December 2025 Newsletter

Download a PDF to read the full newsletter. Or read our featured article below.

This Is Freedom

Her face is blurred and her name is changed to tell her story and keep her privacy. She will be called Cindy.

Because of parental abuse, Child Protective Services in another state placed her in a behavior modification school when she was 13-years-old. At just 15, she was sent to an adult homeless shelter. Oregon does not do that. As an adult, Cindy worked and was independent. She lived on her own and sometimes had a woman roommate.

Her childhood left her with a sense of rejection and low self-esteem. Meeting men was awkward. She was cautious yet vulnerable. Cindy fell into the schemes of a predator. In hindsight, she could see how he carefully baited the trap, but at the time it appeared genuine.

They met when he was traveling for his job. He was not forceful and seemed understanding. In time, when her roommate moved out and she could not pay the rent on her own, he paid the rent, making her dependent and obligated. A few months later after maintaining an online friendship, he asked her for a more personal relationship. She quit her job and moved to meet him without her own housing, income, money, family, or friends, totally dependent on what would happen next.

The trap closed, literally it was the roll down door of a rented moving truck. She was conditioned into submission during a week of rationed food and water in a locked box truck. Cindy said it was like the Stockholm syndrome, “a psychological condition in which a person taken hostage sympathizes with or becomes emotionally involved with his or her captors:’ He was not wanting a ransom, but a slave to do his bidding. She said, “I was deep down in submission, every sense of fight was gone:’ The details are intense and years long.

Cindy arrived at Samaritan Inn with expectations of past experiences. She thought her use of a walker, because of an injury by her captor, would affect her stay. She was relieved when greeted at our security gate by a program member using a walker herself. Indeed, the concrete walkways being installed right now are to accommodate those with limited mobility. She began her stay here in our Special Needs pod that has four bedrooms and its own living room. Cindy said, “It’s the first time I’ve been able to breathe in a long time.”

She receives Social Security Disability Insurance, but has had difficulty finding a rental with handicap accessibility that is affordable. That problem has been solved by Cindy moving into our Transitional Housing Program rentals. She is not responsible to find a roommate, nor move for not paying the whole house rent if someone moves out. And as she said, “There are no forced move out dates to end up on the streets” All our programs include chapel attendance, and she appreciates what she has learned. She now attends a local church. Cindy is learning freedom in Christ.