For the 2023-24 academic year, nearly 50 community organizations have partnered with Case Western Reserve University’s Collaborative Practice I (CPI) program, a service-learning, community-based experience offered to entry level health profession and social work students. Among them is The Haven Home, an emergency overflow shelter for women and children that will reopen in March as a shelter for pregnant and parenting women with children under five.
Since 2017, The Haven Home, which is located on the campus of Elizabeth Baptist Church in the North Broadway neighborhood near E. 55th and Opportunity Corridor, has been serving more than 240 families each year. But beginning in March, The Haven Home will shift its focus from a women’s overflow shelter to a shelter for pregnant women and their children who are experiencing homelessness.
“We’ve come to understand that our model is more transactional than transformative—we want to transform lives by addressing the reasons for displacement,” explains The Haven Home’s Program Manager Rhonda Clark. “We started looking at statistics on infant mortality. We realized there are just too many babies who aren’t making it to their first birthday.”
Similarly, Clark was troubled by maternal mortality rates, particularly for women of color. The Centers for Disease Control reported that in 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in the United States was nearly 70 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than 2.5 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women. “This is a serious issue that requires attention and action. We want to provide a lifeline, be part of the solution for women of all races and make a real difference in the lives of the women and their children.”
The Haven Home’s new family maternity home will provide a safe and supportive environment for pregnant and parenting women with children under the age of five who may not have access to adequate housing, medical care, or support during their pregnancy and the postpartum period. The Have Home “Empowerment Plans” will include GED training, credit repair and spiritual and emotional learning, among others.
When The Haven Home re-opens, there will be space for up to 10 women, with each being assigned two rooms—one for sleep and another for quiet or work. To prepare for the March reopening, The Haven Home will pause operations as an overflow shelter at the end of this month and reopen in March Clark says that The Haven Home has many volunteer opportunities for those in the community who can help with cleaning, painting, light maintenance, organizing and landscaping work in the month of February. Interested community members can sign up here to volunteer and must also complete a volunteer application.
The Haven Home also seeks donations of the following items: baby video monitors, bassinets, changing tables, cribs, diaper genies, bath towels and washcloths, laundry detergent, noise machine sleep aids, paper products, pregnancy pillow, twin bedding and meal donations.
“Our goal is to ensure that each mother, infant, and their immediate families receive the best possible care and support to promote their health and well-being as individuals and a family unit,” Clark says.
Learn more about The Haven Home online or reach out to Rhonda Clark with questions.