Bethany House Raises Awareness and Funds to Serve Area Families

By Robin Gee

This fall, Bethany House Services, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness for area families with children, held their annual Welcome Home Bash fundraiser at the American Sign Museum. The organization raised close to $330,000 to help provide shelter and support for the families they serve.

The Bethany House motto, “One Step Closer to Home” describes their mission to be a stepping stone for families experiencing homelessness on their way to securing stable and safe homes. The funds raised will certainly help many area families meet that challenge. Yet, the rapidly rising cost of living, lack of affordable housing stock and cuts to important federal programs on the horizon will add new challenges to an already urgent need. 

Meeting the challenges of the past

In 1983 two Sisters of Charity, Sister Mary (Grafe) and Sister Dee (Sizler) decided to help women and children facing homelessness. They invited them into their house to give them respite and an opportunity to regroup as they worked to find new homes. 

“It started out with women and children, and then they realized how much need there was, and it kept growing and growing,” said Megan Park, marketing and special events manager. “They would add a house, and add another house, and eventually they had seven different houses scattered all around the city.”

Different aspects of the organization were spread out among the houses, Park explained. One house held the administrative offices with some bedrooms, another had the family services department with bedrooms, another was entirely living spaces. This presented additional challenges.

“The services weren’t evenly distributed. It was hard to get people from place to place, to get exactly what they needed. There was so much traveling from here to there,” she said. 

As the organization grew, staff began to look for an opportunity to bring all their properties and people together. In 2018, Bethany House purchased property from St. Aloysius in the Bond Hill neighborhood. Plans and fundraising were set in motion and by the fall of 2022, the organization moved into a new building that houses all the facilities under one roof. 

Growth to meet today’s needs

As the organization has grown, so too has their mission. Today Bethany House offers many more services and serves close to 175 people at a time, 65% of whom are children. 

“The property we’re in right now is a modern, bright, big building. It has 43 bedrooms, and we have men, women and children…Family is defined however you define it, as long as there are children involved,” Park said. 

In addition to the bedrooms, the building has offices, a cafeteria, a small kitchenette and several common living spaces. They serve three hot meals a day. Residents don’t cook meals, but they and their children can grab a snack or snag leftovers in the kitchenette. Common living spaces are equipped with computers, televisions, books and toys. 

The Kids Zone is a large common space divided into smaller rooms by age — babies, preschoolers, elementary, tweens and teens. Each room is equipped with age appropriate books and toys. There’s an outdoor play area and a courtyard as well.

Park said they try whenever possible to keep children in the schools they have been attending but arrangements are made for some children to go to nearby Bond Hill schools.

More than shelter

As the mission has grown, so has the understanding that it takes more than shelter to keep a family on the path to finding and keeping a home. Park said Bethany House now focuses on four areas of support — housing, emergency shelter, family services and preventing homelessness.

For emergency shelter, those in need can call the city’s Central Access Point, or CAP line, and be directed to housing depending on their situation. There are shelters around the city specifically for young people, single adults, victims of domestic abuse or those dealing with addiction. Families with children are often referred to Bethany House. 

Family services include life skills classes for parents such as how to open a checking account and handle money, what your legal rights are or how to talk to a landlord, said Park. This can include enrichment opportunities as well, such as art or journaling, HipHop or aerobics.

“By the time people come into the shelter, they’ve probably been homeless for close to a year, if not more. They’ve been bouncing around from couch to couch, from family to family, friend to friend,’ said Park.

Bethany House staff know how traumatic that can be, especially for children. This is why they offer them social and emotional skills and development opportunities.

Families are assigned case workers who help them deal with barriers, whether that’s obtaining necessary documents, getting training or a GED, or enrolling in college. They help parents obtain housing vouchers, SNAP benefits, anything that can help them succeed.

Park said prevention is key. It’s easier to help keep people in their homes than it is to find new shelter. Bethany House provides information and resources for things like finding rent assistance through Tenant Guard or help through United Way or other agencies.

“So many people are one paycheck away from disaster. Your car breaks down, or you have a health crisis, or your kid is sick and you can’t get to work and you lose your job. So many things like that can happen, and people lose their homes. It’s crazy…so prevention is a big one,” she said.

Bethany House Successes

“Ninety three percent of the people who leave this shelter go into a permanent housing situation,” said Park. “And 90% of those who leave the shelter remain stably housed two years later.”

The organization has 60 staff members and an army of caring volunteers, she said. They partner with agencies and organizations across the area to ensure the best outcomes for their families. 

“We’re really trying to break the cycle of poverty, the cycles of homelessness. We have this really big, beautiful space filled with compassion and loving people, and we just want the families who pass through here to know that they are cared for and loved and deserving of all the good things,” said Park.

More about Bethany House

In addition to the organization’s annual Welcome Home Bash in October, they hold a joint Mardis Gras fundraiser with other organizations in February. Volunteers are needed for administrative work, tutoring, running afterschool programming, helping at fundraisers, offering life skills classes and more.

The organization is funded through donations and federal grants. The future is a challenge as funds are being cut, not only for housing grants, but cuts to food and medical programs may force even more into homelessness. 

To learn more, go to bethanyhouseservices.org. For those who need emergency shelter, the CAP line number is 513-381-7233.