Emergency Shelter
The Emergency/Assessment Shelter, the most well-known Stepping Stones program, provides shelter and services for up to six families at any one time. We generally house around 30 families each year, which adds up to over 100 individuals. These families include two-parent families, single moms, single dads, and multi-generational households(those including and/or headed by retired grandparents). Stepping Stones Shelter also works with family members with disabilities to provide them with additional support. Many of our single parents (nearly half of all our families) are young mothers between the ages of 18-35, This group‘s needs are unique, as they often struggle to balance their own needs with those of their children.
Families find themselves homeless for a many different reasons. The main reasons include low income and the lack of affordable housing in Montgomery County for low income families. Case managers work with our familiesevery day to help them address their many barriers to housing – such as family size (it is harder to find housing for larger families) low income, poor credit or prior evictions – and connect them to community resources, including transitional and permanent housing programs.
However, many of our families struggle with employment. Those who are able to find jobs work primarily in near-minimum wage positions. The wages that they make from lower income prevents them from creating a truly sustainable and independent living situations for themselves. Housing in Montgomery County remains expensive, and independent housing remains out of reach financially for most of our families. Furthermore, openings in housing programs to support the very low-income families we serve continue to decline. In summation, our clients are up against a multitude of issues, and Stepping Stones Shelter works with them diligently to help clients conquer these challenges.
To help families to achieve their goals and to become stably housed, Stepping Stones provides :
- Career counseling, job search training, resume building, GED tutoring through our partnership with Career Catchers
- Financial literacy workshops: budgeting, understanding credit and debt, paying down debt to remove barriers to housing
- Referrals to other agencies that provide housing or subsidy support, as well as credit counseling, mental health services, and child development assessments
- Assisting with housing searches and applications, including paying apartment application fees
- Tutoring and child care for our younger residents
