I heard about Saint John’s from a couple at my church, Fair Oaks Presbyterian, who have been helping prepare and serve dinner at Saint John’s for 10+ years. They bring various family and friends with them to serve the monthly taco night at Saint John’s, which I have heard is one of the clients’ favorite…
Read MoreHomeAid Sacramento-People Building the Way Home
Saint John’s Program for Real Change is known for inspiring almost magical, personal transformations within the women and children who temporarily call its facilities “home.” Living and learning in the safe and nurturing environment of the sanctuary buildings and grounds, Saint John’s Program participants enjoy the support they need to rebuild and transition their lives….
Read MoreFamily & Relationship Violence Awareness Month
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The meaning of domestic violence and our struggle to understand, intervene, and treat the injury and aftermath continues to evolve.
Read MoreThe First Steps to Success
Like all of the women at Saint John’s Program for Real Change, Sandy and Starr share common qualities – courage, resiliency and strength. And, like all of the women who step through the red door at Saint John’s, they have had their share of adversity and despondency including depression, drug and alcohol dependence, abusive relationships,…
Read MoreThe Red Door Stories-Alicia
An innocent, newborn baby…what, exactly, did Mikhayla do to deserve the cruel life she was given? Why did she have to endure a world of such pain few of us can fathom, from the day she was born? The ninth child in a hopelessly broken family, the cold, cruel answer is…nothing. Nothing at all.
Read More11-Year-Old Leah Nelson Throws Saint John’s a Surprise Party
To promote and encourage random acts of kindness, Leah Nelson, an 11-year-old visionary from Sacramento, created BecuzIcare11 in July of 2016. Leah’s message of kindness is spread through Rainbow Loom bracelets, made of rubber bands, which are given to people to encourage paying kindness forward.
Read MoreThe Red Door Stories-Sabrina
At just nineteen young years of age, Sabrina found herself sleeping under a bridge, alone in the cold, and pregnant. Born into a world filled with alcoholism, drug abuse, and violence, she had never known a life without utter chaos. And now, she too was bringing another new life into that same dark place.
Read MoreSheila’s Story
Sheila, a 54-year-old native of Hawaii, has long been haunted by her younger brother’s untimely death at 18—something for which she blames herself. She has cowered under a shadow of whiskey and methamphetamine—a darkness that took control of her life for nearly 40 years before she found Saint John’s Program for Real Change.
Read MoreThis Past October Was Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Written by Tara Cryderman, Psy.D, Assistant Director of Integrated Health Services, and Susan Barron, Ph.D., Director of Integrated Health Services Since first proclaimed in 1987, October has been Domestic Violence (DV) Awareness Month. During the month of October, we seek to increase awareness of DV as a societal problem that affects women, men, and children,…
Read MoreBreaking the Cycle
Written by Abra Ruthenbeck, Director of Children’s Programs, Saint John’s Program for Real Change “Break the cycle of poverty and dependence one family at a time”. As the Director of Children’s Programs, I whole-heartedly agree with the Saint John’s Program for Real Change vison statement and I see it working every single day. At Saint…
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