Woman shares her testimony at May 27 chamber meeting in VAC
A woman’s account of overcoming serious drug addiction and homelessness will be featured at the Tuesday, May 27, Newberg meeting of the Christian Chamber of Commerce of the Northwest. The gathering will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. in the Villa Academic Complex.
Jennifer “Jenni” Ferrell, development director for Helping Hands Re-entry Outreach Centers, a residential recovery program in Clatsop, Yamhill and Lincoln counties, will speak. Born in Newberg, Ferrell moved to Central Oregon during her high school years and eventually ended up in Portland, where she got into the drug scene and became homeless, spending several years on the street and occasionally in jail.
In 2007, she returned to Yamhill County and, at the urging of her uncle, moved to a Helping Hands women’s shelter, where she experienced a structured environment and kind support. Today she tells how she also felt support from another source – God – as a result of accepting Christ during one of her jail stints. Helping Hands Executive Director Alan Sears hired her, believing that Ferrell’s compelling personal story would help her promote the program effectively.
Helping Hands has been providing emergency housing to men, women and children in crisis situations in Yamhill County for more than nine years.
For more information, visit the Chamber’s website or call 503-928-8354.