Our Mission
Our mission at Colette’s Children’s Home (CCH) is to provide homeless single women and homeless mothers with children a safe home and nurturing environment where they obtain compassionate support and services needed to achieve self-sufficiency.
Our Values
Our values are compassion for those in need, commitment to each other and those we serve, confidentiality to maintain anonymity and dignity, physical and emotional safety to protect our women and children, dedication to service, agency integrity, and program excellence.
Our Programs
Since our incorporation in 1998, CCH has taken over 4,300 homeless women and children off the streets. Our three core housing programs include:
Emergency Shelter Program– provides emergency services for up to 30 days.
Transitional Housing Program– provides shelter and supportive services for an average 5 months.
Permanent Housing Program– provides permanent, affordable housing to graduates and members of the community.
We are one of the few homes that serve homeless women who suffer from a variety of issues such as economic hardship, domestic violence, mental health issues, and substance abuse. Our goal for each client is self-sufficiency and independence, breaking the vicious cycle of homelessness.
The Process of Healing Homelessness
When a client first comes into our program, she is assigned a case manager who works with her to identify the issues that led to homelessness. An individual recovery or work plan is then developed with clearly defined goals and objectives. Each client is required to meet with her case manager on a minimum of a weekly basis to discuss progress towards each established goal. We assist clients in securing gainful employment within 30 days of program entry. We then begin a monthly budgeting and savings program with them, requiring each client to save 80% of her discretionary income while in our program.
Clients are also required to attend life skills classes on a weekly basis. These classes offer an educational experience on a variety of subjects ranging from healthy eating, parenting skills, health issues, relapse prevention, and conflict resolution. Concurrent to these life skills classes, children attend a weekly children’s program that is run by our case managers and assisted by child development and social work interns and volunteers from the community.
CCH also hosts family-centered events year round including holiday parties, picnics, opportunities to attend professional sporting events and theater productions as well as many other volunteer-run events. All of these activities are designed to support and enrich the lives of our mothers and children, helping them build positive family memories while working toward major goals of independence and self-sufficiency while residing in our shelter programs. We keep in touch and provide follow-up care long after our clients graduate. They become part of our family.
Along with comprehensive, goal-oriented support services, we offer practical assistance such as food cards, bus passes, hygiene supplies, and household items. CCH has a long established and collaborative relationship with other agencies in the area where we refer clients for counseling, healthcare, childcare, job training, and education.
