PROVIDENCE HOUSE, INC. VOLUME XX. NO.1 February 2005

Providence House Heartline

Providence House New Program Initiatives

N ew programs are abuzz at Providence House!

Through the support of two new grants from the

United Way and Fidelis Care, we are able to

enhance our existing services for the women and children at

Providence House.

Nutrition Education Program Providence House was one of three grantees (out of a pool

of sixty-nine) that received a United Way grant “Eat Well –

Play Hard.” This grant provides the services of a Nutritionist

for 5 months, who will work with program staff at Providence

House in creating a Nutrition Education program for the

women. The five session program will include components in

healthy diets, budgeting, shopping, and meal preparation and

will be first piloted at Providence House I, II and III. One of

the goals of the program is to instruct Providence House staff

on how to teach the curriculum, so that the program will

continue after the grant period has ended.

Karen Russell, our Assistant Director of Congregate

Programs, will be overseeing the Nutrition Initiative and will

add the curriculum as part of the Independent Living Skills

she offers in the congregate houses.

Health Services Program When we heard that Fidelis Care New York was creating a

grant fund to support health projects that would assist people

in need, Providence House jumped at the opportunity to be

able to offer health services to the women and families we

serve. Fidelis Care awarded 7 grants in the Brooklyn Diocese,

and Providence House was honored to be one of the fortunate

grantees.

The Fidelis Care grant has allowed Providence House to

hire a part time nurse who will work with our programs in

Sister Karen Keegen, RN, RGS joined the staff of

Providence House on January 24th and her co-workers are

thrilled at her arrival. Sister Karen comes to Providence

House with a wealth of experience in community health and

has served persons with needs similar to those experienced by

the women and children of Providence House. The

Providence House case managers will work closely with

Sister Karen to assure that the resident‟s medical needs and

overall health assessment are integrated into their overall care

plan. Because the residents often have had very fragmented

(if any) preventative health care prior to coming to

Providence House, having a health professional on staff to

review with them their medical histories and ensure that

health follow up is done is a much needed service. Chronic

conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, will be

able to be monitored as well as making certain that prenatal

care is being received by those who need it.

We anticipate that this program will serve as a safety net

for the residents, facilitating better access to community

medical resources not only while they are with us, but

ensuring that these links continue when they transition from

Providence House to their own independent housing. We

welcome Sister Karen to Providence House and know her

expertise will be well utilized in the months ahead!

Karen Russell, Assistant Director of Congregate Programs

Sister Karen Keegan, Nurse Case Manager

Brooklyn and Queens. The Nurse Case Manager is responsi-

ble for conducting health assessments and referrals, and will

build linkages with local health systems for the coordination

and care of each of the residents. The new program‟s goal is

to make health care services easily accessible to the women

and families, engage them in their own care plan, and identify

and stabilize chronic medical and mental health conditions to

assure for their overall health and social well being.

HOUSING READINESS PROGRAM By Kathy Fell, Director of Apartment Programs

Letter from the Executive Director Sister Janet Kinney, CSJ

re-integration back into the community

through supporting and preparing their

families who will be most affected by their

return home.

Combating the rising rates of

homelessness in our City has no simple

answers, yet the events of the past several

months have made one thing exceedingly

clear - New York City is on a new course –

shifting public resources from temporary

shelter to prevention efforts, rental

assistance programs and additional

investments in affordable housing.

In upcoming newsletters you will be

hearing more about Providence House‟s

response to these new directions, and how

we will be expanding our efforts and

programs to meet these challenging times

ahead.

As always, I thank you for your

continuing support of the mission and

services we provide at Providence

House!

„Section 8 vouchers‟ which has been the

community subsidy by those leaving

shelters. Unfortunately, Section 8 vouchers

are no longer available; last year 7000

Section 8 vouchers were used to move

families out of shelters.

While it remains to be seen how

successful the City‟s substitute program

will be to meet the Section 8 gap, it is

already abundantly clear that other types of

subsidy programs will need to be created

for those who don‟t meet the Housing

Subsidy Program guidelines.

