Maggie's Place Expansion Project
Expand Your Love
Maggie’s Place welcomes homeless, pregnant and parenting women and their children into a safe and loving community, providing life-changing programs and ongoing services to help them to become self-sufficient.
The organizational goals of Maggie’s Place are two-fold: to provide for the immediate physical and emotional needs of our guests, including shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and a supportive community; and, to help moms achieve long-term goals by connecting them to community resources such as prenatal care, health insurance, low-cost housing, and educational programs.
Our success is bittersweet. Every year since our founding in 2000, we have increased the number of women in crisis that we serve. As a point of reference, our 2018 numbers represent a 200% growth since 2014. This success has exposed the need for continued housing support for additional women who are working hard to stabilize their lives throughout Maricopa County. Maggie’s Place is at a turning point in our organization’s lifecycle, as noted by the work we have been doing with the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust through their ATLAS Program. The next step in our lifecycle requires critical funding for further expansion to meet community needs.
Region to be Served
Maricopa County
Primary Goal
To increase the physical footprint of Maggie’s Place’s Family Success Center to broaden and expand program offerings and supportive services.
The Need
The Family Success Center is the central hub of Maggie’s Place. Located in Phoenix, this building serves as our administrative offices, donation storage space, child enrichment and development center, employment resources, group support center, programming and evaluation hub, and referral center for all Maggie’s Place in-home moms, as well as Alumnae moms and children.
This space is exceeding capacity and must be expanded in order to keep pace with our organization’s significant growth. In addition, the number of Maggie’s Place Alumnae seeking services has grown 200% since 2014 and requires more space for classes, group sessions, counseling, and childcare.
Proposed Activities
We will expand the Family Success Center’s footprint from 4,344 square feet to 5,944 square feet (new addition is 1,600 square feet). This will incorporate four additional offices, two additional conference rooms, a large donation room, and an office supply room. The donation room has been identified as a major gap in the current Family Success Center footprint. We receive generous donations daily from individuals and local businesses. It is our goal to have food, diapers, wipes, and other supplies on hand for our clients to address their emergency needs at all times.
Region to be Served
Mesa, Arizona
Primary Goal
To build a separate 5-bedroom “bunkhouse” on the existing property at The Hannah House to accommodate more women, babies, and live-in AmeriCorps.
The Need
The 2018 Point in Time Homeless County Analysis (Maricopa Association of Governments) shows that, as of December 2018, 6,298 people were homeless in Maricopa County (including Mesa). Alarmingly, 3,680 of those individuals are unsheltered. This represents a terrifying 149% increase from 2014. Nearly half of the homeless population (40%) is female. At any given time, 1,472 women in Maricopa County are living on the street. The need is great (and overwhelming).
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation made The Hannah House a reality in 2014. The Hannah House serves approximately 31 women and children each year; however, the need exceeds our current capacity. Analysis of our intake and referral activity finds that we receive, on average, 100 phone calls each week from homeless, pregnant women that we cannot house due to space constraints. While we know that we cannot serve them all (yet), our current lot is large enough to support this bunkhouse structure and accommodate 10-12 more women and babies each year.
Our moms face multiple barriers before coming to The Hannah House – they are pregnant, homeless, lack prenatal care, are unemployed, and their ability to achieve financial independence is nonexistent. Centrally located in Mesa, The Hannah House offers specialized emergency shelter services and is the only
comprehensive service provider targeting this special population in this area.
Proposed Activities
Maggie’s Place is proposing to expand The Hannah House’s capacity by building a 1,976 square foot structure on the property. This overflow home will include an additional five bedrooms, two large bathrooms, a community living room (essential for providing educational activities, group counseling sessions, and peer-modeled support), and an extra donation and storage room that incorporates a stacked washer/dryer. The funding request also includes other costs associated with starting a home, including: furnishings (beds and cribs, etc.), kitchen supplies, additional staff, employee benefits, transportation expenses/bus passes, technology, and Triple P Parenting curriculum.