By Brenda L. Holmes
May 16, 2008 08:05 pm
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DANVILLE — When Lynette Garcia tells the story of how she came to Sheltering Wings, she uses one of her favorite phrases — “it’s a God thing.”
Garcia joined the domestic violence shelter in March as its first bilingual case manager. Maria Larrison, who is the shelter’s acting CEO, said Garcia has been a wonderful addition to the staff.
“I really believe that God brings staff members to us when we need them,” Larrison said. “About 7 percent of our clients are now Latino or Hispanic.”
As a result, she said shelter officials were specifically looking for a bilingual case manager.
“We decided we needed to be proactive and not reactive,” Larrison said. “We just had to look for a few months to find Lynette.”
Garcia said she was looking for a job with a non-profit where she could use her language skills.
“I had been looking for about five months when I saw the ad for this position,” she said. “When I read it was a ‘Christ-centered workplace,’ I decided that it was the place for me.”
Garcia was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She studied biology in college and then went to work at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
“I was the expert in things like lizards and snakes,” she said.
Disenchanted with life in D.C., Garcia said she returned to Puerto Rico. While there, she met a couple who pastored in Venezuela but were on their way to the Chicago area.
“They told me that they thought I was supposed to move to the States to help with a ministry there,” Garcia said. “But I had a job. So I told them I would pray about it — so I did.”
She said things at work began to change and she decided it was time to move on. Her sister and a friend from church encouraged her to attend a conference in Indianapolis.
“And that was a God thing,” she said. “They both heard about this conference from the same e-mail and told me I was supposed to go. These two did not get along, but they were coming together to tell me to go to the same conference.
“Then I got a call and it was another God thing. The pastors I had met before called and told me they had been praying about me and felt led to call me that day to see how I was doing.”
Garcia said she told them she was unemployed and that she had been planning a trip to Indianapolis to attend a conference.
“Then they said to me that they were living in Noblesville and that I could stay with them for the conference,” she said.
She said she came for a week and ended up staying 18 days.
“They got me involved in the church right away with teaching and preaching,” Garcia said. “At the end of the 18 days, I was certain that this was where I was supposed to be.”
She said she returned home to tell her family she was moving to the United States. She moved to Indianapolis and became an associate minister at Centro Cristiano de Liberacion in Noblesville. She plans to continue her ministry at the church.
“It is a church plant supported by Grace Community Church and Missionary Church,” Garcia said. “I am the youth pastor. I work with children from age 12 and up. I just love it here (in Indiana). It is nothing like it was in Washington, D.C. The people there almost seemed hostile.”
Garcia believes her position at Sheltering Wings was also made possible through God working in her life.
“I started here March 21 and I just love it,” she said. “I ask a lot of questions and the staff is so patient with me. The ladies here have also been fantastic.”
With her special language skills, Garcia is on-call for the shelter. She can help with clients or crisis calls received from Spanish speakers.
Sheltering Wings provides emergency housing for women and their dependent children suffering from any form of domestic abuse, building stable and independent lives through essential programs offered in a supportive and Christ-centered environment.
For more information about Sheltering Wings, visit the website at www.shelteringwings.org. Anyone in need of assistance may call the Crisis Line at 745-1496, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
brenda.holmes@flyergroup.com
Sidebar
CEO leaves Sheltering Wings
Ann Grayson, chief executive officer of Sheltering Wings, recently elected to leave the shelter and return to her law career.
Maria Larrison, the shelter’s chief operating officer, is now serving as the interim CEO. She has been involved with the shelter since its inception and originally served on its board of directors.
A search committee has been formed to find a replacement for Grayson.
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