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More than 100 homeless women and children staying at the MHS Community Women's Shelter were treated to a holiday feast by the Cleveland Browns' Wives Organization on the chilly and windy afternoon of Wednesday, 18 November 2009.
Browns wives transformed a basement meeting room into a warm, festive, and inviting dining room, with tables decorated with fresh fruit.
A great many of the homeless women staying at the Shelter were simply overwhelmed by the event and the kindness of the Browns' wives. Shelter clients often have very strained and infrequent contact with family members, so that holidays that are traditionally centered around family events are particularly stressful for clients. The festive, holiday meal provided by the Cleveland Browns' Wives was an expression of care and thoughtfulness that had a profound influence on homeless women who are more accustomed to the scorn of strangers, and abuse inflicted by others.
MHS and the women of the Community Women's Shelter thank the Cleveland Browns Wives Organization for their generosity and compassion!
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About the MHS Community Women's Shelter
The Community Women's Shelter provides emergency shelter and supportive services for homeless adult women and children of Cuyahoga County. Many women coming to the Shelter have not been accepted by other shelter providers because of untreated mental illness, personality disorders, and substance-use disorders. The Shelter has 135 beds, and can accommodate another 50 women on mats. It is located on Payne Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, just north of the Cleveland State University Campus.
In addition to serious and untreated mental disorders, many shelter clients have conduct and anxiety disorders that arise from experiences of physical and sexual abuse. Many women have had repeated episodes of homelessness, and some have been homeless for years. Nearly all have severed or strained relationships with family members and friends, and have no other resources.
The Shelter served 1,141 adult women, and 445 children in the 2005 fiscal year. Most women who participate in shelter services are in their 30’s or 40's, about 80% are African-American, and fewer than one percent are Hispanic. Approximately 9% have income from employment, and 21% have Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). About 20% receive money intermittently from family members or relatives. Half have no source of income. Many have not completed high school or earned a G.E.D.
The primary goals of the Community Women's Shelter are to provide safe shelter and nutritious meals for homeless women, to help them achieve health and permanent housing by providing supportive and psychiatric services, and to promote their health, recovery, and independence, by linking women with service providers in the community.
Some services are provided by Shelter staff. For other needs, staff members link participants with community providers of medical, trauma intervention, counseling, and substance-use treatment services. Services are designed to help program participants learn the value and rewards of self-responsibility, in particular the value of taking responsibility for one's health and conduct. Participants learn skills for managing chronic physical and mental disorders, and for recovery from alcohol and drug dependence. They learn or re-learn the basic living skills needed for successful independence, including personal hygiene, household maintenance, the selection, preparation, and storage of food, and the management of income. The development of interpersonal, social, and parenting skills is also emphasized.
Enhanced skill proficiency leads to enhanced self-efficacy that motivates further learning. Program staff members respect the choices and perceived needs of program participants, are responsive to participants' ethnic characteristics and cultural beliefs, and support a participant's freedom to choose among alternative interventions and providers.
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