Amber Evans holds her daughter Faith, 23 months, at Safe Haven Maternity Home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
When Amber Evans’ then-1-year-old daughter suffered a severe and unexplained head injury, Evans lost her to Oregon’s foster care system.
The 24-year-old Roseburg resident had been struggling with methamphetamine addiction. When Evans became pregnant, she got clean.
“My baby – she’s what did it,” Evans said. “I realized I have to be able to take care of myself to take care of her.”
But getting clean wasn’t enough. Evans had left her daughter in the care of a grandmother when the head injury occurred, and the Oregon Department of Human Services Child Welfare division held Evans responsible. She recalls the moment caseworkers entered a room at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital to take her daughter away.
Amber Evans and her 23-month-old daughter, Faith, make cookies at Safe Haven Maternity Home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
“Your heart is just ripped from your chest,” Evans said. “My whole world was there and was ripped away from me in an instant.”
Ten months later, Child Welfare closed its case against Evans. She has her daughter back permanently and a new job in social work as a “house mom” at Safe Haven Maternity Home -- the nonprofit Evans credits with her chance at motherhood redemption.
Safe Haven is one of eight beneficiaries of this year’s Season of Sharing campaign, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s annual holiday fundraiser for agencies serving people in need in Oregon and southwest Washington.
>>Donate: Give to Safe Haven Maternity Home or to the general Season of Sharing fund.
Safe Haven is a live-in, supervised housing and recovery center for women like Evans -- pregnant women or new mothers in crisis. With a yearly budget of about $180,000, the nonprofit has nine paid employees and 12 weekly volunteers. It’s funded primarily through annual fundraisers, monthly individual donations, donations from local churches and private grants.
Safe Haven Maternity Home executive director Evie Kumar (right) and program manager Sara Miguelena stand in a recently renovated room at the home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. Members of a local church paid for and renovated the room. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Evans is using her experiences to advocate for and support women at Safe Haven, just as staff did for her when she was a resident last year.
“Now I get to tell other women my story and say, ‘Hey, I beat it, and you can beat it too,’ ” Evans said.
Women at Safe Haven are often fleeing domestic violence or sex trafficking, or are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction or homelessness, said Evie Kumar, the program’s executive director.
The residential program in Roseburg can host up to eight women and children up to age 2, Kumar said. Women stay there for six months to two years – however long they need to become stable and independent. They take turns cooking, cleaning and helping one another.
House mom Donna Pokorra helps Ryder Dunaway, 1, with her bottle in the living room at the Safe Haven Maternity Home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Safe Haven teaches life and parenting skills like financial responsibility, cooking and job skills, coordinating with other local programs that focus in areas like addiction recovery.
Some women are on 24/7 supervision plans and staff must drive them to all their appointments. That’s one of the biggest ways that Safe Haven’s staff gives support, Kumar said – helping women navigate the often confusing and strict court and child welfare systems.
Knowledgeable staff act as advocates, explaining options and helping women jump through the multitudinous hoops of drug court and child welfare cases. In some cases, staff help women earn GEDs and sign up for college classes.
Recently, Safe Haven started an aftercare program for women who have graduated from its program. It’s another effort to provide the support that many of the women lack.
Victoria Peterson holds a baby at the Safe Haven Maternity Home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
“Our goal is wrap-around care to give the women the tools they need to be successful parents,” Kumar said.
Some women are connected to Safe Haven through the court system; others hear about it through Child Welfare or drug and alcohol recovery programs. But before they can enter the home, women must be clean and sober for 30 days, Evans said.
Safe Haven is one of the only programs in Oregon that works to reunite parents and their children in foster care, said Sara Miguelena, a former drug and alcohol counselor who has worked at Safe Haven since its formation in 1992.
Child Welfare works with Safe Haven to return children to women who live in the home, where they have the support to learn parenting skills, stay sober and seek therapy.
Ryder Dunaway, 1 (left), and another baby whose mother didn't want her identified hang out in the living room at Safe Haven Maternity Home in Roseburg on Oct. 28, 2019. (Robin Loznak/For The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Almost all of the women have experienced or witnessed domestic violence, Miguelena said, and many are grappling with heroin addictions.
“We’ve had miracle stories,” Miguelena said. “It’s giving the women an opportunity to change their lives.”
Evans is one of those stories, she said. So when Evans walked out of the courtroom with her case resolved in February, Miguelena offered her a job on the spot.
Evans has since signed up for classes at the local community college and wants to keep helping other women with a career in social work, she said.
“In all the years Safe Haven has been in existence, if we’ve changed just one family and the generational curse of addiction has stopped, then it was worth it,” Miguelena said.
What your donation can do
$25: Provides disaster kits that contain sleeping bag, flashlight and power bank chargers.
$50: Provides winter coats, hats and gloves for mothers and babies.
$100: Provides a security camera with a hard drive.
To donate:
-- Emily Goodykoontz; 503-221-6652; egoodykoontz@oregonian.com
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