FEBRUARY 04, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
Feel -Good STORY
Saluting the people that make us proud of our community
through the program’s three phases. She
credits both the program and her strength-
ened faith for her recovery.
“When I surrendered to God, I had to
build on that trust. Sometimes it was easy,
but most of the time it was hard to just
really trust in God and trust that he will
manage it all,” Hammoak said. “And once
I could do that, then things just eased up
slowly over time and we began working
through these false beliefs that we have.”
In Simonka program, Hammack said
I think that everybody
deserves to feel like they
have a second chance,
a third chance, a fourth
chance. i believe that our
God doesn't give up on
anybody.
— LAURA HAMMACK
resident at Simonka Place
presented
by
she would work weekly with a counselor
to identify the “false beliefs” she had
about herself. False beliefs, according to
Hammack, are the things we tell ourselves
to justify our actions.
“You identify, what are your top fi ve
false beliefs about yourself? The ‘whys’
that you tell yourself. You go through
and break each of those down and then
you meet with our counselor,” Hammack
said. “It's kind of like when you go to boot
camp. They tear you down and then build
you back up.”
Recovery is open ended, as Hammack
knows better than most, and she says that
she works daily to strengthen her connec-
tion with God and improve on her recov-
ery. She is currently in phase three of the
New Life Fellowship program and has
begun looking at jobs for when she leaves.
Hammack said she’s hoping to go
work for a non-profi t — or to come back
NEWS
TIPS?
and work at Simonka Place, which many
program alumni have done. Either way,
Hammack said she wants to give back and
help others who may be struggling like
she was.
“I would like to eventually mentor a
woman or two from Simonka because that
mentorship relationship is very key to suc-
cess for a woman,” Hammack said. “My
hope for any woman leaving here is that
they have the external support and you
can always rely on Simonka.”
On March 10, Hammack will offi cially
graduate from the program. The ceremony
will include two women from Simonka
Place, one being Hammack, and three
men from the Union Gospel Mission’s
men's shelter. The graduation ceremony
will take place at the men’s mission in
Salem. While her recovery at Simonka is
coming to a close, Hammack’s journey will
continue.
“My past is behind me. That's all been
forgiven and that's behind me,” Hammack
said. “I think that everybody deserves to
feel like they have a second chance, a third
chance, a fourth chance. I believe that our
God doesn’t give up on anybody and there
is no such thing as a number of chances.”
If it's happening
in Keizer, or to someone
from Keizer —
WE WANT TO KNOW.
kt@keizertimes.com
Tree of encouragment Keizer Elks delivers to
set up by local woman community food bank
The Keizer Elks Lodge was able to
obtain a $5500 Elks National Foundation
Grant.
With these funds members of the
Elks Lodge worked with the Food Bank
to donate, purchase and deliver food and
funds for the Keizer Community Food
Bank on River Rd.
At the start of December, Jeannie White, a resident in Keizer, set up a small station
for members in the community to share their gratitude.
The station included a bucket full of pens and foam snowfl akes for people to write
down what they are grateful for. They then get to hang their snowfl ake on a monkey
tree that is located at the corner of her street.
Along with the pens and snowfl akes, White also included a sign that explained the
importance of gratitude.
“There are a lot of people who've suff ered from depression issues and to recognize
gratitude in your life helps with that,” she said.
White also noticed that the people who choose to just read some of the snowfl akes
instead of writing one still walk away with a smile.
“It helps other people recognize their own gratitude when they see someone else
sharing the same thing,” she said.
Over 60 people put a snowfl ake up on the tree. White will be removing the snow-
fl akes soon, but is planning to do something for the tree again in the future. The tree
can be found at the corner of McNary Estates Drive N. and Hogan Drive N.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started
there has been a tremendous increase for
this need at local food banks. This dona-
tion supplemented between 150 to 200
families with this critical need.
Assistance is always welcomed by the
Food Bank for their worthy works
The Keizer Food Bank receives a delivery from the Keizer Elks.
Submitted