Off the Street and Back on My Feet, MCCAC Shelter Guest Speaks Out
“This place gave me my hope back.” - Janice Coder
Pictured: Janice Coder
Editors Note: This is part 1 of a 3 part series of interviews with Mid-Columbia Community Action Council Shelter guests. These interviews are geared towards hearing stories from people who are utilizing MCCAC’s services, finding out more about the human experience of being houseless, the systemic issues of houselessness, and giving the community an inside look at how the MCCAC transitional housing program works and why it’s been so successful in addressing houselessness in the Mid-Columbia region. The names of certain people mentioned in these stories may be changed in order to protect victims from former abusers.
By Cole Goodwin
I arrive at The Dalles Pallet Shelter, run by Mid-Columbia Community Action Council, at around 1 p.m. to interview a guest at the shelter. I say my hello’s to shelter staff and site manager Rob Mendoza introduces me to the guests I’ll be interviewing.
First up is Janice Coder.
She enters the MCCAC staff trailer and sits down.
She’s petite, well dressed, and soft-spoken.
The interview hasn’t started yet, but we’re chatting, and she starts telling me that the conflict in Ukraine is weighing heavy on her mind today.
“I’m half Ukranian,” says Janice. “I still have relatives there. I just got a phone call from my cousin Iris saying that crimes against humanity are being committed in Kiev.”
Janice takes a steadying breath.
“She told me there are bodies in the streets. Russians have destroyed a Jewish monument. Food is running out…”
She takes another breath.
“Is your family safe?” I ask.
When she responds, I can hear anger and fear for her family in her voice.
“No, they’re not safe. They’re so scared. They’re in hiding. And they can’t get out. It’s too late. They can’t get out, and no one is coming to help them.”
“It’s awful,” she says.
She meets my eyes for a moment.
“We can change the subject now.”
I nod, realizing that this interview might be a useful distraction for her.
I tell her a little bit about why I’m here to interview her.
“We want to hear stories from people who are utilizing MCCAC’s services and find out more about the human experience of being houseless, where the systemic issues are, and give the community a look into how the MCCAC transitional housing program works and why it’s having so much success in addressing houselessness in our area,” I say.
“You call it houselessness?” she asks.
“Yeah, we’ve stopped using the term homeless because the stigma attached to that word,” I respond.
“I like that expression,” she says.
And on that note, we start the interview.
Meet Janice Coder
CG: Tell me about your journey here.
Janice starts listing off tidbits of information.
JC: My name is Janice, I’m 64. I grew up in Goldendale. I have an extremely violent ex-husband.
I joined the Army in 1976, and then something really devastating happened to me.
A male nurse sexually assaulted me.
After it happened I was in shock. I was a little girl from Goldendale. I had just graduated high school. I didn’t know how to deal with anything like that. I ended up telling them (the army) to just deal with it.
JC: So, I went into basic training, but I couldn’t function anymore after what happened. So, they let me out, and they gave me an honorable discharge…and they blocked my records.
Janice tells me that because she was not given medical benefits from the military, she was eligible for supplemental security income some 20 years later.
JC: That experience traumatized me and ruined my life.
I’ve not been able to hold down a job since. I got post-traumatic stress disorder, social-anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder. I became emotionally disabled.
I moved around a lot, and from 18 to 48, I never lived in one place for more than a year.
I tried living in Goldendale, but there’s nothing really there. So I tried to improve my life by coming to The Dalles for discipleship, but it didn’t go as well as I’d planned.
Nothing ever worked.
Janice gets teary when she tells me about losing the love of her life to a heart attack at the age of 48.
JC: I woke up at 4:30 in the morning, and I could not wake him up. He was gone.
JC: Over the years, all the pain and losses built upon each other.
And I ended up on the street again.
It’s like your world crashes when you become houseless.
You crash emotionally, mentally, and physically. You get weak. You can’t eat, you can’t cook, you’re dirty. And the shame comes in.
And women can’t sleep on the street at night. They have to stay awake. They have to hide at night or they get raped. They get robbed. They get beaten. And no one ever reports it. So, women have to sleep during the day.
Janice tells me that women living on the street also have very little access to contraception, women’s exams, or healthcare in general. She says experiencing houselessness makes it incredibly hard to be physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy, let alone well resourced enough to hold a job.
