For 50 years, The Women's Home has been helping the women of Houston escape cycles of homelessness, addiction and mental illness.  A woman coming to The Home will find that she can stay for up to 18-months while she works to identify and overcome the patterns of her life that have been holding her down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Women's Home has a rich history in the area. In 1957 a young woman in need named Mary Brown sought assistance from a Houston rescue mission for men. They had no facilities for women, nor did any exist anywhere else in Houston, and she was referred to Mrs. W. E. Sampson, a local church and community leader. Mrs. Sampson took Mary Brown into her own home and began discussions with her friends about establishing a home for women in need in Houston.

 

A meeting was held in July 1957, attended by 35 people including ministers from several churches, Christian lay people, and a police officer. Mary Brown, whom Mrs. Sampson had befriended, spoke about her own life and what this helping hand had meant to her. This was the catalyst that prompted the first financial contributions and plans to establish the beginnings of what is today The Women's Home.

 

Originally, a house was rented on LaBranch and rumor has it that this house had been a brothel at one time. In 1964, a house belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Sam Casey (parents of then U.S. Congressman Bob Casey) at 310 Pacific was purchased by The Home and the residential program was moved to the new location. 

 

In 1965, 23-year old Sally Miller was hired as the first Executive Director of The Women's Home. She had read an article about The Home in a magazine and moved to Houston from Pennsylvania to apply for the job because she thought it sounded like an exciting place to be. She realized that the women needed more than just shelter.  She began to implement vocational training as well as spiritual development and looked for ways to expose the residents to outside social settings. Funding was hard to come by in those days. To raise money Mrs. Sampson held Silver Teas in her beautiful home, Sampson Hall, which was a replica of Mount Vernon. Sally did not have a driver’s license in those days, so a volunteer would pick her up and take her around to the welfare department for food, Oak Farms for milk and the Rainbow Bakery for bread.

 

In 1971, a cottage and adjacent lot (301 Hyde Park) to the residence was purchased and became the first Cottage Thrift Shop. The structure was in pretty rough shape, but the Shop provided a source of steady income for the program.

 

In 1974, Barbara Woodard became Executive Director and served in that position for 16 years. The program continued to develop to address the needs of the whole woman, not just her physical needs. Then, as now, there are very few places in Harris County that is available to women struggling with mental illness and substance abuse disorders and there are hardly any places a woman can go that considers the whole person rather than just the most immediate pressing problem. In the account of Barbara’s retirement in the September 1990 issue of Tidings, The Home’s newsletter, she expressed a two-point vision. For the community at large, she wanted to see a coalition of community groups develop to form a network of mental health services. For The Home, she wanted to see three satellite houses developed: one for residents that needed an extended protective environment on their return to society, a second for residents who could not gain competitive employment but who could work in special guided efforts that may be very low paying and a third house for women who could not live alone but who were employable in the Houston job market.

 

 

 

 

 

Out of this vision, a second phase of residential care at The Women's Home was started. The Board of Directors began raising money to build a smaller house at 311 Hyde Park that would be named Barbara’s House in honor of the contribution Mrs. Woodard had made to The Home and the community. Ground was broken in 1993 and Barbara’s House because a prototype for additional transitional homes that were built on the same block in the late 90s. This was the beginning of a second phase of residential care: Transitional Housing. Up to six women live in a transitional house. Staff monitor to ensure positive behavior, but the women in the house are responsible for setting rules, cooking meals and conflict resolution. This is a shift in environment from the dormitory that holds 26 women with on-site staff supervision to more independent living. The residents still share a bedroom with a room-mate at this stage.

 

In 1992, Paula Paust became the Executive Director of The Women's Home and continues in that capacity today.  As a master-level social worker, she was uniquely qualified to supervise staff that provided direct services to client, but it was her strong administrative experience that really helped to define the direction of The Home. Her 15-year tenure has been marked by incredible growth and program development.

In 2002, The Women's Home formally adopted its comprehensive treatment model, naming it WholeLife.  The WholeLife model addresses 6 areas of wellness through The Home’s clinical, vocational and residential programs.  Clients are taught to set and achieve goals in each of these areas of life, and they are supported in the achievement of those goals by professional counselors, other staff, volunteers and their peers.  The success rate for women staying at least 6 months is astonishing. Over 80% will leave with a place to live and income and that rate is much higher than the national average.

 

 

 

In 2005, a third phase of residential care was added with the purchase of 4 condominiums directly across the street from the main campus. This phase is called “A Room of Her Own”. For the first time since entering The Home, a woman can have a room that she doesn’t share with a room-mate. This phase mirrors independent living while still providing easy access to program services and giving a resident time to exercise the life-skills she has learned while at The Home. . At this point in the program, a woman is working full-time and is able to pay her own rent and utilities.

As The Women's Home celebrates 50 years of service to the women of Houston, we are embarking on our most ambitious project to date. In 2002, the Board of Directors developed and adopted a Long-Range Plan which included a goal to provide safe, affordable housing for single women.  A two-year feasibility study was done to determine if this was a real need in the community and if it was a realistic goal for The Home.  In 2006, the Board voted to pursue this objective. This was the beginning of our current residential project – A Place of Her Own. In this phase, a woman will be able to rent a nice one-bedroom apartment in a beautiful, clean complex that is drug and alcohol free. There will be a case manager on-site to provide a level of supportive services, but in general a woman living in one of these apartments will be completely on her own.  Land has been purchased and plans are underway to begin construction soon.

 

Thanks to the dedication of volunteers and staff, and the courage of the woman who seek our help, The Home continues to grow and meet the needs of the community. As a result, there is no doubt that the next 50 years will be even more exciting than the first. If you would like more information about how you can help, go to www.thewomenshome.org.

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