|
|
July 4, 2003/Tamuz 4 5763, Vol. 55, No. 45
Volunteer offers getaway for shelter residents
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Sharon Austerman, a retired physical education teacher and YWCA volunteer, held a barbecue for residents of Thunderbird Haven House, a transitional housing shelter for women and children.
Photo courtesy of Keri Ruiz |
Residents of the YWCA Thunderbird Haven House shelter in Phoenix got away from it all for a few hours on June 7 to enjoy life's simple pleasures - hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, soda and waterplay.
The festivities were planned and paid for by Sharon Austerman, a YWCA volunteer and retired physical education teacher from Cortez High School in Phoenix.
"I have a piece of property, two-and-a-half acres, that I am remodeling," says Austerman. "A few months ago, I thought I would see if the families at Haven House could come for a cookout and time away from the shelter where they could enjoy each other, the grass, the trees ... and have time away from day-to-day responsibilities."
The event included about 50 Haven House residents in addition to YWCA Executive Director Barbara Lewkowitz and Gayle Gerard, YWCA volunteer and Austerman's partner in planning the event.
In addition to food and drink, Austerman and Gerard provided water games, a slip and slide, a basketball hoop, soccer games and a hobbyhorse for younger children.
"Sharon and Gayle had everything planned per-fectly," says Lewkowitz. "They thought of everything that the women and kids would want to do."
Lewkowitz also stressed the importance of taking a break from life's hardships, particularly for the shelter residents.
"Some of these women face real challenges in their life and it's hard sometimes to find a job, find childcare and stay on track with your case management," she says. "This was an op-portunity to take three or four hours to relax and interact with each other and form relationships with their children."
The Haven House shelter accommodates 16 families at one time, and about 55 families in a year, says Lewkowitz. At any given time, there are approx-imately 48-55 women and 100-150 children living at the shelter. The shelter's accommodations, however, fall short of the number of Valley citizens in need of assistance.
"The women come to us from a variety of referrals, sometimes from emergency shelters, domestic violence shelters, drug rehab facilities and possibly prison," says Lewkowitz. "Haven House supplies an environment that they can live in for up to two years where they can access life-skills training, career guidance, job skills and intensive therapy for themselves and their child-ren."
The facility also offers programs to obtain a GED, computer skills classes, help applying for higher education and budgeting tips to ease the transition into independent living.
Austerman became involved with the Haven House shelter shortly after being named an honoree for the YWCA Sports Leader Tribute to Women award in 2001. Austerman was recognized for the impact she made on students throughout her time as an educator.
"As an honoree, you have an orientation downtown and you get a chance to tour the Haven House," recalls Austerman. "It is so im-pressive what these women are being given the opportunity to do. It also makes you realize that anybody could be in that situation and need a helping hand."
In fact, a former student of Austerman's - who is now a resident at Haven House - attended the barbecue and immediately recognized her former teacher, to both women's surprise.
"I didn't recognize her at first - it was almost seven years ago (that she was my student)," says Austerman. "We talked a little about her circumstance. She said she didn't know where she would be without Haven House. Every single woman there has that story, but this one was so close to home."
Austerman, Lewkowitz and Gerard all hope that the picnic and barbecue can become a yearly event for Haven House residents.
"I don't think anybody liked it better than I did," says Austerman. "It was so heartwarming and so gratifying to see the gals and watch the kids and hold the children and watch them run around. It was such a wonderful day."
Contact the writer at jessica_barber@jewishaz.com.
|
