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HAVEN
NEWS
Haven celebrates fifteen years of helping women achieve
independence
The
founders of The Lake County Haven had no experience with opening and
running
a homeless shelter. They had only the realization that homeless women
and their children had nowhere to turn in Lake County, and a determination
to change that situation.
Fifteen years later,
The Haven has grown from an idea into a mature social service agency
specializing in helping women and children and their families achieve
independent living. Consider how far we’ve come.
VOLUNTEERS...
Then: In the early days, The Haven’s entire volunteer corps
consisted of a small women’s auxiliary and a handful of dedicated
board members who did everything from painting bathrooms and vacuuming
floors to giving out keys and shuttling clients to activities and jobs.
Now:
About 150 dedicated volunteers, including a 100-member women’s
auxiliary, help Haven clients in countless large and small roles. They
give rides and throw holiday parties. Review resumes and give nutritional
advice. Donate groceries and care for children. Lead as members of the
Executive Board. Plan and execute major fund raisers. Organize client
activities. These volunteers are screened with
background checks, given formal orientation to the organization, and
plugged into roles that not only help Haven clients but also suit their
interests, backgrounds and time availability.
STAFF... Then:
In the beginning there was one employee, who managed the shelter. Case
management was informal in The Haven’s early days. Clients were
referred by families and associates of the board members and helped
by friends of friends to find childcare and jobs.
Now: The Haven’s
staff has grown to include three case managers. These qualified, talented
social service professionals understand the underlying issues that bring
clients to the shelter, and have experience and an understanding of
resources to help these women take steps toward successful independent
living. Other staff professionals manage the volunteer coordination,
grant-writing and administrative aspects of the organization with skill
and expertise. Overnight and support staff round
out The Haven’s dedicated staff.
FACILITIES...
Then: The Haven’s first home was in a small ranch rental in
Libertyville. Early organizers dreamed of the day when they would own
one condominium.
Now: The Haven owns its main shelter building free-and-clear,
as well as three condos, and a duplex used as a client home and as office
space. It also rents eight additional apartments with subsidy funding
from HUD and state and county sources. Volunteers lovingly maintain
the spaces, which serve as launching pads for new lives.
PROGRAMS...
Then: Clients were expected to follow house rules and asked to leave
if they did not comply. Since The Haven was considered “transitional
housing” from the beginning, the seeds of early programs to help
clients transition into independent living were there, but run almost
entirely
by volunteers.
Now: The Haven offers and connects clients with a variety of
professionally
administered programs and formal routines that help them and their children
stay on the path to independent living, including House Meeting, Morning
Meditation, After School Club, Nutritional Awareness Group, Relapse
Prevention Group, Sister’s Circle, Therapeutic Recreation, Housekeeping
Group, Achievement Group, Computer Lab, and a Peer Mentoring program.
RESULTS... Then:
Early visionaries only wanted to help as many people as possible—it
was not clear how many people The Haven would help in the end or how
long it would exist.
Now: To date, a total of 652 women and children have been served
by our shelter and more than 250 women and children have been served
by our transitional housing program.
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