A WARM SHELTER FOR A FAMILY OF SIX AFTER MOM’S HEALTH PROBLEMS
Melissa Stemper had a heart attack at age 35, the start of a journey down a road of hardship, joined by her husband and four children.
The Salvation Army stepped in at this crucial moment to provide housing for the Stemper family, so long as mom and dad, Gary Stemper, stayed working or were on their way to an income stream.
The family of six checked in the Salvation Army’s Family Shelter in 2021 at one of their life’s low points. Their credit was wrecked, and they were evicted from her home, after Melissa’s health went downhill.
After a six-month stay at Family Haven, at 10740 Page Blvd. in St. Louis, the family was able to move onto their own housing in Rolla, Mo., with Melissa receiving disability insurance and her husband continuing to work.
Despite the difficult circumstances, the experience at the homeless shelter was so positive that it left Melissa with the feeling that The Salvation Army helped save her at a vulnerable moment.
“We ended up with Ms. Marie as our social worker there, who was absolutely wonderful,” Stemper said. “They just kept telling us to work the program. You’ve just got to put a lot of hard work into it. So that’s what we did.”
She explained of their current situation, “We’re up on our feet, we’re in our own home, doing things on our own. I’ve got my disability going here, my husband is working. But if it weren’t for the shelter, we wouldn’t have had that opportunity. We wouldn’t have had anywhere to go, especially with our four children.”
Melissa’s health has given her and her family a tough scenario, one in which the matriarch’s life expectancy is limited due to health problems associated with her heart attack at a young age.
Installing a system to help Melissa file her disability claim and find an attorney to represent her, The Salvation Army sought creative ways to go after her problems under challenging circumstances.
“My health has really stopped us in our tracks,” she said. “I was a normal, happy, healthy 35-year-old, then I had an open-heart surgery. I have never been able to recover from that.”
When the family arrived at Family Haven, she said, both kids and parents needed clothes and some assurance they would be safe at a living facility.
A good chance existed they might end up at the wrong place.
“When you uproot your children, it’s difficult anywhere you go,” she said. “You’re scared because you still don’t know if you have the security. You don’t know if you’re going to be in the same school six months from now. That’s scary for children, going from living in your own home to cohabitating with other people and families.”
Ironically, in the middle of the struggle of the moment, Melissa’s kids found themselves fond of the time and wanting to return to visit after leaving Family Haven for the friends they made and the facility’s accommodating staff.
Her counselor’s spirit was often to support the faith, hope and optimism for the family, when their situation looked difficult to overcome, calling on religious elements to re-center themselves.
“When you guys receive people into the homeless shelter, you’re getting them at their worst moments in life,” Melissa said. “So, there is not a whole lot of positivity coming from the person that’s come. When I got there, I was very depressed. My whole life was over. We worked so very hard to be able to provide for our family.”
She explained, “There is not a whole lot of pity. To have that there, to have somebody that will pray with you, that believes just as strongly as you do, that made a huge difference for me and my family because that’s what you have to have, is hope and faith. You’ve got to have that to be able to do anything in life.”
Nowadays, living paycheck to paycheck with limited income keeps the family challenged. It is no different than what can be found in many American households, she said. To have anything after their devastation is a blessing is how she views the situation.
“I have to say, I’m blessed,” Melissa said.