Pathway of Hope provides new direction, friendships

SIOUX CITY, Iowa—For Lucy Dale, The Salvation Army provided the relief she needed when she was dealing with so much.

"I was in jail for eight months,” Dale said. “I had gotten out. I was pregnant.”

Dale said she gave birth to Luna only two weeks after being released.

Shortly after, she went into inpatient substance-use treatment at Jackson Rosecrance.

However, before starting therapy, she had contacted The Salvation Army’s Pathway of Hope program.

It provides caseworkers to those experiencing homelessness, who help them with housing, job training and placement, mental health services, addiction recovery, and much more.

While Dale and her daughter are currently staying at The Warming Shelter in town, Pathway of Hope case manager Valerie Trudell has been working with them on achieving a more stable life.

"I work with clients—people who are involved with Pathway of Hope—meeting with them, setting goals, helping them reach those goals," Trudell said.

She added that many people are in the program for up to six months.

"Some of them are coming out of homelessness. Some of them are completing treatment and coming out of treatment. Some are just new, young parents moving out of their parents' home and just don't know how to navigate what's out there for them as far as housing, schooling, employment, childcare."

For Dale, it was a combination of those.

"It was a rough time having a child right after getting out of jail because I don't have a job, I didn't have an income,” she said. “Val was the one to help me with that, with diapers and wipes and formula—even clothes."

Among the goals Trudell has been collaborating with her on are finding childcare for Luna and housing.

"Just recently, Val had helped me with the application for Sioux City housing,” she said. “We got the documents in, and we got on the waiting list."

She said it is an 18-month wait.

Trudell also helped her get birth certificates and a Social Security card. Those documents are necessary for her and Luna to get on Iowa’s Family Investment Program (FIP), which provides financial assistance to needy families.

With that, Dale can get Luna five hours of childcare per day while she goes to doctor appointments and runs errands.

She said The Salvation Army gives her bus tickets for that traveling.

Additionally, Pathway of Hope holds a class for its participants once a month.

"We did a budget class a couple months ago -- where we had somebody come from another agency and show the ladies some basic budgeting skills," Trudell said.

Dale said another class went over self-care, like bathing, sewing, and getting their nails done.

"How's it make me feel? Like an adult, like I have responsibility," said Dale.  "And it makes me aware that I do have responsibility."

Trudell said she is seeing the change it is having on Dale.

"She's better at spending the money she has. Before, when her lifestyle was different and she was in her addiction, I think everything went for that. And now she has this baby to care for.”

She added that Dale has been wiser with her spending and has been saving so she can move out of the shelter.

"I've got seven kids,” Dale said. “I have a dream that I'll have them all under one roof and Luna will be able to have a relationship with her siblings."

Trudell said Dale has come far in her journey.

“Not everybody that I've worked with had been in her situation—homeless and she had some criminal things, and then ended up into treatment and losing her children. She's had a lot of things happen to her."

Dale appreciates all the support that Trudell has provided, saying she is caring and gives good advice.

"Val, just as a person, is good for me,” Dale said. “She's a good listener, and I enjoy having her as a case manager."

"Lucy's great," Trudell said. "She's so open to different things. We can talk about different things, and I don't think there's really a fear there for her when she's talking to me about her past."

Dale feels there she has gotten one more thing from the Pathway of Hope staff: Friendships.

“I feel they're genuine,” she said. “I think these are friendships that I'm going to have for a while."