Home.
 

Merri­am-Webster defines it as “one's place of residence.” It’s a word many of us take for granted. It’s not only something we should all live in, but experience with those we love the most. Laurie, a client in one of our permanent supportive housing (PSH) apartments, has longed to find that feeling all her life.
 

She grew up in a large household with five siblings. She was a “daddy’s girl.”
 

“If he wanted to go somewhere, I want­ed to go. If he was working on something, I wanted to help him,” Laurie said.
 

That all changed when Laurie turned 18, when her father physically violated her.
 

“It all started with my dad,” Laurie added. “He destroyed my sense of safety, purity, protection, and our relationship ... that started the framework for all the decisions I made in my life and how that traumatized me.”
 

Laurie moved out and tried to make it on her own.
 

“I dealt with a lot of dysfunc­tion and abuse,” she said. “These family experienc­es brought me to SVDP because I didn’t feel at home in my own hometown. I felt like an outsider, always pushed out, always ostracized.”
 

As a young adult, Laurie was anything but settled. She moved from state to state and married five times. She has four adult children. When she was a single mother, there were times she slept on a pullout couch or did her laundry in the bathtub.
 

As she has reflected on her life, Laurie realizes that the lack of love she received from her father led to her looking for love in all of the wrong places.
 

“I became a nomad,” Laurie said.
 

In 2013, Laurie moved to Louisville and stayed at several local shelters. At one point, she was sleeping on a bench under Joe’s Crab Shack near the Waterfront.
 

“When you’re out homeless, your thoughts are on survival. ‘What food am I going to be able to eat today? Am I going to get hurt, robbed, killed, or raped while I’m sleeping?’ A lot of stuff that will put stress on you,’” Laurie added.
 

At the end of her rope, she looked up.
 

“I said, ‘God, I’ve been out here homeless for two and a half years and never asked You for help once. I’m so sorry. You’re my Father and I’m your child and I didn’t come to You. I’m laying it at the foot of the cross … all my problems, needs, wants. I can’t do it anymore and I need your help,’” she said.
 

Shortly thereafter, Laurie visited the Open Hand Kitchen to eat. A volunteer who lived in one of our PSH units told her about the opportunity.
 

In Aug. 2015, Laurie moved into one of the scattered-site PSH units before moving onto our Special Works Campus a little over a year ago.
 

As a national best practice, PSH pro­vides a stable, affordable, and long-term housing solution with mental healthcare and social services for those with disabil­ities. The people we serve in PSH are our most vulnerable. Everyone in PSH has at least one disability. We currently have 97 total PSH units, which includes roughly 300 people who are experiencing stability.
 

Laurie has a good “support system.”
 

“My experience here is I feel like everyone has open arms. They’re just very sweet,” Laurie said. “I finally found the peace or sense of security I’ve been looking for my entire life.”
 

Laurie, who had a stroke several years ago and uses a rollator, received a free cleaning of her one bedroom apartment from Sumak Wasi Cleaning.
 

“My physical disabilities prevent me from doing the cleaning that I really want to do. This service, to me, is a Godsend,” Laurie added.
 

Home. It’s a word Laurie doesn’t use lightly. It’s a word she is living.
 

“I finally feel at home. St. Vincent de Paul has made me feel more at home than anywhere I’ve ever been. They’re so friendly and treat us like Matthew 25, ‘Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me."