When Kathy Beretta found out she had cancer four years ago, she took stock of what really mattered in her life. While recovering from treatments, the Happy Valley woman decided that she wanted to do something to help families facing tough challenges.

That led Beretta, 67, to Shepherd's Door, a Northeast Portland recovery center that helps women who have struggled with drug and alcohol addiction learn how to reboot their lives, reuniting many of them with their children. She volunteers there every week, witnessing miracles large and small.

"I needed something to help my soul," Beretta says. "I just love to see how God has worked in these women to change their lives and the lives of their children, which affects their future forever."

Shepherd's Door, which is run by Portland Rescue Mission, offers housing and education for 40 women, who stay there for a year while learning parenting and life skills, along with new vocations that can help them lead a drug-free life. The center also houses up to 30 children, who have a range of programs designed to give them joyful childhood experiences they may have missed when their families fell apart.

"I'm kind of a grandma for the kids," Beretta says. "I help the teachers a little bit, and the kids sit on my lap. And I push them on the swings, and help with the crafts and snacks. They have a wonderful playground with a lot of bikes and trikes."

Through this interaction with the children, Beretta sees amazing transformations: "Some of the children are scared when they first come, and they might act out. But that changes pretty quickly."

Shepherd's Door is is one of 10 nonprofits selected for The Oregonian/OregonLive's 2018 Season of Sharing holiday fundraising campaign to benefit social-service agencies in the region; this year, the campaign is focusing on education and literacy.

The program, which has a staff of 15, was established in 1993 to meet the rising need for shelter, addiction recovery, parenting and life skills, and vocational training among women and women with children in our community. As with other Portland Rescue Mission programs, 86 percent of the funding for Shepherd's Door's $1.5 million budget comes from individual donors.

Going to a pumpkin patch or playing miniature golf are childhood experiences many people take for granted. But for the children in the Shepherd's Door program, even simple experiences are brand new.

"These are normal things that all kids do, but many of these children have never had a chance to experience simple play," Beretta says.

While Beretta's volunteer efforts are focused on the children staying at Shepherd's Door, she's inspired by the changes she sees in the women getting help at the center.

"The moms are being cared for here," she says. "They're being fed, they're getting classes, they're learning about Jesus, and they change. A lot of them change from being pretty scared themselves and rough around the edges. And the kids change because their moms are caring for them and they know they are loved."

Stacy Downing, the program manager for Shepherd's Door, says the program is life-transforming for both the women and their children.

"We get quite a few women who have been furloughed from jail," she says. "Even though we are faith-based, there are many courts and judges who send women here because we have such success. We have a reputation throughout the state for moms who want to get their children back."

Though the core Shepherd's Door program lasts a year, Downing says it's common for moms with children to stay three or four additional months to work on their parenting skills.

"They come in broken, so bogged down with the lies and false beliefs they've been taught all their lives," Downing says. "They come from incredibly dysfunctional families and they have no idea how to take care of themselves, much less their kiddos.

"But through a lot of hard work - amazing classes, mentors - they learn who they are and who they are meant to be. They learn how to have fun, and how to have fun with their kids. They gain that hope that they don't have to live the way they were before, and this hope gets transferred to their kids."

What your donation can do

$5: Provides a toiletry kit with toothbrush, toothpaste and other essential hygiene items for one child at Shepherd's Door

$50: Provides a new winter coat for a child at Shepherd's Door

$120: Provides Christmas presents for a mother and her children at Shepherd's Door

How to donate

Send checks to:

Season of Sharing

Oregonians Credit Union

336 N.E. 20th Ave.

Portland, OR 97232

-- Grant Butler

503-221-8566; @grantbutler