Magdalene House : a place about mercy / Sarah VanHooser Suiter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Suiter, Sarah VanHooser.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Magdelene House (Organization).

Halfway houses--Tennessee--Nashville.

Halfway houses.

Group homes--Tennessee--Nashville.

Group homes.

Female offenders--Rehabilitation--Tennessee--Nashville.

Female offenders.

Female offenders--Services for--Tennessee--Nashville.

Homeless women--Services for--Tennessee--Nashville.

Homeless women.

Abused women--Services for--Tennessee--Nashville.

Abused women.

Abused women--Services for.

Homeless women--Services for.

Female offenders--Services for.

Female offenders--Rehabilitation.

Tennessee--Nashville.

Physical Description:

x, 189 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Nashville : Vanderbilt University Press, [2012]

Summary:

How a two-year recovery community for women with histories of abuse, addiction, and involvement in street-based sex work can empower and heal Magdalene House was the subject of a multiple-part documentary on National Public Radio

Women come to Magdalene House in Nashville when they are ready to leave the streets. They live together-unsupervised and free of charge-for two years. During that time, the women are given time, space, and the resources they need to heal from what have often been lifelong experiences with suffering. Of the twenty-two women in residence during this study, 80 percent had a diagnosed mental illness other than addiction, 40 percent were receiving treatment for hepatitis C, and more than 30 percent were HIV positive.

However, the story of the Magdalene community is not about statistics, but about the stories the women tell. They say they thrive in the community because it is a place where they are free to be themselves, safe to give and receive love, and free to speak their truth-even to complain sometimes about how their storytelling is exploited "for tire good of the community." Magdalene House is a participant-observation account of the history of this remarkable community founded in 1997, its structure, its Thistle Farms beauty products operation, and Reverend Becca Stevens's communal and spiritual vision. The book is finally about what it means to walk the path of healing with a group of unlikely women as guide. Book jacket.

Contents:

Magdalene

The path of illness: how women get to Magdalene

The story of one

Health and healing: seeking definition

St. Benedict's ghost: hospitality as community practice

Come as you are: love, forgiveness, and belonging

Speaking our truth in love

Healing still.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780826518378

0826518370

9780826518385

0826518389

OCLC:

747331954