City Mission Opens Expanded Women with Children Shelter
Helping people just like you!
LAW OFFICE OF
Lisa J. Buday On Thursday, October 25, City Mission celebrated the grand opening of its newly-renovated Women with Children Shelter, nearly doubling its capacity to house women with children, the fastest-growing homeless population in the United States. “When we first started serving women with children,” said Leah Dietrich, City Mission’s Director of Residential Programs, “we only had enough room for 6 families. Now, we can house 11 families, and instead of just a bedroom space, each family has their own apartment. So we’re not only serving more people, but we’re also serving them in a dignified way.” Dietrich, acting as emcee for the celebration, introduced the speakers, including Lisa Scarmazzi, who designed the 11 suites that make up the shelter. Scarmazzi, who is an interior
designer by trade, selected furniture, hung photos, prewashed sheets, and even folded eleven rooms worth of towels. Her goal, she said, was to create a “warm, inviting, nurturing, and safe environment.” In reflecting on the process, she explained, “I learned more than I could have imagined. With dedication, love, and a genuine desire to help people, you are unstoppable.” Next, Dietrich introduced Guest Speaker, Washington County Commissioner, Diana Irey Vaughan, who has raised money for the shelter by running several marathons and other long-distance races. She plans to raise more money for the shelter in 2019 by running in Dopey’s 48.6 Mile Run Challenge at Disney World. Irey Vaughan explained that she supports City Mission because of its success in restoring broken lives to sustainable
independence. “City Mission has a 67% success rate for residents who stay in the program for at least 90 days,” she explained. She spoke about City Mission’s commitment to “fostering a woman’s path to independence, a path of forgiveness, mercy, grace, and hope.” And she challenged everyone in attendance to “rise to the challenge of the unmet needs in our community.” She ended her speech by saying, “These families are God’s children just like us. I pray that all the women and children that walk through the doors of City Mission’s Women with Children Shelter will find safety, security, and most importantly, God’s love and mercy.” One of the most important aspects of the new Women with Children program that was highlighted during the celebration is the childcare services that City Mission is able to provide. “We are blessed to be able to provide full-time childcare,” said Dietrich. “So our residents can focus on their recovery and removing whatever barriers and challenges brought them to us in the first place. And they can know that their children are safe. We’ve never been able to give our women with children everything that they need…but now we can.” City Mission’s new Women with Children Shelter helps to strengthen our community by building stronger families. For more details about the new shelter and how you can help, please visit citymission.org or call City Mission at (724) 222-8530.
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