Scrappy Finds a Home

The parallels between an abandoned dog and many of our women and children are easily apparent. The tired look and sad eyes; fear of the past and suspicion of the present; total unawareness of anything better, but always looking for something beyond just survival.

Scrappy, The Gremlin as she is now affectionately known, is the most recent of our animals. She joins Hazlenut, the cat, in defending our apartments against mice, wild cats, and trespassers. She follows in the paw steps of Jobie, our first stray who lived with us for 10 years. Hazlenut who follows Yosemite, the Siamese, who now lives with one of our graduates in semi retirement.

I will never forget the day 15 years go when I discovered Jobie in the apartments. The kids had been hiding him and feeding him their favorite foods -- watermelon, cheetos, ice cream and occasionally some fried chicken. Every square inch of his fur was tangled and every part of his skin seemed to have a wound, a tick or a flea. He was just pathetic, and when I said, "You are such a mess," one of our women responded, "Don't forget we're all a mess when we first get here."

Those are almost the same words the women use now in describing how there is hope for Scrappy, the gremlin dog.

Before our women named this unusual looking little dog Scrappy, she was a neighborhood stray. She lived across the street in a bad situation and kept running over to our apartments every chance she got. One day the dog's owners moved away and left her to fend for herself. Didn't take her long to squeeze under our fence once again; then her visits became more frequent and lasted longer.

It has taken several months, but she now seems comfortable with most of our CrossRoads women and follows them around. Her initial fear and suspicion gave way to a tentative curiosity about this new place with all the nice people. She is now taking those first steps toward a better life.

Scrappy will either stay with us or move on with one of our soon-to-graduate women. Whether she stays here or moves on, her life will be much better. She is not a stray any longer.