With meals on the table, a mom is building her family’s new life
Brooke has faced two major challenges in her life: Being a mother and overcoming addiction. Both are feats worth celebrating. Both take a village. But when Brooke was at her lowest, she didn’t have a village.
Coming from a good childhood, Brooke never expected where life would take her several years later. In her late 20’s, she fell into an unhealthy relationship and developed a drug addiction that lasted several years. When she became pregnant with her second child, she decided that wasn’t the life she wanted for herself and her kids and made the decision to check into a rehab facility.
A soon-to-be mother of two, Brooke not only had a difficult sobriety journey ahead, but she also had to leave behind old relationships that were no longer healthy for the life she wanted. She didn’t know where to turn for support.“When I finished rehab, I had nowhere to go,” shared Brooke. But then she learned about LifeHouse.
LifeHouse is a crisis maternity home for pregnant women at risk of homelessness. They provide housing, meals, life skills classes, case management, counseling and more to help new mothers build a safe and stable life. They’re also a partner charity of Ozarks Food Harvest.
“LifeHouse is such a blessing,” Brooke said. “They provide not just meals, but also diapers, wipes, resources, support. It’s been a huge blessing to just be able to focus on getting sober and not have the weight of so many responsibilities right off the bat.”
Planning meals is one of those responsibilities for which Brooke is grateful to have help. LifeHouse provides residents with three meals a day so they can focus on their recovery and goals. It’s a big burden off the moms’ shoulders. In fact, LifeHouse food services manager J.R. is a celebrity amongst the residents.
“J.R. is like a superhero in all the moms’ eyes,” Brooke shared. “It’s so crazy to come home and not have to think about what to cook for dinner after you’ve been at work all day and you’re wrangling your children.”
Along with preparing food, J.R. also teaches the moms how to make their own meals. He bases his classes on residents’ needs and preferences, like his recent “Can Do” class. “Can Do” focuses on planning meals around canned foods, which are cost-effective when budgets are tight.
“It’s teaching them about things they have in the pantry or may get from a food pantry and some creative ways to use those,” explained J.R. “You don’t need to go out and spend a lot. Sometimes making do with what you have can still be a great meal and a fun time.”
J.R. plans many LifeHouse meals around food from Ozarks Food Harvest, including not just canned goods, but fresh produce and protein like eggs and meat. He shared that 70 to 80 percent of the meals he cooks are based on ingredients from The Food Bank, which helps him prepare nourishing, delicious meals to make LifeHouse feel like home while residents work toward their goals.
For Brooke, her next goal is to buy a vehicle and move into her own place. “I’m able to save money and get some traction under my feet now that I’m in this program,” she shared.
Ozarks Food Harvest is proud to help women like Brooke celebrate every victory without worrying about how they’ll put meals on the table, and we couldn’t do it without your help.
You can help us support partner charities like LifeHouse by donating today at ozarksfoodharvest.org.