The surge of numbers observed in the

homeless population has also been

attributed to the increased number of people

being released from incarceration. For

instance, in NYC between 1999-2002, at

least 3 0% of the shelter population had

recently left jail or prison. While no

prevention program currently exists to

specifically serve this group.

Undoubtedly, „homelessness prevention‟

efforts will need to be looked at for them as

well–better discharge planning, more

assistance with securing employment, and

most importantly, helping with their

Dear Friends:

This past year has been a significant one

for nonprofit organizations serving New

York City residents who become homeless

and need our services. In June 2004, Mayor

Michael Bloomberg acknowledged that the

shelter population had burgeoned to an

unacceptable rate of over 36,000

individuals (with 15,000 of them children).

In response to this crisis, he announced an

ambitious five year plan to end chronic

homelessness, specifically to reduce

homelessness by two-thirds over five years.

Within his address the Mayor also made a

commitment to work with State and Federal

partners to develop and fund 12,000 units of

supportive housing.

We have already begun to see some of

his plan being put in place. In the fall, the

NYC Dept. of Homeless Services began

piloting a new homelessness prevention

program in six locations in the City which

have been noted to have the highest

incidences of homelessness. This past

December, DHS announced its new

Housing Stability Plus rental assistance

program, a program meant to replace the

A new program, Housing Readiness,

was introduced at Providence

House VII in November of 2004.

This program funded by the Petrina

Foundation, Frank E. Clark Charitable Trust

and the Martha Mertz Foundation, is

designed to assist the residents with

maintaining their own apartments when

they leave the shelter and consists of eight

classes taught over an eight week period.

These classes include demonstrations and

hands on exercises in budgeting, using basic

tools, fixing small plumbing problems,

understanding electricity, painting,

maintaining a clean apartment, decorating

on a budget and basic carpentry. The

classes were held in a large room at the

Administrative Office that was outfitted

with work benches and tables for the

participants.

At the end of the eight classes

participants earn a certificate and are

awarded a tool box filled with the tools

used during the classes (and more!): a set

of screwdrivers, a hammer, pliers, tape

measure, level, etc. In addition to the

certificate and tool box, each participant

receives a weekly incentive to help them

with maintaining their current apartment in

our shelter program. The program also

offered a unique opportunity to showcase

the talents of several Providence House

employees. Karen Russell, Assistant

Director, Jackie Oyewole, House Manager,

Lester Huggins, Maintenance Specialist,

Kathy Fell, Director of Apartment

Programs, and Mary Reichers, Case

Manager, all taught classes and shared their

expertise with the participants.

Participants and staff all reported that

they enjoyed their experience. The women

from Providence House VII who

participated expressed their appreciation for

learning something new and practical,

receiving such great incentives for their

attendance and leaving with a tool box they

can use in their new homes. Staff stated

they had fun and enjoyed the experience of

teaching and the chance to interact with the

women in a different way.

The classes will begin again in March

and we are currently working with staff to

enlist new teaching staff and to encourage

resident participation from other Providence

Houses. Flyers will be posted, Metro cards

will be distributed and child care will be

provided so these women from Providence

House I and III can arrange their schedules

and take advantage of this program. The

program will be established as one of the

enrichment services we provide to the

women who come to live in our shelters.

Many Thanks To All Who Participated in our Annual Holiday Drives

You Have Continued to Make our Holidays Special!

Fidelis Care Diocesan Grant 35,000

Frank E. Clark Charitable Trust 25,000

Martha Mertz Foundation 15,000

JPMorgan Chase Bank 7,500

Switzer Foundation 6,000

United Way/Nutrition Education 5,000

Lifeline Ministry Fund 2,000

GRANTS

Thanksgiving And Christmas Drive

Participants

Limited Brands St. Joseph High School

St. Nicholas of Tolentine Christ the King Rosary Alter Society

St. Kevin School St. Bonaventure Church

Mary Louis Academy Holy Innocents School Saint Agnes Church

St. Mark Parish St. Joseph’s College

P.S. 29 St. Columba’s Parish

The Cody Family St. Charles Borromeo

St. Bernadette School/Parish Holy Family School

St. Edmund Preparatory St. Robert Bellarmine School

St. Luke School St. Rose of Lima

St. Athanasius School St. Francis Cabrini The Laugh Factory

Salem Baptist Missionary Church Immaculate Conception Parish

O ur theme for this year is

REMEMBER THE

CHILDREN. Everything we

do and all the ideas for our workshops

will be as a result of this thinking.

