Lindsey House Needs YOU!

Yesterday, The Leslie Group/Mia Magazine (Jan, Juli, Lina and Lisa) met with Karen Streeter, the director of Transitional Living Centers of Oklahoma at their first facility, The Lindsey House, opened a little over a year ago. If you read the first post about Lindsey House, you can see that this concept gives homeless women a way to move forward, not just for a few weeks or months, but for a lifetime. The women are held accountable for obtaining a high school diploma (if they haven't), finding a job, learning to budget money, opening a savings account, and developing the skills that go along with making a good life for themselves and their children. We were immediately drawn to this concept because we believe in giving women the message that they are capable and strong, regardless of their own mistakes, bad decisions, or unfortunate circumstances that have caused them to be homeless.

We decided to put words into action, and so we have adopted an apartment unit at The Lindsey House. The unit only needs a fresh coat of paint in one room, so there are no major renovations that we have to do. Instead, we get the pleasure of decorating and supplying the family with sheets, towels, kitchen items, and all the stuff that goes along with maintaining a home (think ironing board, shower curtain, cleaning supplies, clock radio...the list goes on). We get the even bigger pleasure of welcoming the family to their new apartment with a few casseroles in the freezer, staples for the pantry, fresh flowers on move-in day! And we will begin a relationship with the family to encourage the woman as she seeks to put her life back together. We believe that every woman has a story. In fact, we believe every woman IS a story, and so we are excited to be a small part of a woman's story as she seeks to move forward and make a better life for herself.

But, we need YOUR help! We have a lot of items to collect and we would like for our readers to be a part of this adventure. Stay tuned to the blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter for ongoing stories about how you can join us as we partner with Lindsey House. If you aren't a blog follower, now is the time to follow! Join our Facebook page, and sign up to follow us on Twitter. We'll be chronicling some of our journey with Lindsey House in the magazine, but frequent updates, requests, and stories along the way will be here.

Check out the "before" photos above. YOU can be a part of making this apartment a beautiful home for a woman and her children. YOU can be a part of making her life better. Join us!