Mariam Castillo was lost, her head spinning a mile a minute.
She had suddenly become a single mother, having summoned up the courage to finally leave her alcoholic, drug-using, abusive spouse.
“I had wanted to keep the family together, you think that’s the best option,” she said. “But I finally realized I had to make a change.”
So Castillo asked her spouse to leave, meaning she and two of her daughters — she has a third who is an adult — were on their own.
Around the same time, she suddenly became homeless.
The owner of the house she had been renting passed away, and the owner’s daughter decided to sell it. Even though she was working, she couldn’t muster the cash and didn’t have the credit score she needed to afford a new place for herself and two daughters, 15 and 12.
And on top of it all, Castillo had a medical situation that required surgery.
“I was desperate,” the 38-year-old said. “I didn’t know were to go, what to do. I was going crazy, to be honest.”
Luckily, she found a ray of hope.
Through her church, she was introduced to Hannah’s Hope Ministries. The organization provides shelter to homeless mothers while providing women with the tools they need to live successful, independent lives.
Castillo and her two daughters have been staying at Hannah’s Hope for just over a year. She has fixed her credit score, found a better job and nearly completed her GED.
She has been able to save enough to put a down payment on a house of her own. She hopes to close on it soon.
“I feel like it’s been a blessing to he here, I’ve grown a lot,” she said. “Hope is what I found here. It has allowed me to show my girls that no matter what circumstances you go through in life, if you fall down, pick yourself up. You can overcome anything.”
Providing a new path
Hannah’s Hope was founded in 2017 by a group that had been operating a Berks County affiliate of Bridge of Hope, a Christian organization that helps homeless women find sustainable housing and provides them with mentors.
Karen Marsdale, acting director of Hannah’s Hope, said it became clear that the woman in need of help needed more than what was being provided.
“What we were finding was that we were not finding the success we were looking for,” she said. “And we really felt part of that was the women had too much opportunity to not work the program the way it was supposed to be worked.”
The women needed more time, they needed more resources. They needed a more intensive environment so they could reach their goals, Marsdale said.
The answer was to create a transitional residential program. The answer was Hannah’s Hope.
The founders of the shelter purchased a building along Upland Avenue that had been the home of Mary’s Shelter. There they have the space to have up to six families live and go through 10 to 12 months of training and education.
“We want the women here to walk away with a lot more ability to live successful lives,” she said. “We want them to be able to deal with life’s challenges.”
Mary Marks, chief administrator, said Hannah’s Hope has had no shortage of women seeking help.
“The need is great,” she said. “We literally get calls daily from women looking for a place to go with their children.”
Marsdale said that’s the case across the U.S.
“It’s a national crisis,” she said. “There’s no place in the country where the need isn’t greater than the resources.”
Women can come to Hannah’s Hope through a referral from another organization or by contacting the shelter directly. They must apply for the program, and typically only mothers with two or fewer children are accepted.
While each family at Hannah’s Hope has their own fully furnished living quarters and bathrooms, they live in a group setting. Families share responsibilities such as cleaning shared spaces and cooking and sometimes are asked to help provide household items such as cleaning supplies.
The mothers are required to take part in parenting classes, courses on financial literacy and trauma therapy.
“We work with each family individually based on their needs,” said Betsy Santiago, case manager. “I’ll meet with the mother weekly, or even more often if it’s needed.”
Santiago said that along with other educational aspects of the program, the mothers are provided with Bible study opportunities at the faith-based organization.
“We’re offering spiritual wholeness back into these women who are coming from brokenness,” Santiago said.
Marks said the program at Hannah’s Hope is tailored to each family.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all program,” she said. “It’s about what do we need to do to get you through. Where do they see themselves and what do they want to do?”
Santiago said that while each family has its own unique story and needs, there are often struggles that the women who come to Hannah’s Hope share. The biggest is a having a lack of support.
“They typically never had people in their lives teaching them things like how to budget,” she said. “There’s a lack of financial literacy. But you can’t know what you don’t know.
“We need to teach them that you can’t spend every penny you make because that’s what they’ve seen. We make a lot of assumptions that people know things like how to create a savings account or about needing to save 10% of your paycheck. People only know that if you give them that tool.”
Filling a void
Marsdale said Hannah’s Hope’s fills a unique need in the fight against homelessness.
Berks County has several organizations that assist those experiencing homelessness. Some are tailored to those in emergency situations, some are for pregnant women, some are for those with addiction issues.
“There’s a need for all of us,” she said. “We’re sort of on the end of the spectrum. We’re working with women who have a desire to make that turn, to get into an independent lifestyle.”
And the small size of Hannah’s Hope helps the shelter assist with that effort.
“We can do stuff with people that a shelter with 80 women can’t,” Marsdale said.
Santiago said only having six families at a time at the shelter creates a intimacy that can be quite beneficial.
“We’re a family, and there are connections made that last a lifetime,” she said. “Once they’re back out in the community they know they can always reach back out to us if they need to.”
To further that post-shelter support, Hannah’s Hope recently purchased a new property. The two-family home — each home with two bedrooms — will provide families who are ready to leave the shelter with a transitional, independent spot to stay until they’re able to secure their own housing.
Families will be able to use the home as a steppingstone, paying rent while they stay there for up to 18 months.
That’s important, Marsdale said, because finding affordable housing can be quite a challenges these days. Marsdale said there is an affordable housing crisis, with rent prices skyrocketing over the past several years.
“Finding affordable housing is a big problem,” she said. “And that’s an issue because the most critical year for these families is the first year after they transition out of the program.”
The new home will ease that transition, Marsdale said. Renovations on the property are expected to begin in November. It is unclear when the house will be ready for tenants.
How to help
While those staying at Hannah’s Hope are asked to pay a small fee as rent if they are able, the shelter is mainly funded through grants and donations.
The organization is always looking for generous individuals willing to help.
Donations can be made online at forms.donorsnap.com/form?id=105bc535-1648-4f96-88cd-080c02a004f6 or by contacting Hannah’s Hope at 610-655-7716.
Donations can also be made in the form items. Hannah’s Hope has two Amazon wish lists set up where items can be purchased: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/B6PUE2S1PHAQ?ref_=wl_share and amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3OFYO10VGLM24?ref_=wl_share.
Source: Berkshire mont
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