Danita Sullivan

“I’m so grateful for the gift God gave me and how He has allowed me to use it despite myself.”

Three years ago, after becoming an empty-nester, Danita felt God call her to find a volunteer home. She asked her pastor if he might know of a place where her gifts could be of service. He suggested Miracle Hill Shepherd’s Gate, a safe haven for women and their children who are homeless because of abusive relationships, addictions, loss of financial support and other factors.

When the director at Shepherd’s Gate asked Danita what she’d like to do there, Danita’s request was simple. “I want to hang out in the library so when the women come in I can just chat with them.” So that’s just what she did. Soon, the staff at Shepherd’s Gate was hearing Danita’s name more and more from the women with whom she chatted. Danita explains, “Talking with these women, you’d expect them to be downtrodden, but they are grateful. They have the best attitudes!”

But Danita felt a calling from God to council women long before her work at Shepherd’s Gate. “God would bring these women into my life that needed help but they never stayed too long. They’d leave and I’d be devastated. I didn’t understand then, that God was preparing me for this.” Danita wants people to know that it’s not her will but God’s that is being done through her. “I’m so grateful for the gift God gave me and how He has allowed me to use it despite myself.”

Three times a week, after finishing up her full-time job at the hospital, Danita teaches two classes, a Discipleship class and Women’s Issues class and says it’s the best part of her day. “I came to be a blessing to these women but I was blessed by them.”