08/25/2026
Before the Refuge ever opened its doors, people from across our community walked through its empty rooms and prayed.
They prayed for families they had never met. They prayed over beds that no one had slept in yet, kitchens where no meals had been cooked, and rooms that would soon become temporary homes for parents and children experiencing homelessness.
Among those who came to pray was a young local couple who believed in the mission of the Refuge. But they didn't want their involvement to end with prayer. They wanted to know how they could help when the families actually arrived.
Months later, one of those families was Tanisha's.
Tanisha came to the Refuge with her three children—a teenager, a toddler, and a child with special needs. Like so many of the parents who come through our doors, her story wasn't going to be changed by solving just one problem.
Stability is built one step at a time.
During her months at the Refuge, Tanisha has worked closely with her case manager, Jessica James, toward the goals that will help her family move forward. One of those goals was transportation.
For a mother of three, a car isn't simply a convenience. It means being able to get to work. It means buying groceries and diapers. It means making it to appointments, getting children where they need to go, and having the freedom to build a life without transportation standing in the way.
But before Tanisha could have a car, she needed a driver's license.
So she got to work.
She studied. She took her written driver's test. And she passed.
Then came the driving test.
She passed that, too.
We have a picture from the day Tanisha got her driver's license, and it represents something we get the privilege of seeing often at the Refuge: a person taking another step toward the life they are working so hard to build.
But Tanisha didn't know what was coming next, and that’s when the community stepped In.
That young couple who had prayed at the Refuge before we opened hadn't forgotten about the families who would one day call this place home.
They anonymously donated a vehicle for a Refuge resident who needed it.
And Tanisha was about to receive the keys.
But in Conway, stories like this rarely stop with one person saying yes.
Others began stepping forward, too.
Members of the community helped provide a car seat and booster seat so Tanisha's children could ride safely. O'Reilly Auto Parts donated a gift card. Then someone else stepped in and paid for an entire year of car insurance.
One gift became another.
One "yes" inspired another "yes."
And suddenly, a mother who had been working step by step toward stability was standing beside a car that belonged to her.
She cried.
And we understood why.
It's More Than a Car.
When you work with families experiencing homelessness, you quickly learn that homelessness is rarely solved by handing someone a key to an apartment.
There are jobs to find. Documents to replace. Childcare to arrange. Transportation to secure. Appointments to attend. Budgets to rebuild. Obstacles to overcome. And sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day for a parent to do everything required to become stable again.
That's why the Refuge exists.
We don't just want to give families a place to sleep. We want to walk beside them as they build a path forward.
And sometimes, that path forward has four wheels.
For Tanisha, this car means being able to buy diapers and groceries for her children. It means getting them to the pediatrician when they're sick. It means getting herself to work. It means having more choices, more independence, and one less barrier standing between her family and stability.
But perhaps most importantly, it is a tangible reminder that she is not walking this road alone.
This Is What Community Looks Like.
A lot of people pulled together to make this dream a reality.
There seems to be no limit to the ways God can use ordinary people who are simply willing to say, "Yes, I'll help."
A couple prayed in an empty shelter before they knew Tanisha's name.
A case manager walked beside her as she worked toward her goals.
Tanisha did the hard work of studying, testing, and earning her driver's license.
Someone provided car seats.
A local business provided gas.
Someone else covered insurance.
And together, a community helped put the keys to a different future into the hands of a mother who has been working hard to create one for her children.
At the Conway Ministry Center, we talk often about what happens when a community comes together to care for its neighbors. Tanisha's story is a beautiful picture of exactly that.
Sometimes changing a family's future doesn't require one person to do everything.
Sometimes it simply requires a lot of people to each do something.
And when those acts of generosity come together, they can become something much bigger than any single gift.
They can become hope.
