ABBY KELLEY FOSTER HOUSE INC
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Mission Statement
Imagine having nowhere to sleep. To eat. To bathe. Founded in 1976, Abby’s House was at the forefront of the local shelter and housing movement as one of the first shelters specifically for homeless women in the nation. Our mission is, “to provide shelter and affordable housing, as well as advocacy and support services, to homeless, battered, and low-income women, with or without children.” We empower the women we serve to lead self-directed lives filled with dignity and hope. Abby’s House provides overnight shelter and affordable, supportive housing for women who have histories of homelessness, trauma, substance use, mental illness, and domestic violence. Over the last 40+ years, we have helped more than 14,000 women move beyond the chaos of homelessness, regaining their footing on the path to independence. We answer the door for them - “one knock at a time.”
About This Cause
With a nine-bed shelter and 79 units of safe, affordable housing, Abby’s House is the area’s largest housing provider specifically designed to meet the needs of low-income women and their children. Our housing and advocacy programs operate year-round; seven days per week/24 hours per day. Unlike most other low-income housing and shelter programs, we do not have restrictive residency requirements nor do we require our women served to be on welfare. As a result, we can meet the needs of working women who cannot afford market-rate rent, or enable those who are on SSI or SSDI to live safely and comfortably, with the support of our Housing team and their individual advocates. As in recent years, we continue to see an increase in the following three groups of residents: 1) women age 55 and older who are losing their homes due to reduction in hours or wages, job loss, divorce, and/or foreclosure; 2) young women who have aged out of the foster care system who have no real knowledge of how to live independently, no financial resources and nowhere to go; and 3) working women who can simply no longer afford market-rate rent. The effects of homelessness are significant and long-lasting – negatively impacting social, emotional, medical, developmental, educational and occupational status for all those involved. Homeless women have higher rates of mental health issues and poor social skills, are at risk for poor health outcomes, and over the long run, suffer from a lack of educational, vocational and economic success, which places these women at continued risk for homelessness. At Abby’s, we strive to put an end to this cycle of poverty and despondence. In addition to providing safe, affordable housing, each woman is encouraged to develop an Individualized Empowerment Plan which helps guide her towards confidence, independence and ultimately reclaiming her life. Effective advocacy strategies for increasing independence are developed in scheduled meetings and include discussions of their progress towards their goals. We continue to help women regain their footing on the path to independence -- the vast majority of our women move out into independent housing within two years of arriving on our doorstep. Given their traumatic histories and the nature of the problems that lead to their homelessness, this is truly remarkable. Our annual goals are to: *Provide shelter, housing, advocacy and referral services to at least 500 individuals *Provide access to the food pantry to residents and shelter guests, as well as serve warm, nutritious meals twice a week in the Annette Rafferty Women’s Empowerment Center. *Create seamless service provisions by providing referrals to our network of over 123 partners and programs within Worcester County. *Coordinate workshops, events and field trips through our Annette Rafferty Women's Empowerment Center The success of the individualized programming is based upon meeting or exceeding set benchmarks: • 100% of women who come to the shelter participate in an intake interview with our Shelter Manager and develop an Individualized Empowerment Plan. • 98% of families with children will be connected with appropriate day care and/or educational institutions. • 75% of residents who exit Abby’s House move into their own independent housing. • 100% of guests and residents have membership to our Annette Rafferty Women's Empowerment Center, a homelessness prevention program. This drop-in program provides education, health care services, social activities and professional advocacy for current and former guests and residents. Last year, our agency served a total of 705 women and children. We were able to provide shelter, housing, and Women’s Center activities to 162 women and 43 children and referral services an additional 500 women and their families. With support from donors like you, last year we were able to provide: •Safe shelter for 67 women and 32 children to temporarily stay and to receive help to find long-term housing. •50 women, with and without children, an affordable, supportive housing unit within Abby’s House while 45 residents continued their journey with us for another year. •Advocacy and referrals for over 500 battered and homeless women Our long-term goals are to end the cycle of homelessness, poverty and violence, and to provide an environment in which these women can rebuild and reclaim their lives. We work to abate homelessness and assist battered women, enabling them to resume self-supporting and productive roles in society. And with your help, we can continue this important work!