Shunammite Place offers hope and a place to live for women
‘I feel uplifted’
Homelessness in Madera: Part 1 of 8
Editor’s Note: Razi Sayed, a participant in Dr. Gary Rice’s journalism scholars program at Fresno State University, spent several weeks studying homelessness in Madera. He became intimately acquainted with the problems faced by the homeless and those who try to help them. This series of eight stories will run through June.
Sitting in the living room of an apartment unit used as an administrative office for a housing program one afternoon in early January, Wendy Stansbury felt hopeful for the first time in months.
Just the day before, the 49-year-old was admitted into Shunammite Place, a permanent supportive housing program for chronically homeless women, which has given her a stable place to live for the first time in abouty two years.
“I ran into a really bad streak of luck and became homeless — things were just horrible,” Stansbury said. “I found myself just staying with my friends, to pretty much on the street and in the river.”
Shunammite Place, which is part of the Community Action Partnership of Madera County, provides women with a stable place to heal and get back on their feet, said Gabby Salazar, who has served as resident manager of the program since October 2013...
