Selah Place

When I worked as a midwife in Pinellas County, I had the privilege of working for a community health center that served an "underserved" population.

In this role, I often had a front-row seat to generational cycles of brokenness and trauma that many times resulted in poverty, addiction, and child welfare involvement, etc.

Women would come in early in pregnancy, expectant and excited about the chance to do things differently this time around. They would be motivated and ready—two very important factors in making a major change in the trajectory of one's life.

Unfortunately, many would come back months or years later in the same circumstances and situations they started in. Sometimes they had fallen back into addition. Other times they had lost custody of the baby they had been so excited to meet and love just a short while before. It was heartbreaking.

That is why the one—and I do mean ONE—time I saw someone break the cycle and walk in freedom from past vices through one, then two, then three pregnancies and births, I had to know what made the difference.

I will never forget that precious momma's response.

She quickly smiled and said, "Two things. I found Jesus and a healthy support system."

That moment is etched in my memory because it is the moment the very foundation of Selah Place began to come together in my mind.

Last night, I received a picture of some of our participants and volunteers sitting around a table together. Learning and growing. Together.

And I found myself thinking about that conversation all over again.

Not just any support system will do.

That is why our volunteers and staff are carefully screened and why many of us walk through the same healing program our participants do. Because we want to be the kind of support system that protects, promotes, and potentiates healing and growth.

And that is why, as these women mature and grow personally and then give back to those a little newer to this path, it matters so much to us.

Seeing them love each other so well through acts of service, words of encouragement, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to share victories with... knowing they will be the ones to carry the torch... is everything. ❤

We often say, “We don’t just want to put a band-aid on poverty.”

I’m actually not sure if we made that up or borrowed it from someone. 😅 But either way, it drives so much of what we do at Selah Place.

We don’t want our mommas to leave our program and end up right back where they started — in poverty and desperation.

That’s why setting goals and working toward them from day one is such a priority for us. Yes, we want them to work hard and save while they’re in the program. But more than that, we want them to leave financially stable, with a livable wage that allows them to truly meet their family’s needs.

Sometimes that looks like job training or technical classes. Other times it looks like an entrepreneurial spirit being ignited and given the opportunity to launch.

We are so proud of our mommas who are working hard and achieving their goals. Soon they’ll be ready to leave — and not just leave, but SOAR. 💙