There were hugs and expressions of joy earlier this month when Chara Fitzpatrick became the first occupant of the Haven for Her, a new project of Live Like Jesus Today Ministries that welcomes young women who are pregnant or have small children.

Fitzpatrick, who is pregnant with twins, was released from the Barton County Detention Center on May 8. LLJTM Founder Buzz Birney attended her court hearing and then drove her to the Haven for Her.

“No more jail, ever,” Birney told her. “This is your new home.”

She met Birney’s wife Clifann and the staff at the Haven, who proceeded to show her the sitting room, living room and amenities of the site, including a private bedroom furnished with a double bed for her and two cribs for the babies, who are due in July but expected in June.

“I’m very grateful,” Fitzpatrick said. “You don’t get many opportunities like this. It’s definitely been a long road.” She was looking forward to a hot shower and a return to a sense of normalcy. “It feels like home.”

The journey from homeless to haven

The road that brought the 30-year-old Florida native to a cheerful green-walled bedroom in Great Bend was anything but straight.

Fitzpatrick arrived in Kansas two years ago with her then-boyfriend. When the relationship fell apart she found herself without housing and drifted to the unofficial homeless encampment beneath the Arkansas River bridge. There, she built her own teepee and set up a few tents, carving out what stability she could.

She had been working as a freelance photographer, a passion she’d carried from Florida, but her camera was stolen. She switched to her phone — and that was stolen too. The losses compounded.

Last fall, already living at the river camp, she discovered she was pregnant with twins.

“It was right after Thanksgiving, and I was missing my kids back home, and I’d just found out I was pregnant, and the babies’ dad just went to prison,” she recalled. “It was just all emotional. Really, like a soap opera.”

She had been on probation following an April 2025 conviction for interference with a law enforcement officer. Overwhelmed by circumstances, she stopped reporting to her probation officer. Five days after her 30th birthday in December, she was arrested on a probation violation. What was meant to be a short sanction stretched into five months at the Barton County Detention Center.

Fitzpatrick has mixed feelings about those months behind bars. The jail provided shelter during the winter, prenatal care and, as it turned out, a connection that would change her life. The jail’s nurse liaison put her in touch with Birney, who began visiting and ministering to her in the months that followed.

At the jail, she made the best of it. She ate six to ten eggs a day on her doctor’s advice to boost protein for the twins, supplemented by peanut butter sandwiches — and the occasional Hostess donut. (The eggs and Hostess snacks were courtesy of an LLJTM donation to the facility). She got acquainted with a new jail mattress, courtesy of Sergeant Jared Vonfeldt, who she says has been working hard to improve conditions for inmates.

On May 8, after a court hearing, she walked out. Birney was waiting. His team had been hard at work remodeling a former oilfield office turned residence on West Barton County Road into an inviting home. There will be rooms for three more women and the land inside the fenced compound has room to add a playground or – as Fitzpatrick hopes – a garden.

The drive to Haven for Her led to a whirlwind of introductions — to Clifann Birney, to staff members Ann Romein and Suzann Sanchez — and a tour of the home that would be hers. There would be rules and structure, Birney noted, which they’d already discussed. There would also be a trip to Walmart for groceries, hygiene products and clothes, and lunch — pizza, with bacon, pineapple and jalapenos, from Pizza Hut, was her choice.

The room was already stocked with baby wipes, disposable diapers and a bassinet, along with the cribs.

“Sister Ann” prepared to spend the night and would go over directions to the hospital in case Fitzpatrick goes into labor.

“I haven’t had so many hugs in so long,” Fitzpatrick said, laughing. “There weren’t many people you could hug in jail. I’m so excited.”

For Birney, the day carried its own significance. “I’ll always remember when our first person came into Haven for Her,” he said, “because it’s on my birthday.”

Fitzpatrick is under no illusions about the work ahead. She will need to rebuild — her wardrobe, her routines, her connections to her children in Florida. She thinks about photography, about child advocacy, maybe eventually about school. She loves nature, plants, the unexpected beauty of Kansas.

“I lived in Florida my whole life,” she said. “There’s so much to see in other states.” She recalled the wonder of her first real snowfall and her first visit to Lake Wilson, which she found stunning.

“Being landlocked, because I always had the beaches — seeing how big Lake Wilson is was crazy. It was definitely a different world.”

She isn’t certain yet where life will take her after the twins arrive. Florida is still home in many ways, and her other children are there. But she’s not ruling anything out. She has experience with fine dining customer service and tending bar. She’s interested in nature and botany. “If I ever go back to school, I’ll probably go for something like child advocacy,” she said.

What she is certain about is the importance of what Haven for Her represents — not just for her, but for others who might find themselves at a similar crossroads.

“This is a really, really amazing opportunity for people,” she said.

She glanced around the green-walled room — the double bed, the two cribs waiting — and smiled.

“Already feels like home.”