By Pat Lawrence
Since
the sign on her door says “The measure of a woman is the size
of the problem it takes to stop her”, Margaret Taylor should
be toweringly tall. Plenty of problems, big and small, have been thrown
her way in 18 years with YWCA-Sojourner’s Shelter.
For the past eight years, she has been the director of the comprehensive
program dedicated to homeless women and families in Charleston. Starting
in 1984 as a shelter assistant, Margaret says, “I’ve held
every job we have, except cook. I just can’t cook!”
Established in 1982 in the basement of a church, Sojourner’s
originally provided participants two meals a day and a place to sleep.
“It was a revolving door. They just kept coming back. We started
incorporating services and programs to implement long term skill development.”
Now Sojourners has grown into a significant provider of a wide-ranging
assortment of social services including adult education, employment
skills and transitional housing.
The physical shelter on Lee Street accommodates 75 residents and
is open all day, every day. “Between fifteen and thirty of those
are children”, Margaret says. “Kids are enrolled in school
immediately upon entering the program. The average stay is 4-6 months.
Our goal is long-term self-sufficiency. The services we offer beyond
the shelter– the pre-GED classes, adult basic education, money
management, job interviewing techniques, substance abuse counseling,
mental health, parenting and self esteem classes, job keeping skills
– these all address issues that contribute to homelessness.
We help people from becoming homeless again. We make sure they can
make it on their own.”
It is working. The recidivism rate at Sojourner’s is just
5%. Margaret is proud that “72% of our residents have part or
full time work when they leave and still have it three months later.
We incorporate job-keeping skills and after care interviews to help
them establish long term stability. We help them identify what they
like to do, working outdoors, or with their hands, cooking, or whatever-
so they will like their job. We try to find the best way for them
to learn and what way they like best.”
The focus on self- sufficiency comes naturally to Margaret Taylor.
The daughter of a North Carolina farmer, she grew up working long,
backbreaking days. “We had plenty to eat - I spent hours canning
and digging in the garden- but there was never time for anything but
the farm. School and books always came last. I knew I had to get an
education and that I had to get away to get one.” At seventeen
she read about Job Corps. “I wrote them, they came and talked
to me and I went with them to start my training. All I had was $28
and hope but I knew nothing could be as hard as that farm!”
Eager and quick to learn, Margaret was one of the first trainees
hired back into the system. She spent seven years as an orientation
assistant working with new entrants to Job Corps.
Margaret discovered early that “Social services is where I
belong.” She says the most gratifying, most touching moments
in her career have been the GED graduations of the residents. “We
had 11 participants graduate in one month last year. I wasn’t
the only one crying when they held the ceremony!” Seven of those
graduates entered WV State College the next year.
Although all her relatives are still in North Carolina, Margaret
says her thirty Sojourner team members “are just like a family.
We work together; we jump in if someone needs help. They are 99.9%
of the reason Sojourner’s is a success.”
The one tenth of a percent that Margaret takes credit for still
takes a lot of time. Directing the YWCA -Sojourner’s Education
Job Readiness Center, case management, outreach, children’s
programs, transitional housing, property management, public speaking
and fundraising keeps her busy. Calm and quiet, she says she couldn’t
do it without “wonderful, invaluable volunteers.”
Until her new administrative assistant was hired, Margaret worked
twelve-hour days and weekends. Now she gets home in time to ride her
bike and walk Shannon, her mixed breed pup. She may brush up on her
game. “I like to shoot pool!”
There is plenty of room and sun in her yard, but she says there
are no tomatoes in her future. “Not me. No, no, no! I walked
that garden all I ever wanted.” Now she has a better kind of
garden, planting seeds of success for homeless families.
