places and things.”
This time around, she was focused on attending classes at Anchor House so she could have a better life for herself and Wyatt.
“It’s my safe place here,” Justeen said. “This was the second time I’ve been here, so I can talk to Amanda (Schrader, housing director) about anything. This is my safe spot.”
On March 20, she had saved up enough money to leave Anchor House and move into her own apartment. Even better, she reunited with Wyatt, and they are now living there together.
Wyatt is Justeen’s encouragement to stay clean, and so are the tokens she receives from NA. On April 17, she’ll receive her eight-month token.
“If it wasn’t for my son, I’d probably be back to doing (drugs),” Justeen said. “He’s a big motivator. My main motivator is him.”
She hadn’t had her own place since 2012.
“I love it,” she said. “It was nerve-racking signing the lease because I haven’t been on my own sober, so this is a new opportunity. I’m on my own, I’m sober and my kid has his own room, his own space.”
She has been working at White Castle since September 2025, but she hopes to work toward a different career that has been a longtime passion.
“I eventually want to go back to school to be a CNA,” Justeen said. “It’s been my dream since like elementary school. … That’s my dream is to be a nurse. My whole family has been in the nursing field, so that’s my main focus.”
She also wants to get her driver’s license, as she has a permit now.
Her accomplishments so far have been big thanks to Anchor House, and she will continue to apply what she learned there to her life. She also thanks her mother for helping with Wyatt.
“If It wasn’t for here, I don’t know where I’d be,” she said. “It’s been a struggle, but I’ve done it.”
Amanda said she’s most proud of Justeen for being 18 months clean. Justeen continues to attend NA classes even though she’s no longer at Anchor House.
“I just think that’s amazing,” Amanda said. “She got a job, worked hard, saved her money, saved her tax check, just did everything correct, just the ideal way that you want someone to come in and work the program, attended classes. She just was wonderful.”
Seeing Justeen move into her own apartment was a big deal to Amanda.
“The difference between the first time she was here to now, she has just grown so much, especially in her parenting,” Amanda said. “She’s very hands-on with Wyatt, doing chore charts, giving him responsibilities. I’m anxious to see how their relationship grows now that they are on their own. I think the most rewarding thing for me to see with her is just the way that they get along so much better now and the way that she parents.”
To sponsor a guest like Justeen, donate using the link below:
Christina
A year ago, Christina Mills experienced being homeless for the second time in her life.
After the death of her husband in 2020, she was homeless for about three years, sometimes living in her van with her dog. She also drank alcohol and battled depression.
“When my husband passed away, it became drinking for pain,” she said. “It’s a total different kind of drinking. I feel like it’s more addictive because you don’t want to feel that pain, so you’re like, ‘I’m just going to go ahead and get a bottle.’”
Last year, she came to Indiana from Utah in hopes of becoming stable. She attended school in Scottsburg until moving to Texas and later Utah. Her sister lives in Crothersville, but it didn’t work out for her to stay there.
The week of Halloween, she had to put her dog down due to heart problems, and three days later, her sister dropped her off at Anchor House’s East Shelter in Seymour.
“The first night was very rough for me, but then I woke up the next day, ‘All right, let’s just do this. It’s time to get better. If I don’t get better here, I’m not going to get better at all,’” Christina said.
While she was upset with her sister and they didn’t speak for a while, Christina said she eventually realized Anchor House was the best thing for her at that moment.
“One day could just change your entire life,” she said. “You could go to bed happy, and you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so she brought me here. I had nothing. I went from being so happy to reduced to a trash bag (full of her belongings). That’s it.”
The staff at Anchor House helped her search for housing and a job, and she soon found an apartment and started working at Goodwill in Seymour.
“I came here and realized I had hit rock bottom and started doing things right away,” Christina said. “I never knew how much I wanted to live until you just have no reason to live. You want to die, but then you never realize how much you want to live until you actually wait that one more day. If I could tell people, ‘If you just hold on that one more day, you never know.’ That may be another day and another day, but just keep going.”
She started attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes and became sober. She also took job skills and cooking classes and started taking medication to control her mental health. Plus, she helped the Anchor House staff and fellow residents in various ways.
“I came here and chose to be positive and help others,” Christina said. “I really think I have a knack for helping others. I’m probably too kind, though, but people come to me a lot. My own life’s still not where it should be, but it’s nowhere near where it was.”
Since leaving Anchor House in December 2024, Christina has remained in her apartment and now has two dogs.
On Wednesday, she had an interview for an at-home position with Aetna insurance company and was offered the job and accepted it.
“I also have rheumatoid arthritis. Working for me is hard, but I can work. I just can’t stand on my feet the whole day,” she said. “I’ve been looking for a job since I left Utah. I’ve worked for the company before.”
