Children's Mental Health

Profile: Building a Home From Within

Families in Transition

For the past 20 years, Families in Transition (FIT) has provided safe, affordable housing and comprehensive social services to individuals and families who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless.  As one of several programs that FIT operates, The Family Willows provides transitional and permanent supportive housing to single homeless women with or without children. 

The program offers 18 to 24 months of intensive treatment that includes trauma and addiction counseling, mental health support, and numerous family-strengthening activities such as camperships, field trips and a homework club for children.  Childcare and transportation are also provided in an effort to reduce barriers to care. 
  
Because many of the children and youth served by the Family Willows have unmet mental health needs, FIT is adding an integrated mental-health model to its comprehensive services, including evidence-based assessments, interventions, and care coordination. Few, if any, nonprofits serving homeless families across the nation currently offer such integrated therapeutic interventions that specifically serve the needs of children and youth.   

 

A story of empowerment

This intensive approach has consistently helped to set women and their families on a life-long path of empowerment and self-sufficiency.  By providing safe, consistent housing and addressing emotional and behavioral needs, the family unit is kept intact.

Clara Politano is a living example of what this type of support can mean to a family.  As a single mother struggling with addiction, Clara recounts a stack of life dominos that tumbled down as she struggled with substance abuse.   She describes first losing her job, then her Section 8 status, then her apartment.  After staying in cramped quarters with family members, she and her three children soon ran out of options.

“My situation led to more substance abuse and severe depression,” Clara says.  “The scariest day of my life was when my three kids were taken from me for five weeks.  It was my lowest point and I was in panic for my children.”

Had Clara not been on the Families in Transition waiting list, there might not have been a positive conclusion to her story.  Yet, within a month, Clara had an apartment at the Family Willows and was welcoming her children back into her arms and into a supportive and nurturing home, all the while receiving counseling and supports to beat her addiction and build her coping skills.

One look at her children, nine-year-old Calvin, five-year-old Jonah, and three-year-old Isabel, affirms that Clara has a happy and cohesive family, despite the challenges they’ve had to overcome.

Clara is now seeking employment, having completed an intensive outpatient program and agreeing to ongoing, random drug testing.  Her gaze is direct, her thoughts concise and her voice – angelic.  Clara is also an accomplished vocalist who sings R&B and Christian music.

“Because of the help I receive from The Family Willows at FIT, I have learned how to turn negative thoughts into positive ones.  I can cope with anything and am setting life goals.  The main thing is that I’m here for my children now – for good.”

A nationally recognized model

Clara is not the only one singing the praises of Families in Transition.  This unique program has been recognized as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Local Funding Partners Initiative.  The Endowment for Health, along with four other New Hampshire and regional funders, are working with the national foundation on a $1 million expansion that leverages local funding with an RWJF matching grant.  The distinction will allow Families in Transition to create an innovative, integrated model for children and families that includes therapeutic child care and after-school programming provided by trained clinical staff.