Walter Gentry - March 2023

To truly address homelessness, service providers must ask themselves a couple of tough questions: How do we help people to not need our help anymore, and how do we measure success? At Watered Gardens, we work hard to help people successfully exit our shelter and programs free from dependency, including dependency on us. On average over the last 2 years, 59% of folks who left our mission didn't return. For many of those, it's because they were loved and resourced in a way that provided what they needed to not need us anymore.

Walter was one of those with a story that's not too uncommon. Failed relationships. Meth addiction. County jail. Homelessness. Then he came through the doors of Watered Gardens, and everything took a turn.

“My father used to say, ‘Son, lots of people go up on fool’s mountain, but they come right back down. You sat down instead.’ He was right, except it wasn’t a mountain—it was a hole, and I couldn’t get out on my own. I didn’t know where to go, and that’s when God led me to Watered Gardens. There I found the safe environment and structure I needed to recover. I surrendered. Submitted to God, the people, and the process, and today, I’m restored because of it.”

Today, six years later, Walter is sober, full-time employed, active in his local church, and in a healthy marriage. He testifies that it was the combination of accountability and compassion provided by our staff and volunteers that made the difference. We don’t know how many people will walk through our doors this year, but we do know they’ll all leave through the same ones. Your support helps ensure that when they do, they'll be provided with what's really needed to not need us anymore.