Pam’s Promise Transitional Housing for homeless women began in 2009 when Cheryl Farr, a retired Case Manager from a transitional housing organization in Lafayette, Indiana, was deeply burdened for homeless women in Montgomery County. Mrs. Farr, a woman of prayer and deep faith in Christ, began to pray about what could be done to help the women she met. She believed that if God wanted something to be established to minister to these women, He would make it happen. Word got around of Mrs. Farr’s desire as she worked with other organizations to help out as best she could. One day, a man named Charles McKinsey met with Cheryl to share a promise he had made with his wife, Pam, as she was dying. Pam, like Cheryl, had a burden for homeless women and had wanted to do whatever she could to help them. Pam had asked Charles to promise her that he would carry on her dream of helping women in need. As Charles spoke with Mrs. Farr, he expressed his desire to keep that promise and offered Pam’s life insurance money, as well as money he had collected from jars he had put out at restaurants asking for donations to help the homeless. The amount that Charles gave was just what was needed to get started. With God’s provision and clear leading, Cheryl took the necessary steps to move forward and Pam’s Promise was born.
“We at Pam’s Promise desire to continue Cheryl and Pam’s vision to provide homeless women a safe and healthy place to live while we work side by side teaching life skills and providing whatever is needed for each woman to get on her feet and out of the bonds of homelessness and into stable sustainable housing.”
Clients at Pam’s Promise come from many backgrounds and situations and each need someone to walk beside them to help them get back to a stable place in life.
As each client in the program is at a different point in her life and has different needs, staff at Pam’s Promise work to tailor services to meet client’s individual needs. In so doing, each woman is better equipped to transition from homelessness into stable sustainable housing.
A man made a promise to his wife and it’s been Pam’s Promise ever since. I am super grateful for this place. I’m grateful for so many things at this very moment. Many people have had brokenness in their lives and I am one of them. I am writing this because I realize the importance of Pam’s Promise for women and children in our community. Without Pam’s Promise I wouldn’t have grown as much as I have both internally and externally. Pam’s Promise gave me so much. Have you ever had a home with no foundation? A place to stand yet nothing beneath your feet, wanting so badly to begin living again. No place to lay your head at night, no place to eat or freshen up or to tackle the day’s obstacles. I have had the opportunity to begin living; to start over, move forward repairing the damage caused by my own hand. Removing trash I never intended on picking up and begin to heal. Pam’s Promise is only possible by community donations and I am grateful to all who have donated time, money, and necessities. I have had a healthy stable environment to begin taking care of things I needed to address and live. Pam’s Promise was the foundation I needed as many other women need. The directors took time out of their lives and busy schedules to get to know me and my story. They shared ideas, helpful tips, how to better prioritize and reach goals, save money, a listening ear and they gave me lots of love. I don’t think anyone can wrap their head around how important this place was for me to begin living again. I needed Pam’s Promise. The importance of having this place and other programs like this is essential in our community. Pam’s Promise needs the community to embrace them. As a community we need to overcome what is conquering us, we can snuff out the darkness. Pam’s Promise staff loved me right where I was at and they continually gave me the hope to keep moving forward. I am now in my own place and have a good job. Others have given me a chance to prove myself, what a blessing. I’m bonding with family, healing, and growing up. I am thankful to the staff and board of Pam’s Promise, the house they allowed me to live in, all the offered, and the people in the community who donated so generously.
Thank you.
Alesha Reamer