A journey from homeless to happiness through help

Elizabeth Harper arrived in Woodward from Phoenix in September 2023 with only $500 to her name. Blind and undergoing dialysis, she had nowhere to live.

That’s when Catholic Charities and partner organizations intervened.

Now housed in a cozy apartment, Harper is on a path to independence, learning to navigate life with visual impairment and a renewed sense of hope.

In April, after several months of homelessness, Harper finally moved into her own apartment. Blind from detached retinas and undergoing dialysis at the age of 50 due to 25 years of uncontrolled diabetes, she’s experienced quite a journey.

“I’ve been diabetic since I was 25, I just never took medication,” Harper said. “It runs in my family. My dad had it. I have it. But I also developed diabetes because I lost my spleen due to trauma.”

While her husband was learning how to assist her and she was “learning how to be helped and how to be blind,” the reality of his ability to care for her became grim. As a veteran, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues and was placed in a treatment program across the state from Phoenix. Veterans Affairs would only pay for him to go, not Elizabeth. 

“I was not staying in a two-story house blind with no way of getting around or anything,” she said, “so I moved to Woodward where I have friends and family who I thought would be willing to assist me for a few weeks until my husband came home.”

She flew to Oklahoma by herself and was picked up at the airport by a friend, hoping to stay with her until she found her own place. However, when her support system discovered she was blind and needed extra help, Harper said, “it seemed like they disappeared.” A couple of weeks after her arrival in Woodward, she realized she would have to stay in a motel.

“I just started calling anyone and everyone I could because I needed help paying the rent at the motel and finding a place to live,” she said. “Between all my phone calls and visits, someone contacted Catholic Charities and said, ‘We’ve got someone who’s perfect for you.’”

Catholic Charities’ Woodward Regional Office is located in The Hope Center, a building that houses multiple social service agencies, including Catholic Charities, the Regional Food Bank, The Day Center (a day shelter for the unhoused), and the Oklahoma Works-American Job Center.

“Having all these in one place makes it convenient for clients to get the help they need,” said Angela Holloway, a case manager at the Catholic Charities Woodward location. “It’s wonderful to work in a community where we all work together.”

Angela helped Harper get an apartment, two to choose from in fact.

“She was only getting $400 to $500 per month for five to six months while she lived at the motel,” Holloway said, “and she was constantly in fear of getting kicked out because she couldn’t afford to be there.”

Along with the Northwest Domestic Crisis Center, Catholic Charities’ Woodward office  provided rent and utility assistance, help with a deposit and was able to get Social Security arranged for Harper in April.

“She actually got her Social Security check that very same month, so everything went together very well,” Holloway said. “Between the two of us, we were able to help with all of it plus a little extra, and we reached out to Services for the Blind to make sure she was set up to continue receiving help with learning how to cook, clean and pay bills.”

With the help from Services for the Blind, self-sufficiency is now no longer an unattainable aspiration and is Harper’s number one priority. They will spend a few months with her and teach her how to do everything from taking transportation and navigating Woodward either by herself or in a cab, how to pay bills, cook and clean.

“I am so thankful for everyone I have met since I left my friend’s house because they have all been so wonderful,” Harper said. “The owners of the motel, Catholic Charities, the Hope Center, The Day Center, all the churches I have attended and the people I met there … getting my apartment, getting my Social Security, there is just so much God has done, I can’t begin to number it and label it.”


Photo: Elizabeth Harper stands in front of the Hope Center in Woodward. Photo provided.