You see the photos of our beautiful babies and our smiling moms. You may even know the hard work that goes into all that our moms accomplish and how far they’ve come. At Maggie’s Place, we are beyond proud of all our mom’s next steps and fresh starts. But we are also proud of the outcomes accomplished each year because of you and your sharing of time, talent and treasure.
Here’s a peek behind the scenes:
In 2018, 107 moms were housed at Maggie’s Place. They were joined by 84 children and 43 babies born into the Maggie’s Place family, bringing the grand total of infants, children and moms at our homes to 191. The average age of those mothers is 27 years, and the average length of stay is five months. By the way, Maggie’s Place is the only shelter in Maricopa County where mothers can stay for more than 30 days. Our mothers can stay in our homes for 9-12 months after their baby is born. They also have access to transitional housing after that.
For 50 percent of our mothers, this is their first child. The majority, 78 percent, are single. Another 16 percent are divorced or separated, two percent are married and one percent are widowed.
As for services, there were 21,897 bed nights provided and 45,219 meals served. All Maggie’s Place mothers received prenatal care and counseling. Another 16 received dental care and nine participated in drug treatment while at Maggie’s Place.
These numbers are a sampling of what happens at Maggie’s Place. But what does it mean to our mothers?
Kristen tells us, “Before coming to Maggie’s Place, I was sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment. I had no car, no money, mentally, emotionally, spiritually was in a bad place. Maggie’s Place has given me a safe place to live, allowed me to not have extra stress which helped me be able to focus on other issues in my life. It has given me stability and hope. I have been able to save money and buy a car and pay off debt. I came to Maggie’s Place broken and they have played a huge part in helping me put the pieces of my life back together.”
Kristen’s “they” includes AmeriCorps who selflessly give by living with the moms in the homes as well as staff, counselors and our invaluable volunteers. But it also includes you, the donors and supporters of the work and the mission. We start this new year with a big thank you!
