For the past eight years, Christa Loveland has given much of her life to the operation of the Women’s Information Network Service (WINS). But as her life has demanded more, Loveland has been forced to make a difficult decision.

For several months now, Loveland has been ramping down operations at WINS, an organization dedicated to helping women help themselves and their children through shared resources and information. WINS has effectively been shut down since December. Loveland said commitments to family and her ongoing education have drawn her away.

“I’ve been trying to let the community know that I couldn’t put near as much time into it as I had previously,” she said. “I have to go back to graduate school, and I have to spend more time with my family and on other obligations.”

Loveland said others involved in the organization have moved on for various reasons, and that she has been unable to recruit replacements for that help or qualified leadership to serve as her own replacement. The organization received another major blow, she said, in April of 2008, when a vehicle collided with the group’s Once Again Thrift Store off Highway 99, destroying much of its merchandise.

“The accident destroyed a lot of our property and killed our momentum,” she said. “That really hurt.”

In May of 2002, WINS began operations in two cupboards on loan from the First Presbyterian Church. Six months later, Loveland and WINS moved into rented space in His Church before relocating briefly to the Church of the Nazarene. At its peak, WINS operated the thrift store, Tea & Things Tea Shop downtown and Transformation House, a temporary dwelling for at-risk mothers and children that opened in 2007. Loveland counted over 2332 families that have been helped by the program since its inception.

“I feel good about what we were able to do,” she said. “We’ve provided thousands of services to this town, things that are still not offered by any other agency.”

Loveland said she is confident her clients will still be able to access services through groups like Lane Pregnancy Support, Community Sharing, Womenspace and the Church of the Nazarene clothing closet, groups with which WINS has networked for some time. “I’m at peace with this,” she said. “I believe we’ve done everything we can to help. It’s meant a lot to me and has been a big part of my life for eight years. But I don’t regret anything.”

For the complete article see the 02-03-2010 issue.

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