Whatever we do to help the women

who are sent to us, even if they don‟t

have children with them, will benefit

the adults of the future! Karen Russell,

our Assistant Director of Congregate

Programs has been working hard to

implement workshops that will assist

our women with their children in

REMEMBER THE CHILDREN

mind. For the past six weeks, Sisters

Coming Full Circle have been

conducting a workshop on Women’s

Health Issues. The women also

welcomed an Employment Specialist

who has been coming to each house to

help with Job Placements. This has

been a real service to our parole women

especially.

We are looking forward to our

nutrition and parenting workshops in

the weeks to come. A special project

we are currently working on is a cook-

book that will be a combination of the

many recipes that the House Managers

teach the women as they prepare meals.

If you have a favorite recipe that you

think we could use, let us know!!!

WOMEN SPEAK

PROVIDENCE HOUSE, INC.

703 Lexington Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11221 Website: www.providencehouse.org Email: info@providencehouse.org (718) 455-0197 phone (718) 455-0692 fax

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID BROOKLYN, NY 11256

PERMIT NO. 84

SAVE THE DATE

Providence House, Inc.

Annual People of Hope Celebration

Thursday, June 9, 2005

6pm

Water Club, NYC

For information and tickets

Contact (718) 455-0197

S ister Elaine Roulet, CSJ, Providence

House Founder, was honored at the

St. John‟s University Special

Vincentian Convocation. She was awarded

the Caritas Medal. This medal was created

by the University to pay tribute to those

whose service to the disadvantaged within

the metropolitan New York area has been

exemplary. The Convocation particularly

recognized Sister Elaine and her ministry as

enabling thousands of New Yorkers to live

out their lives in dignity, sheltered by the

love and commitment to their welfare

provided by her.

Congratulations, Sister Elaine!

M y name is

Latoya

Wright,

and I live in

Providence House

with my four

beautiful children,

Da‟zon (7), Danasia

(6), Shamell (4), and

Starasia (3mths). We

became homeless in September of 2004

and in this world today, it‟s very hard.

At the time we were going through

the system, I was seven

months pregnant. Being the

mother that I am, I held on

very strong. There were

times when I wanted to turn

around and walk out the

door, but always said to

myself that I have to make a

better living for my children.

The first night in the

system, I was placed in an

overnight hotel. The next

day my children and I were

brought to Providence House. We

were placed in an apartment. I thank

God for all the good things that he

brought to me because the apartment is

beautiful. It was like having my own

place instead of being homeless. My

children are so happy and comfortable.

Being in Providence House I learned a

lot of things that I did not know. Every

other

“BECOMING A STRONGER WOMAN”

By Latoya Wright, Resident

week I participated in classes on

different topics such as; cleaning,

carpentry, tools, plumbing, painting

and budgeting. I enjoyed the instructors

and the classes were hands-on. I was

allowed to do things on my own and

refreshments were served. I received

lots of gifts for my apartment.

The security guards and the staff

members are very pleasant and helpful.

Being in the situation that I‟m in,

makes me a stronger woman. There

were days that I cried to myself and

asked for God‟s help to put

me on the right track. God

said to me, “I‟m going to do

my part and now you have to

do your part.” Everyday it

just made me become

stronger and stronger.

Some women say it‟s

hard, but you have to have

patience. I have four lovely

children and I love them

very much. Right now I‟m a

single parent and my goal is

to go back to school to get my G.E.D.,

become a lawyer and buy a house for

my children and I. I want to thank

everyone in Providence House that

helped me and my children, because

life itself is very hard and with out the

help that they gave my children and I,

we would not be blessed as much as we

are, because God is good.

“Everyday it

just made

me become

stronger

and

stronger.”