Sheffield Place is Promise

A message from Kelly Welch, Executive Director

For the homeless women and their young children that the program serves, Sheffield Place is promise.  Promise is defined as:

1. Declaration that something will be done.

Sheffield Place provide services that address homelessness, trauma, mental health and substance abuse. Through our groups, individual therapy, and supportive housing, our       families receive declaration that something will be done to address the many issues that have    resulted in their current situation of homelessness and despair. Our promise to our families is that if they engage in services, they will acquire self-sufficiency, housing, income, and improved health.

2. An express assurance

All of the services provided by Sheffield Place focus on identifying and addressing    trauma—abuse, violence, homelessness— so that our families can improve their health to move forward. Trauma informed care recognizes that while everyone experiences trauma in their lives, the sheer volume of trauma that our families have experienced is overwhelming to the point of being unable to function. Sheffield Place provides safe, secure, supportive housing for families. Often it is the first time they have been in a place where safety is assured.

3. Indication of future excellence or achievement

The vast majority (90%) of families that complete the program are successful in          becoming self-sufficient, strong families. Sheffield Place helps families to visualize and reach a promising future.

After 20 years of service to more than 2,100 women and children, Sheffield Place’s promise to the community is to enhance and expand services to serve more families.

In the past year—

· The number of required program service hours has expanded substantially. This expansion is made possible through the addition of groups, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, HIV risk reduction, parenting, music therapy, mentoring, pet therapy and financial literacy.

· Sheffield Place began offering health care services onsite to mothers and children.

· Sheffield Place recently inaugurated a structured case management pilot program to serve former residents who have completed the program (aftercare), as well as to families before they enter the program (outreach).

· We have developed a new community garden onsite to teach residents about the nutritional and therapeutic value of gardening.

So far in 2011, we have served 40 families through inpatient services and ten families in aftercare services. In total, Sheffield Place has served more than double the number of families served the previous year.

It is only with the support of volunteers, community agencies, corporations, foundations, the faith community, schools, youth groups, government agencies, civic groups, and YOU that Sheffield Place can fulfill our promise to homeless families and their children. Thank you for all that you do to assure a promising future to homeless mothers and their children.