Life started cruelly for a little girl named Jamie.
Living with her mother, sometimes a stepfather and a variety of siblings was a challenge. Sexual abuse began when she was 8 or 9. By 14, Jamie was a runaway, got into trouble and became a ward of the state.
Safe to Sleep Shelter Director Romona Baker (left) and Jan Pearson, a shelter volunteer for nearly five years. Participants wash their own dishes and roll their sleeping bags (on carts in background).After medical treatment, more emotional upheaval and nine years in Jeffersonville, Ind., she moved to Springfield, Mo. She found spiritual help, then a church home in El Dorado Springs, Mo., and its sister organization Dayspring Church in Springfield.
Grateful for these good steps, Jamie spent nights in Springfield’s Safe to Sleep Shelter.
At first, those coming to the shelter have no way of knowing the ministry’s purpose statement: “Providing safe, temporary, overnight shelter for women in an atmosphere of dignity, harmony and compassion!”
The first step toward organization in 2009 was a task force asked to study the needs of the community’s homeless.
One statistic revealed an alarming number of children sleeping in cars at night. In 2009, a city ordinance was passed permitting churches to be used as shelters. The Council of Churches of the Ozarks asked Romona Baker, already involved in caring ministries, to help.
The Council worked with area churches and volunteers to provide cold-weather shelter for both men and women. Other statistics underscored the need for a year-round shelter.
Recent statistics reveal that 25.6 percent of Springfield residents live below the poverty line. A 2014 Department of Housing and Urban Development report showed Springfield surpassing St. Louis for the highest percentage of families living in poverty in the state. In 2015, Springfield Public Schools reported 807 homeless students.
As the director and founder of Safe to Sleep, Baker, a former public school teacher and member of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, sometimes describes her directorial position like a roller-coaster ride, but there is no doubt that she is God’s person for the demanding ups and downs.
“When three women in a row pleaded with me for a place to get inside or hide,” she recalls of the earliest days, “I realized God was up to something. It was a divine assignment to set up cots for these women to be safe.”
Describing her fear, one woman admitted, “Before Safe to Sleep I would walk the streets at night too afraid to sleep. Hiding behind a dumpster or bushes just isn’t enough.”
More than 300 volunteers have served in pairs as overnight volunteers, sacrificing time and sleep — two every night for nearly five years. Participating churches have provided peace, sanctuary and safety.
Last year, some procedures were updated to help women set goals for themselves and devise exit plans.
“It truly is a miracle of God’s hand,” said one staffer, “that although 70 percent of the guests have diagnosed mental health problems, we put 30 women in a room for 12 hours without violence and very little disagreement!”
The addition of another staff person part-time as a guest advocate enables volunteer coordination and individual work with women for entry back into a healthier lifestyle.
“Each night there are 25-35 women seeking safety at Safe to Sleep,” Baker said.
“Some have lost a job, others are elderly or victims of domestic violence, but each has a unique story. We would have been overwhelmed to start if we had ever thought we would serve more than 1,300 women.”
In another creative ministry, University Heights began a program to help women refinance payday loans.
Safe to Sleep has provided emergency shelter for more than 1,260 women for almost five years.
Ready for the next step, Baker, volunteers and staff, including the newest, guest advocate Jessica Luraas, will help women take steps toward permanent housing, filling out applications, replacing lost or stolen papers, looking at apartments and dealing with the unending list of requirements to escape homelessness and find the hope of new beginnings.
As the director and founder of Safe to Sleep, Baker, a former public school teacher and member of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, sometimes describes her directorial position like a roller-coaster ride, but there is no doubt that she is God’s person for the demanding ups and downs.
