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10 Best Homeless Shelters for Women and Children

Homeless shelters have been very handy for people who are homeless and desperately looking for a temporary roof over their heads.

There are several reasons why people go to homeless shelters, and one of the major reasons is the lack of affordable accommodation.

In case you are a woman who is homeless, and you have children, and you need a homeless shelter to stay temporarily, you may want to consider some of the homeless shelters we will discuss in this article.

Best Homeless Shelters for Women and Children

  1. Lotus House

Lotus House was established in 2006, and sheltering over 1,550 women, youth, and children annually, Lotus House is the largest women’s shelter in the United States of America.

Lotus House provides life-changing sanctuary and supportive services that help them heal, learn, grow, and thrive on every level.

So much more than a meal, a bed, and a shower, Lotus House provides trauma-informed wrap-around services such as child and family therapy, parenting classes, resource coordination, access to medical and mental healthcare, educational support like after-school tutoring, homework help,

GED classes, employment training, workshops, job readiness training, arts and activities and additional enrichment activities, and Housing support and move-out assistance.

  1. Alexandria House

Founded in 1996, Alexandria House is a house of hospitality and hope. The goal of Alexandria House is to provide safe and supportive housing for women and children experiencing homelessness and trauma.

Alexandria House offers a continuum of support as people move from crisis situations to financial and emotional stability, and ultimately to permanent housing.

They also serve their broader community by providing wellness, educational, and enrichment opportunities and resources to meet the basic needs of our neighbors.

They are intentionally multicultural and anti-racist and are committed to addressing the systemic injustices that keep women and families disenfranchised and living in poverty.

Alexandria House is a transitional residence and house of hospitality. They provide safe and supportive housing for women and children in the process of moving from emergency shelter to economic stability and permanent housing. Alexandria House is located in the densely populated and ethnically diverse Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles.

  1. Salvation Army Shelters

For those with no safe place to go or in need of emergency shelter, local Salvation Army shelters provide a warm, secure place for homeless men, women, and children to stay.

The doors of the Salvation Army shelters are open every day — and night — of the year. Through their emergency housing facilities, homeless shelters, transitional living centers, group homes, and family shelters, they provide more than 8 million nights of lodging annually.

In some cities where the Salvation Army does not currently operate homeless shelters, they help provide financial assistance to cover emergency overnight housing costs or refer those facing housing and food insecurity to trusted partner programs with emergency shelter services.

  1. Wheeler Mission Ministries

Wheeler Mission Ministries offers women and women with children a 45-day program designed to assist them with basic temporal needs, like meals and shelter, while assessing the factors that led them to experience homelessness.

Whether addiction, mental health, medical, occupational, or educational issues, ladies are encouraged to enter the other long-term programs that can help them with recovery, securing safe housing and employment, or mental healthcare.

The Winter Contingency Program ensures that every man, woman, and child in the Indianapolis and Bloomington areas can find a safe place to sleep and a nourishing meal during the cold months. Five months out of the year, November 1 through March 31 low barrier care is provided on a night-by-night basis.

  1. Rose Haven

Rose Haven is the only day shelter and community center specifically serving women, children, and gender-diverse people in Portland.

As night shelters are at capacity, the Rose Haven low-barrier drop-in model bridges the gaps in services. For many women and children, they are the first step in asking for help and starting to heal.

Rose Haven new home for the Haven, a 10,000 sq. ft. facility designed with a trauma-informed lens in NW Portland. Rose Haven intentionally considered color, layout, and accessibility as they relate to the experiences of marginalized communities, and promote healing in the space.

Rose Haven expanded not only their facility size but their programs and hours of operation as well. Rose Haven is now open 5 Days a week from 9 am – 4 pm.

Rose Haven offers family-specific services on Wednesday afternoons and has seen a significant increase in children accessing their services onsite.

  1. My Sister’s House – Atlanta Mission

My Sister’s House is an overnight shelter for women and children experiencing homelessness. They provide a safe and healthy environment in which women and children can recover and grow from past experiences that may have contributed to their present circumstances and work towards healthy relationships with God, themselves, and others.

My Sister’s House team works together with each woman and child to help them address their spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, and vocational needs in a way that is sensitive to the unique needs of each woman and child.

Please note that before you can be admitted into My Sister’s House, you must meet their general requirements, you must be over the age of 18 unless accompanied by a mother or legal guardian, agree to abide by all guidelines and fully participate in all program activities,

Be fully detoxified with at least 72 hours since last use of drugs or 24 hours since last use of alcohol, be mentally and physically able to exercise proper personal hygiene and self-care, perform task assignments, and participate in all program functions within a non-medical, non-psychiatric facility.

  1. Blue Sky Communities and Metropolitan Ministries (SabalPlace)

Blue Sky Communities and Metropolitan Ministries have collaborated to build SabalPlace, 112 new affordable housing units in Seffner, FL, to help more families especially women and children with similar circumstances as it relates to homelessness.

The services offered by Blue Sky Communities and Metropolitan Ministries include housing, employment, counseling, education, afterschool programming, case management, and health and wellness programming.

Blue Sky Communities and Metropolitan Ministries care for the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless in the community through services that alleviate suffering, promote dignity, and instill self-sufficiency as an expression of the ongoing ministry of Jesus Christ.

  1. Bethany House Services

Bethany House Services provides comprehensive family-centered homelessness services, all of which are provided by staff trained in trauma-informed care and focused on empowering families to reach self-sufficiency.

Bethany House Services holistic services – including prevention of homelessness, emergency shelter, housing programs, comprehensive case management, post-shelter support, and permanent affordable rental housing – address a family’s current needs and seek to prevent repeat episodes of homelessness.

Bethany House Services emergency shelters provide safety, food, clothing, case management, children’s programs, and adult life skills classes for families who are actively experiencing homelessness.

Their Rapid re-housing programs, considered to be the best housing practice for alleviating homelessness, provide financial assistance and supportive services with the goal of stabilizing the family as quickly as possible.

Bethany House serves parenting and pregnant youth through the HUD-funded Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, which moves high-risk young parents into housing as quickly as possible.

  1. Good Shepherd Center

Good Shepherd Center offers the core programs of shelter, food, case management, and support services, all designed to help guide homeless women and their children every step of the way as they move from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

The Mobile Outreach Van provides basic necessities and critical support services to women and children living on the streets. Languille Shelter and Hawkes Residence provide crisis and bridge housing to women experiencing homelessness.

Angel Guardian Home and Farley House, offer women and their children the opportunity to rebuild their lives through transitional and long-term housing, education and training, and employment services.

Good Shepherd Center serves over 1,500 women and children each year in a spirit of dignity and love through their outreach efforts as well as through their four residences.

  1. UP For Women and Children

UP For Women and Children provides day shelter, resources, emotional support, and community connections to women, children, and marginalized genders experiencing homelessness to address the barriers to housing, so they can leave homelessness for good.

UP For Women and Children helps women gain independence so that they can leave an abusive partner or the trap of sex trafficking.

They offer a safe, welcoming, warm place where a woman who has been living in her car can go to feel human again. UP For Women and Children has created a haven where women can bring their young children without fear for their safety.