Written by: Emily Cleary, Junior Development Officer at Clare House
From 2020-2022, 46% of our residents were doubled-up upon entry to Clare House. This informal term refers to shared living arrangements that are over capacity, where living space is not suitable for more than two families. 58% of Clare House moms said they had experienced some form of domestic violence in their past. Another 35% did not have a valid driver's license. These statistics only mention a few of the barriers to success that can lead to transitional housing.
Recognizing these obstacles is the first step to eradicating the problem, lifting the rose-colored glasses that hide vast inequities and disparities within our communities.
At Clare House, our mission is to provide transitional housing and employment-focused programming, meaning we are helping mothers re-establish financial security and self-sufficiency. But beyond our message, what does this look like in practice? We hope this blog will give an in-depth and transparent overview of our program, and how we help mothers in the Lancaster Community.
A phone call is how it starts.
- Mothers in need, concerned family members, or others call, most in dire situations.
- Some are on the verge of eviction.
- Others are in an emergency shelter.
- Regardless of the length of our waiting list or available rooms in the house, we always get in contact with prospective residents.
- When we have an opening, our application process begins with an interview, where a potential resident will meet our Program Director and Case Manager to determine program fit.
All Clare House moms must be able to and willing to work full-time towards their career goals.
Once a mom accepts a spot in our program, she moves into one of two houses that Clare House owns: Harmony and Clare House. From this moment on, she works with our staff during weekly meetings to establish reliable childcare, maintain or gain employment, and create financial goals. Moreover, we work to connect the women and their children to different mental health resources and counseling, as these situations can be overwhelming and traumatic. Throughout their stay, residents can get household supplies, specific donations, and other items to support them, allowing them to increase their savings.
For each mom, the journey is different. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and experiences, which is why we tailor our program to each of our residents. We are committed to treating everyone with respect and dignity. Part of this process is establishing Clare House Moms' needs. Each mom enters the program with different skills and aspirations, as well as a different timeline. We are working to be more flexible as we evolve to a staging system that progresses moms at their own pace.
Our Monday Workshops are a unique facet of our programming that tailors to this need.
These workshops aim to help women:
- build life skills, de-stress, or participate in an activity to help them grow.
- We have a range of workshop presenters that come to our houses to connect with the women and give back to the community.
- Our most recent workshops have focused on journaling and we have some coming up focused on financial literacy.
- These life skills are crucial and can help women with managing money, stress, and other barriers they face.
After the initial financial goals of childcare and employment are fulfilled, our program's last step is finding affordable housing options. This has become increasingly difficult in today's housing market, but Clare House works tirelessly with moms and our Community Partners to identify sustainable opportunities. Utilizing our knowledge of community resources, we connect CH moms to programs they are eligible for, as well as skill-building workshops, classes, or training that they would benefit from.
For instance, we helped one of our moms learn that by getting their patient care certification, she could increase her income and be promoted. Sometimes, awareness and access are the keys.
However, our work does not stop at the end of the program. We have a few families in our Aftercare system, which means that Clare House is still a resource beyond signing a lease. Breaking the cycles of poverty and inaccessibility starts with reinvesting in our community not just once, but continually. We work with our moms as much as possible to give them the resources they need and fill a need in the community.
We hope this gives more insight into the work that Clare House does and will continue to do. We realize that this is not a one-step process, but we meet women where they are to help them get to where they want to be. We are working to fill a need in the community so that one day, we will not have to. Thank you again for supporting Clare House.