Now, Christina said she feels like a success. Her experience at Anchor House helped boost her confidence and made a very big impact.
“I wanted to live again,” she said. “I didn’t know I was a success until they taught me because I’m still working on self-esteem. The staff was very nice to me. I felt like I was part of the staff sometimes because I was always talking to this person trying to help them. At the same time, after that person’s smiling, then you see somebody else off in the corner and it’s like, ‘Oh, let me go check on them.’ I started helping out more, which actually helped me.”
She continues to go to AA classes, and she just started volunteering at Anchor House’s community food pantry, which is open Mondays and Thursdays at the South Vine Street location.
She also would like to advocate for dogs and work with a shelter, and she would like to start a grief group to help people deal with the loss of a loved one and learn to smile and laugh again.
“I’m more bubbly. I feel my old self coming back,” Christina said. “There’s a difference, though. I say old self. I don’t want to go back to my old self. I want to be a better version. I don’t even want to drink for fun or anything like that. I’m actually just wanting to do better, period. I want better. I want to be better.”
She has Anchor House to thank for turning her life around.
“I feel like they saved my life,” she said. “I’m not a survive-on-the-streets kind of girl. I would have been in trouble, either in jail or just hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don’t know if I would have had these opportunities. I honestly don’t know if I’d be alive.”
But she is, and she’s thriving and smiling.
“You do start smiling again, but it took me coming here to realize ‘You either do the program, Christina, or you’re just going to die because you’re out there drinking your life away,’” she said. “I started choosing who I hung out with. I’m learning to get myself out there again because I want to help others. I think I’d be wonderful at it. I’ve always felt like I have a servant’s heart.”
She said sometimes, people have to go through pain just to wake up, and going through the program at Anchor House was her wakeup call.
“If one person gets help from my story, then I’ve gone through what I need to go through on purpose,” she said. “I had a purpose for it.”
To sponsor a guest like Titus, donate using the link below:
After the death of her husband in 2020, she was homeless for about three years, sometimes living in her van with her dog. She also drank alcohol and battled depression.
“When my husband passed away, it became drinking for pain,” she said. “It’s a total different kind of drinking. I feel like it’s more addictive because you don’t want to feel that pain, so you’re like, ‘I’m just going to go ahead and get a bottle.’”
Last year, she came to Indiana from Utah in hopes of becoming stable. She attended school in Scottsburg until moving to Texas and later Utah. Her sister lives in Crothersville, but it didn’t work out for her to stay there.
The week of Halloween, she had to put her dog down due to heart problems, and three days later, her sister dropped her off at Anchor House’s East Shelter in Seymour.
“The first night was very rough for me, but then I woke up the next day, ‘All right, let’s just do this. It’s time to get better. If I don’t get better here, I’m not going to get better at all,’” Christina said.
While she was upset with her sister and they didn’t speak for a while, Christina said she eventually realized Anchor House was the best thing for her at that moment.
“One day could just change your entire life,” she said. “You could go to bed happy, and you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day. I didn’t have anywhere to go, so she brought me here. I had nothing. I went from being so happy to reduced to a trash bag (full of her belongings). That’s it.”
The staff at Anchor House helped her search for housing and a job, and she soon found an apartment and started working at Goodwill in Seymour.
“I came here and realized I had hit rock bottom and started doing things right away,” Christina said. “I never knew how much I wanted to live until you just have no reason to live. You want to die, but then you never realize how much you want to live until you actually wait that one more day. If I could tell people, ‘If you just hold on that one more day, you never know.’ That may be another day and another day, but just keep going.”
She started attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes and became sober. She also took job skills and cooking classes and started taking medication to control her mental health. Plus, she helped the Anchor House staff and fellow residents in various ways.
“I came here and chose to be positive and help others,” Christina said. “I really think I have a knack for helping others. I’m probably too kind, though, but people come to me a lot. My own life’s still not where it should be, but it’s nowhere near where it was.”
Since leaving Anchor House in December 2024, Christina has remained in her apartment and now has two dogs.
On Wednesday, she had an interview for an at-home position with Aetna insurance company and was offered the job and accepted it.
“I also have rheumatoid arthritis. Working for me is hard, but I can work. I just can’t stand on my feet the whole day,” she said. “I’ve been looking for a job since I left Utah. I’ve worked for the company before.”
Now, Christina said she feels like a success. Her experience at Anchor House helped boost her confidence and made a very big impact.
“I wanted to live again,” she said. “I didn’t know I was a success until they taught me because I’m still working on self-esteem. The staff was very nice to me. I felt like I was part of the staff sometimes because I was always talking to this person trying to help them. At the same time, after that person’s smiling, then you see somebody else off in the corner and it’s like, ‘Oh, let me go check on them.’ I started helping out more, which actually helped me.”
