Believing in Success
Emmanuel House Leader Coaches Women to Better Lives
Taylor Malone stands by her Little League players ages 4 to 7, patiently guiding them to do their best. She does the same thing in her day job as program director at Emmanuel House, a transitional home for women and their children. “Patience is key,” Taylor says of both jobs.
The women of Emmanuel House have been through the wringer. Some are coming off stints behind bars. Others have recently completed rehab. Some are escaping domestic abuse, and some have become homeless. All need a safe place to land, and Emmanuel House is that place.
The faith-based nonprofit serves Smith and Macon counties by acting as a 12- to 18-month transitional living facility—a place between jail or rehab and life on the outside. “We help them transition back to the real world and become productive members of society instead of returning to either incarceration or drugs,” Taylor says.
Emmanuel House isn’t a free shelter where women come and go as they please. They have responsibilities, including paying rent and maintaining a clean living space. They are expected to get steady jobs and attend regular support groups and recovery meetings. There are skill-share seminars on topics like financial literacy and parenting led by community leaders, and residents are expected to attend.
Recovery Online
The fast and reliable internet service DTC provides Emmanuel House is vital to the facility’s operations. “We use it for everything, from running our social media to our women applying for jobs, because now almost all applications are online,” Taylor says.
Reliable internet access also allows residents to apply for government benefits, like Family First and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. It even helps residents meet their recovery group requirements because they can attend some meetings on Zoom.
Working at Emmanuel House is tough, Taylor says, but it has great soul benefits. “Seeing them finally get it and believe in themselves after you’ve been believing in them so long, it’s just really rewarding,” she says. “I’ve seen women lose their children, and then I’ve seen them regain custody. I’ve seen people go get their own houses. All the success makes the heartbreak worth it.”
Biggest Cheerleader
Taylor gets to see one of those success stories every time she steps onto the baseball field. An assistant coach and dugout mom is a recent graduate of the Emmanuel House program. “She came to us from jail, and she had lost custody of all three of her children,” Taylor says. “And I got to watch her fight for her children and gain full custody back while working our program.”
Besides patience, Taylor sees two other key tie-ins between coaching Little League and running Emmanuel House. “It starts with just being their biggest cheerleader and believing in them,” she says. “It starts at a young age, and if some of our women would have had someone to believe in them when they were little, their life might be different than it is today.
“So, I just want to be that positive in these kids’ lives,” she adds. “I want them to always look back and know they have someone who believes in them, and they can accomplish anything that they set their minds to.”
Community Support
Emmanuel House is more than one house. There is a second location in Lafayette, and between them they serve between 20 to 30 women a year, Taylor says. And those women have needs. The facility can always use donations of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, paper towels, hangers and towels. Taylor says they never have enough laundry detergent or trash bags.
The community has always been responsive to Emmanuel House’s needs. When Taylor posted on Facebook that the washing machine at one house broke, within the hour a family stepped up not only with a new washer, but also a dryer and volunteered to install them.
For those who don’t have the money or inclination to donate funds or products, Taylor asks for something even more valuable—time.
Emmanuel House is always looking for people to lead skills-sharing seminars. They can be about budgeting, cooking, parenting and beyond. “Everyone has something to offer,” Taylor says.
Whether she’s coaching little ones on the baseball field or coaching women in the necessities of life, Taylor has something of her own to offer: the belief that a winner lies within each one.
Published with permission from DTC.