Shifting Homes. . .Craycroft Youth Center

I think it is always tough when you come into a situation and realize that its not permanent. Our lives for the most part (back home) are permanent. We know that we are loved by friends and family. We know that there is a roof over our head. We know that there will be food on our table. They may not always be what we really want, but they are what we need.

For the kids of the Craycroft Youth Center and the families of the Fresno Family Shelter, none of the above have any permanency. The stable lifestyle we enjoy is the exact opposite of their daily routines. Not more than 150 yards down the alley you run into Homeless condo’s (if you can call them that) – they are more like Toughshed’s w/outhouse’s. Granted – these are certainly more desirable than under a tent or under the bridge or under the overpass, but still its not the same as we experience.

The stories were bold and heart-wrenching.

A young girl, sixteen years old, was living at Craycroft for one (1) day. She was there that day (thursday) and gone the next. She was due to deliver her baby in October. Her face lit up when she talked about her baby. When she showed pictures of the ultrasound. She was in and out of relationships, but she loves that baby.

A father and a mother divorced – living on opposite coasts – one child between them. The mother dying of a brain tumor. The son spending this summer in the Fresno Family Shelter clings to his father. A good kid who is helpful and kind wants to spend every waking moment clutching to his daddy.

For these people, there lives are measured by every minute and every hour that ticks off the clock. How do you find work if you have no home? How do you know what a true home exists if you go from group home to group home because your mother or father abuses you? How do you find “true love” when all you know is temporal love from relationship to relationship?

Christ is the only hope for each of us! Please pray for the men, women & children at Craycroft Youth Center and the Fresno Family Shelter – especially as budget cuts may affect how Craycroft is able to support.