CROWLEY — A women's homeless shelter in Acadia Parish needs help in making sure their residents get the right start to the new year.
The shelter in Crowley needs anything that you need to run a household: dishes, utensils, storage containers, towels, sheets, blankets, and even beds.
Monetary donations are also being accepted.
When you make a donation to the shelter, you're helping a woman who's hoping to build a better future.
Kimberly Williams found herself at the shelter after leaving another shelter where she didn't feel safe.
"The abuse was still going on," explained Williams. "It was mainly emotional abuse over there, and I was trying to escape that."
Williams says she struggles with depression from time to time, but now that she's at the shelter, she feels comfortable speaking about it with the other women.
"I can mainly talk more. Communicate. That was one of my problems, too, communicating with others and new people, but I have climbed the mountain with that," said Williams.
Community services director for the Assist Agency Edna Semar says homelessness can happen to anyone.
"We see women who are fleeing domestic abuse. We see women who have lost a job, and they're just one paycheck away from being homeless, and they lost that paycheck," explained Semar.
According to Semar, without donations, the shelter cannot survive.
"We have a grant that pays strictly for the rent and utilities of the facility, but everything else, the hygiene items, the towels, everything else has to be gotten through donations," said Semar.
The women are provided several services during their stay. They also get help securing housing and learn how to maintain it.
"I hope that I can be the best mother I can be and be more responsible and don't look back and make the same mistakes that I have made in life," said Williams.
If you would like to make a donation, call the Assist Agency at (337) 788-7550, ext. 138.
