Open House

 Samaritan House invites you

to an Open House at our new 

administration building at the 

former armory on Meridian Rd.

1110 2nd Street West

Kalispell, MT

September 3rd, 2009

4:30 - 6:00 pm

There will be a brief ceremony at 5:00 pm 

Live Music & Refreshments

Staff will be available for tours. 

For more info call 406-257-5801

New Kitchen Grill Surround

Mark Woods of Swank Enterprises gave us a tremendously generous and much needed gift of time and materials and put up this beautiful sheet metal behind the stove in the kitchen as well as some waterproof board behind the dishwashing sink and a few other fixes in the kitchen that he just happen to see while he was there. These two projects not only make the kitchen look cleaner but also helps us protect our investment. Samaritan House would like to sincerely thank Mark Woods for helping us out in this incredible way!!!

Casual Fridays at US Bank Are Helping Others

Samaritan House recently benefited from the casual Friday tradition at US Bank here in Kalispell. Shown here is the staff from US Bank. In order to wear jeans on Friday they make a donation to a charity fund. Through this fund they have been able to support several area nonprofits on a quarterly basis.
Thank you, US Bank, for your support.

This is the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) School of Biblical Studies staff and students as they volunteer a whole day at the Samaritan House. They painted, cleaned and did some much needed landscaping.

This is Tony Smith and staff of the Kalispell Church of Christ. They are pictured here with the things they had gathered to donate to help the families in the shelter.

All of this work, the volunteering and the donating makes the following picture possible. This is William giving the thumbs up thanking us for his stay at the Samaritan House.

William

Painting a Big Hallway

Recently a group of students from the Calvary of Albuquerque School of Ministry came to paint a couple big hallways for the shelter. It was loads of fun despite how this posed picture may look.
I sure appreciate the countless volunteers that are here keeping the Samaritan House going.

What is the biggest challenge you've faced lately?

At dinner the other night Samaritan House residents answered the following question, "What is the biggest challenge you've faced lately?"

• "Couldn't face anymore abuse and lies and finally chose to get out.  He forced me out of the house, I had to leave my two beloved dogs.  He has since left them at the pound and harassed me nonstop.  I am in the middle of a divorce and I am now homeless and find myself here at the Samaritan House.  Thankfully I am working full time.  The stress in my life is incredible.  Thank God I am sober and on my way back."
• "Handling my chronic pain."
• "Losing my pastor position and being estranged from my wife.  She is now working as a care taker for some elderly people."
• "Not drinking beer."
• "My health has kept me from being able to work any job for any length of time."
• "This winter weather that doesn't seem to go away... that and the housing slow down has left me out of work.  It's hard to wake up and see rain and even sometimes snow.  I know that this means it will be awhile before the job starts going again."
•   "My biggest challenge that I have faced lately ultimately is having to seek shelter here.  I have never experienced such things.  It has been a wake up call on my life.  It seems like my problems are minimal compared to some of the people who are here.  My boyfriend of almost four years has decided he does not want to reconcile.  I love him and it has been difficult, hurtful and sad.  It will be hard for me to start over at my age, get a job and rent a place for what I'll be making per hour.  My car is not working right and a medication that I need to take won't be here for another two months.  I have to figure out how to get that.  My boyfriend slept with my best friend and now all my friends are turning out to be his friends, so I guess I didn't really have the friends I thought I had.  That makes me sad and hurt.  My daughter sent me a letter and reminded me that after the rain there is a rainbow, to keep my hopes up and that she knows great things are coming my way.  I hope she is right."  
  

Ethan's Cookies

I thought you might enjoy seeing how well received Ethan's cookies were.

(See blog article of April 29th.)