Women faced with homelessness understand challenge all too well. And, for those that find their way to Hyacinth’s Place, they’re met by a team who understands their challenges. Hyacinth’s Place provides a permanent, affordable housing program for women facing homelessness in DC, specifically those who’ve struggled with mental health diagnoses.
Through the comprehensive therapeutic and social reintegration services offered at Hyacinth’s Place and in collaboration with the DC Department of Behavioral Health, each woman finds a supportive, independent environment where they’re respected, cared for, and nurtured on their way to rising to their full potential and writing their next chapter.
The goal is to break the cycle that many of these women have found themselves in and, instead, focus on creating sustainable, life-long self-sufficiency that extends beyond their time at Hyacinth’s Place.
To do this, these women not only need a safe place, but they need somewhere they feel at home — somewhere that feels comfortable, welcoming, and gives them a reason to want to rewrite their story.
Urla Barrow, CEO of Hyacinth’s Place, founded the organization after years of living and working in impoverished communities across the country. “After working in various capacities, I came to understand the relationship of an individuals’ socio-economic environment to their mental health. I saw firsthand when these factors were not adequately addressed, there was a downward spiral not only for the caregiver but also for the family,” says Barrow. “I knew that if provided tools and opportunities, women had the strength, desire and ability to transform their lives and that of their families.”
Today, Hyacinth’s Place does exactly that by providing women with furnished residential studio apartments, each with a private full bathroom and kitchenette. Across the development, there are 15 units, in addition to laundry facilities, a library, cooking and eating areas, group activity spaces, a healing garden, and staff offices.
Barrow explains, “Our women may be coming straight off the streets, they may be fleeing an abusive environment, or re-entering from incarceration. Our intention is to ensure a woman can walk straight into a home without the stress of needing basic essentials. They can immediately start the healing process.”
The goal is for women to become emotionally, financially, and vocationally stable, and graduate from living at Hyacinth’s Place, making a space for the next woman to find her way. Between each resident, the units are renovated, including repainting, replacing carpet with vinyl planks, or renovating the bathroom.
And this is where Community Forklift comes in. Throughout the years, Community Forklift has supported Hyacinth’s Place through Community Building Block Grants. This year, their needs include a dryer, microwave, flooring, bathroom tiles, showerheads, and decorative mirrors. Because of the generosity of Community Forklift’s supporters, these needs will be met and Hyacinth’s Place’s residents will have a comfortable, dignified place to begin their journey towards recovery and lasting self-sufficiency.
Visit the Hyacinth’s Place website to read the personal stories of some of their residents and learn more about opportunities for financial donations, in-kind donations, and volunteer work.
“Our women may be coming straight off the streets, they may be fleeing an abusive environment, or re-entering from incarceration. Our intention is to ensure a woman can walk straight into a home without the stress of needing basic essentials. They can immediately start the healing process.”
COMMUNITY BUILDING BLOCKS
Community Forklift provides free building materials and home goods to nonprofits and community groups through our Community Building Blocks program. If you know of an organization that needs free materials, please encourage them to visit our website to learn more and apply.
Every time you donate or shop at Community Forklift, you’re helping us lift up local communities through reuse. We turn the construction waste stream into a resource stream for communities in the DC region – by keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill, preserving historical materials, providing low-cost building supplies, and creating local green jobs.
