Elizabeth House for Homeless, Pregnant Women Hosts Open House 11/6
Jenine Baines
October 21, 2008
PASADENA, Calif. When "Mary" moved into Elizabeth House – a shelter in Pasadena for homeless pregnant women and their children – she was scared and comforted at the same time. "I knew I had to make some serious decisions," Mary recalls. "But, for some reason, I felt I was in exactly the right place."
Judging by the outcome to Mary´s story, her instincts were right on target. Today, she and her son Jesse, now a little over a year old, have a new life in Santa Barbara, California, where Mary has a fulltime job, a flourishing marriage, the spiritual and educational grounding and self-confidence to keep on track.
Members of the community interested in learning more about the life-changing work taking place at Elizabeth House are invited to attend an Open House on Thursday, November 6, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Staff, board members and Elizabeth House alumni will offer tours of the house at 760 Santa Barbara Street and share their perspectives on what has made Elizabeth House – the only shelter of its kind in the San Gabriel Valley – "the right place," as Mary calls it, for over 500 women and children since its founding in 1994.
Those who attend the Open House will also have a chance to meet its new Executive Director, Debbie Unruh.
"At Elizabeth House, we often say Debbie has ´come home´," says Anthony Stanley, President of the Board of Directors. "Debbie was our Founding Director 14 years ago and, even after she left Elizabeth House five years later, remained involved as a supporter and volunteer. We´re thrilled to welcome her back as a key member of our staff."
Unruh – whose first official engagement as Executive Director involved cheering on the children of supporters taking part in "Cool Kids on Parade," a fashion show to benefit the shelter featuring clothing from Saturday´s Child in San Marino – is equally pleased to return to the helm of Elizabeth House.
"Elizabeth House is a safe place of refuge, a nurturing home, a celebrative environment where women learn to be healthy mothers, where babies and children are welcomed, where self-sufficiency is inspired and broken and wounded hearts are healed," says Unruh who credits the drug-addicted and frightened woman in the room next to hers while she was giving birth to her second child with inspiring her to establish the shelter.
"She´ll never know the significant part she played in planting in my heart, that night, the desire to make a difference in the lives of women like her," Unruh adds. "Women who have no one, who lack support, who need help in getting on the right track."
Elizabeth House offers far more than shelter and food. Residents take classes in pre-natal healthcare, parent education, and home and financial management. They also receive job skills training and therapeutic counseling and case management. In addition, Elizabeth House provides a "follow up" program, which includes many of these services, for over 100 alumnae and their families. The house itself can accommodate six women and their children at any one time.
"I didn´t realize it until I was there a couple of months," says Mary, "but there is a much larger picture going on at Elizabeth House than meets the eye. It´s more than a shelter. It´s a refuge that rebuilds the lives of women who have been heartbroken, unloved and abused, riddled with addiction and suffering from the bondage of not having love surround them."
For more information about Elizabeth House, its programs, and upcoming events, including the Open House on November 6 and annual Alumni and Residence Christmas Party on December 6, visit www.elizabethhouse.net or call 626.577.4434.
Judging by the outcome to Mary´s story, her instincts were right on target. Today, she and her son Jesse, now a little over a year old, have a new life in Santa Barbara, California, where Mary has a fulltime job, a flourishing marriage, the spiritual and educational grounding and self-confidence to keep on track.
Members of the community interested in learning more about the life-changing work taking place at Elizabeth House are invited to attend an Open House on Thursday, November 6, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Staff, board members and Elizabeth House alumni will offer tours of the house at 760 Santa Barbara Street and share their perspectives on what has made Elizabeth House – the only shelter of its kind in the San Gabriel Valley – "the right place," as Mary calls it, for over 500 women and children since its founding in 1994.
Those who attend the Open House will also have a chance to meet its new Executive Director, Debbie Unruh.
"At Elizabeth House, we often say Debbie has ´come home´," says Anthony Stanley, President of the Board of Directors. "Debbie was our Founding Director 14 years ago and, even after she left Elizabeth House five years later, remained involved as a supporter and volunteer. We´re thrilled to welcome her back as a key member of our staff."
Unruh – whose first official engagement as Executive Director involved cheering on the children of supporters taking part in "Cool Kids on Parade," a fashion show to benefit the shelter featuring clothing from Saturday´s Child in San Marino – is equally pleased to return to the helm of Elizabeth House.
"Elizabeth House is a safe place of refuge, a nurturing home, a celebrative environment where women learn to be healthy mothers, where babies and children are welcomed, where self-sufficiency is inspired and broken and wounded hearts are healed," says Unruh who credits the drug-addicted and frightened woman in the room next to hers while she was giving birth to her second child with inspiring her to establish the shelter.
"She´ll never know the significant part she played in planting in my heart, that night, the desire to make a difference in the lives of women like her," Unruh adds. "Women who have no one, who lack support, who need help in getting on the right track."
Elizabeth House offers far more than shelter and food. Residents take classes in pre-natal healthcare, parent education, and home and financial management. They also receive job skills training and therapeutic counseling and case management. In addition, Elizabeth House provides a "follow up" program, which includes many of these services, for over 100 alumnae and their families. The house itself can accommodate six women and their children at any one time.
"I didn´t realize it until I was there a couple of months," says Mary, "but there is a much larger picture going on at Elizabeth House than meets the eye. It´s more than a shelter. It´s a refuge that rebuilds the lives of women who have been heartbroken, unloved and abused, riddled with addiction and suffering from the bondage of not having love surround them."
For more information about Elizabeth House, its programs, and upcoming events, including the Open House on November 6 and annual Alumni and Residence Christmas Party on December 6, visit www.elizabethhouse.net or call 626.577.4434.
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