Bethany-House

From Journalism80

A Place to Call Home

Bethany House:

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children Project is a program implemented by the Leader to Leader Institute, a non-profit organization. The Project is designed to respond to the needs of women who are experiencing a high risk or difficult pregnancy, as well as women who have just given birth and whose lives are further complicated by the crisis of homelessness. Bethany House was founded in 1978 in response to a need for shelter for homeless women and children. They provide a safe place to live for women who are faced with a crisis situation. Bethany house offers these women a place to live and resources and the skills to care for themselves and their newborn children, (www.bethanyhouseny.org). Bethany House was the first emergency shelter to open on Long Island, New York and has been singled out as a model program because it has always provided safe, supportive emergency housing combined with a component of services and resources. Bethany House of Nassau County is located in Roosevelt which has a reputation of having more poverty and less school funding than other Nassau County areas, (www.bethany.org/A55798/bethanyWWW.nsf/BCS/bethanyshouse)

Nassau County Resources for Homeless:

Nassau County provides services for many at-risk populations, but there is no other program in the county other than the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children Project for homeless women who are faced with high-risk pregnancies or for women that come directly from the hospital with their homeless newborn children. Emergency and transitional housing programs for families with special needs are minimal in Nassau County, and residential programs that are enhanced by quality and comprehensive support services such as Bethany House are elsewhere nonexistent. The Project provides the services needed for mothers and children in Bethany's residential and home-like settings. These services include: safe, clean housing and nutritious meals, pre-natal care and monitoring; post-partum and infant care and monitoring; parenting skills training and resources and referral services.

Demographics:

The population of Roosevelt is 16,000 where women are accounted for more than half of the population. A staggering 80% of the population is African American, with a moderate Hispanic community and low percentages of other races. Roosevelt’s percentage of population with a bachelor’s degree or higher is below the New York State average (http://www.city-data.com/city/Roosevelt-New-York.html). Mothers living with n husband and only children account for 14% of Roosevelt’s population (http://roosevelt.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm). There are approximately 25,000 homeless persons in Nassau County, 6,600 without shelter of any kind. Almost 13,000 families are impoverished, 4,000 of which have children under the age of 5 (www.liu.edu/cwis/CWP/library/nassau.htm). Roosevelt is one of seven communities of Nassau County with the highest proportions of persons at or above poverty level. The other communities include: Freeport, Hempstead, Inwood, Long Beach, Westbury and Uniondale (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:7jV1nQUI47gJ:www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/chac/docs/nassau.pdf+homeless+women+demographics+for+nassau+county&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us). Garden City has a population of 21,672. 95% of Garden City’s population is Caucasian. A low 7.5% of households are single-parent households. The average income of a Garden City household is $116,000, (http://gardencityny.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm). There are currently no homeless shelters in this upscale community.

Links:

Three interviews were conducted to gather more information about homelessness in Nassau County. The interviewees include:

Rosemary Olsen Director of Nassau County's Housing Affairs

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/countyexecutive/NewsRelease/2006/10302006c.html

This interview was conducted via telephone on April 6, 2007 at 10:30 am.

Brian Fox Associate Program Director of the Leader to Leader institute

http://www.leadertoleader.org/about/staff.html

This interview was conducted via email on April 8, 2007 at 4:30 pm.

Pat Shea Executive Director of MOMMAS House

http://www.mommashouse.org/mommasabout.html

This unterview was conducted face to face on April 1, 2007 at 4:00 pm.