Families typically become homeless after experiencing a crisis (health issue, job loss, family conflict). Given the city’s inadequate supply of affordable housing, providing families with emergency housing is the immediate intervention they need to get off the streets. Hotel Hope provides each family with comfortable and safe accommodations where they can find respite and renewal. Each family in our care stays at the hotel only as long as is necessary, ideally 30-45 days. Accommodations include a private guest room and bathroom for each family as well as two prepared meals per day.
Upon arrival, every family receives a hot meal and a welcome basket that includes pajamas, snacks, and a stuffed animal for each child. Children play in a supervised play space while a case manager completes gathers critical information from the mother. Our strategy of “radical hospitality” aims to elevate the dignity of each family, set nervous mothers at ease, and build trust between our guests and the staff members there to support them.
We make an extraordinary effort to ensure that our guests feel welcome and safe. We have identified 10 self-sufficiency milestones that position a family for long term success. Our social workers take a trauma-informed approach, working with each family to help them achieve each milestone quickly, but at a pace that works for them, at which point they are well-equipped to transition into a permanent home. Our Care Team meets weekly to discuss the goal attainment for each family. This allows the team the ability to communicate and build a comprehensive approach to work toward healing and self-sufficiency. During this time the team also connects each family with supportive services that will assist them in meeting their goals.
Hotel Hope operates on the assumption that effective community collaborators both reduce the cost of providing services and achieve a multiplier effect in total impact. We currently work with more than 20 collaborative partners to help address issues like life skills, social/emotional health, medical treatment, and education/workforce training. In addition to individualized services, partners provide group services on site at Hotel Hope for our guests, helping them build confidence as mothers and self-esteem as women.
The transition back to permanent housing begins at Hotel Hope with the creation of a family stabilization plan, which each mother creates in collaboration with our Care Team. While some families find the stabilization process attainable without much outside support, most mothers report that they can benefit from help navigating and accessing community resources in order to ensure that the family’s needs are fully met.
For this reason, Hotel Hope provides a Family Navigator who serves as a one-stop resource to promote stability, independence, and holistic well-being. Key services include assistance accessing housing subsidies, securing employment opportunities, navigating social services, and addressing underlying mental health or substance abuse issues. The frequency of touch points with each family will vary greatly depending on that family’s particular needs.
Our families need all the love and support we can give them as they work their way back to permanent housing. Please donate today to help them rebuild and recover
Hotel Hope is a nonprofit, interfaith organization that provides housing to women and their children in a safe and loving atmosphere while guiding them to self-sufficiency and self- empowerment through intensive case management.
2024 © All Rights Reserved. Hotel Hope