She continues to go to AA classes, and she just started volunteering at Anchor House’s community food pantry, which is open Mondays and Thursdays at the South Vine Street location.
She also would like to advocate for dogs and work with a shelter, and she would like to start a grief group to help people deal with the loss of a loved one and learn to smile and laugh again.
“I’m more bubbly. I feel my old self coming back,” Christina said. “There’s a difference, though. I say old self. I don’t want to go back to my old self. I want to be a better version. I don’t even want to drink for fun or anything like that. I’m actually just wanting to do better, period. I want better. I want to be better.”
She has Anchor House to thank for turning her life around.
“I feel like they saved my life,” she said. “I’m not a survive-on-the-streets kind of girl. I would have been in trouble, either in jail or just hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don’t know if I would have had these opportunities. I honestly don’t know if I’d be alive.”
But she is, and she’s thriving and smiling.
“You do start smiling again, but it took me coming here to realize ‘You either do the program, Christina, or you’re just going to die because you’re out there drinking your life away,’” she said. “I started choosing who I hung out with. I’m learning to get myself out there again because I want to help others. I think I’d be wonderful at it. I’ve always felt like I have a servant’s heart.”
She said sometimes, people have to go through pain just to wake up, and going through the program at Anchor House was her wakeup call.
“If one person gets help from my story, then I’ve gone through what I need to go through on purpose,” she said. “I had a purpose for it.”
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Lisa
Lisa McIntosh was about to leave the intensive care unit after battling pneumonia when she received a text message from a family member who she was living with to let her know she had to move out.
All of a sudden, she had no home.
Fortunately, a case worker at the hospital led her to Anchor House's East Shelter in Seymour.
While it took her time to adjust to her temporary home, she soon found her place.
"They're nice," Lisa said of the staff. "They sat me down and explained everything to me, and I did what they said. I went through their rules and did what they had to say."
Lisa worked through the program, which includes classes on finances, self-esteem, hygiene, cooking and other life skills that help people overcome challenges and get back on their feet.
"I put my heart into it and did what I needed to do to get out of here," she said.
Amanda Schrader, program case manager for Anchor House, had high praise for Lisa.
"When Lisa first came in, she was very unhappy about being here. She didn't really want to work the program," Amanda said. "But she was also sick. She had just come out of the hospital, and just in her time here, I think that she got her mental health under control, her physical health improved, and I think when those two things improved, I just saw her flourish."
Amanda said Lisa would gather others for classes and often was the one answering questions during class.
"She did great," Amanda said. "She always saved her money. She was positive with the other clients, and I think that they kind of looked up to her. She became ring leader. She just worked the program and did great. The Lisa that came in isn't the Lisa that left. I think her self-esteem just really improved, and she knew she could do it."
On a recent Monday, Lisa moved out of Anchor House and into her own apartment. The next day, she used money she saved while at Anchor House to pay cash for a vehicle.
"She just had goals, and she stuck to it and she met them all," Amanda said. "That's amazing to me in six months."
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All of a sudden, she had no home.
Fortunately, a case worker at the hospital led her to Anchor House's East Shelter in Seymour.
While it took her time to adjust to her temporary home, she soon found her place.
"They're nice," Lisa said of the staff. "They sat me down and explained everything to me, and I did what they said. I went through their rules and did what they had to say."
Lisa worked through the program, which includes classes on finances, self-esteem, hygiene, cooking and other life skills that help people overcome challenges and get back on their feet.
"I put my heart into it and did what I needed to do to get out of here," she said.
Amanda Schrader, program case manager for Anchor House, had high praise for Lisa.
"When Lisa first came in, she was very unhappy about being here. She didn't really want to work the program," Amanda said. "But she was also sick. She had just come out of the hospital, and just in her time here, I think that she got her mental health under control, her physical health improved, and I think when those two things improved, I just saw her flourish."
Amanda said Lisa would gather others for classes and often was the one answering questions during class.
"She did great," Amanda said. "She always saved her money. She was positive with the other clients, and I think that they kind of looked up to her. She became ring leader. She just worked the program and did great. The Lisa that came in isn't the Lisa that left. I think her self-esteem just really improved, and she knew she could do it."
On a recent Monday, Lisa moved out of Anchor House and into her own apartment. The next day, she used money she saved while at Anchor House to pay cash for a vehicle.
"She just had goals, and she stuck to it and she met them all," Amanda said. "That's amazing to me in six months."
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Taylor
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Clay
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Kali & Angela
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Brenda
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Brandon & Bri
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Jason
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Desiree
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Tammie
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Kiana
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Paulie
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Mary, Abby, & Darlene
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