The Year in Review

If you see any of the same stuff as I do on social media, I’m sure you’ve come across posts lamenting 2016 as a terrible year.  To be sure, it was a year filled with tragedies and atrocities.  Fires, shootings, debates (and yes, even scary clowns) filled our collective consciousness and devastated families and communities.

What being at Turning Point will remind you daily, however, is the very real ability of people to triumph over tragedy.  In our little area of Pennsylvania alone, over 2,700 people reached out to us last year for help.  We met, on average, seven new people with unique situations every day.  You know these people, because they come from every community in the Lehigh Valley, every income group, every ethnicity, every religion. Women, men, children – all seeking a way to live free of violence.

We hear from people who are often at their lowest moments.  But we also have the honor of standing next to people as they face their fears.  We get to share a meal with someone in a relaxed environment after a night of peaceful rest.  We get the call from someone who can’t wait to tell us about significant life accomplishments that hadn’t seemed possible only a short while earlier.  We continue this work because we know that helping empower people to control their own lives is a gift to us all.

We invite you this holiday to join us in celebrating the many positives that have occurred this year.  Hundreds of people will remember 2016 as a wonderful year full of new starts because of the help Turning Point’s volunteers, donors, and staff have been able to offer.  Thank you for your part in that!

In peace,

Lori Sywensky