JC: And how are you supposed to get and hold a job when you’re dirty because you can’t shower and you can’t do laundry. And you’re weak and unhealthy because you can’t cook healthy food for yourself, so you can only eat fast food, and you sleep all day, and you feel no hope?
Janice pauses and shakes her head in contemplation.
JC: When you have no hope, you can’t even think.
And that’s when the drugs come in because you just want to take the pain and despair away.
Janice says she’s glad to be sober now.
JC: I’m clean. A lot of women can't get in here (the MCCAC shelter) because they have an addiction. But God is good, it brought me here to the MCCAC Pallet House.
MCCAC was able to connect Janice with the Supportive Services for Veteran’s and Families Program (SSVF) and get her Army records unblocked so that she could get access to healthcare and emergency housing services.
MCCAC has also helped Janice put in an application for retroactive supplemental security income backdated to 1976.
MCCAC’s The Dalles Non-Congregate Shelter. Guests can stay in one of the 18 small shelters (which fit two people each) and utilize the MCCAC shower trailer, toilet facilities, and outdoor eating area. Guests can also utilize a computer in the staff trailer to look for jobs, find services, housing, and more.
CG: How do you like staying as a guest at the MCCAC Pallet Shelter?
JC: I’m so grateful to be here. I’m so happy to be here. I’m thrilled to be here. There’s just something so wonderful about this place. It gives you hope.
When I got accepted here, they lead me to my room and gave me a warm place to stay. They gave me a place to sleep at night. And I can take a shower and have clean clothes. And all of that helps you to get healthier emotionally and mentally.
And I’m safe.
She says it again and takes a deep breath like she’s reminding herself to believe it.
I’m safe.
As soon as I felt safe, I regained my ability to think… and I got my hope back.
Janice looks me in the eye; I can almost feel her unspoken question in the air: do you have any idea what that feels like?
JC: “The moment you feel safe is when you get your hope again,” she says.
I feel supported by the staff here. They are very caring and funny. And they help you. The MCCAC staff are amazing. Every one of them. I love Rob and Sam so much.
There’s always someone on duty here 24/7 to help you and to talk to you and they can call services for you or you can use the computer to look for jobs.
So we are never alone.
That’s one of the things I love the most here.
You’re always alone when you’re out on the street. You live in fear out there.
Her tone turns inspirational.
JC: I’m not living in fear today. I don’t have any fear. And I’m not ashamed of myself.
I’ve had difficulties. I’ve overcome them. And I’m overcoming more every day.
Now that I’ve got my records unblocked I could even relocate if I want to.
Janice’s face breaks into a joyful smile.
I can choose where I want to live! I’ve never had that choice in my whole life. Life always chose for me. But now that my records are unblocked I can access services in any city and any state.
CG: So what’s next for you?
Janice keeps smiling.
JC: I have some doctors now and a dentist! I’m getting my upper partial on the 31st!
She gestures to her missing front teeth and smiles a little more shyly.
CG: Sounds like you're looking forward to it!
JC: I am! I am! I’m excited.
She seems genuinely overjoyed.
And now that I’m able to function and get my paperwork done, and I’ve proved that I can follow the rules…I'm going to transition into emergency housing for Veterans soon. So I’ll get my own hotel room.
CG: Would you like to have your own home one day?
JC: I would. I really really would. I want to be able to help other women in need. And if my home had a second bedroom or a third I could help other women by giving them a room to regain their hope and get them off the streets.
CG: And is there anything else you’d like people to know about the MCCAC shelter?
JC: If this place didn’t exist- I don’t know if I’d have had the strength to fight anymore. This place gave me my hope back. That is what this place means to me.
I thank Janice for taking the time to talk with me.
She fires the thanks right back at me.
She says she’s glad to share her story with the community to showcase how MCCAC is helping folks like her get off the street and back on their feet.
About MCCAC
Mid Columbia Community Action (MCCAC) is a private non-profit 501(c)3 corporation serving Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties.
More About the Supportive Services for Veterans and Families Program
All clients receiving services through the SSVF program are required to have their veterans status confirmed through the federal SQUARES program prior to receiving services such as emergency housing for Veterans. In addition clients can't receive Veteran’s services from SSVF if they have a dishonorable discharge.
