‘This program changed my life’

Coming out of an abusive relationship, struggling with substance abuse or just trying to survive in a declining economy can be frightening with nowhere to go.

Luckily, there is Colette’s.

Colette’s Children’s Home is a nonprofit shelter for women and children providing emergency shelter, transitional housing and help finding a permanent home. The organization has seven shelters in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Anaheim and Placentia to give more than 150 homeless people a place to stay.

Colette’s has served more than 1,400 women and children to date. The organization saw a 30% increase in requests in 2007-08 and more women who were victims of the economic situation, said development officer Danielle Lang.

Jade, a Huntington Beach resident who asked that her last name be withheld, is one of the women Colette’s helped to turn around. Jade went into the program with her 5-month-old and 3-year-old after losing her job and bouncing from motel to motel, having heard about Colette’s while in rehabilitation for substance abuse.

Going into the program clean, Jade said she didn’t think she was ready at the time, but within a week, she had a full-time job and her kids in day care.

“Everything changed while I was here. My whole perspective on life changed at Colette’s,” Jade said.

In the transitional program, women and children are given a place to stay with new sheets and towels. The women are required to get a full-time job within 30 days and must put 80% of their income into a savings account. The savings is to give them something to fall back on after they leave, Lang said.

“Our main mission, our main goal, is self-sufficiency,” Lang said.

Jade said from the moment she walked in the doors, she was welcomed with open arms and had people who believed in her at a time when no one else did. She starting going back to school and became a certified drug and alcohol counselor while in the program.

Jade stayed in the program for about 18 months but returned as a case manager. She has been working there for two years and has been sober for five.

“This program changed my life,” she said. “I get to do for other women what was done for me.”

Colette’s is celebrating its 11th anniversary with a Dinner and Silent Auction Fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. The economy has had an effect on donations, primarily from the government, but people have still managed to show their support.

“We’ve seen a lot of people still giving despite the economy,” Lang said.

Every dollar donated to Colette’s is matched by $3 or $4 from other donors, making the money go further, Lang said.

Colette’s also takes in-kind donations of women and children’s clothes, diapers, wipes, formula, cleaning supplies and twin bed sheets.

“We couldn’t do it without community support,” she said.

For more information, go to www.healinghomelessness.org.

If You Go

What: 11th anniversary Dinner and Silent Auction Fundraiser

When: 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 20

Where: Hyatt Regency Irvine at 17900 Jamboree Road

Cost: $95

Information: www.healinghomelessness.org