Hannah’s Home, a ‘haven’ for expectant mothers in need, plans 16-bed expansion in Tequesta
More South Florida moms in need will be able to live at Hannah’s Home in Tequesta when its expansion project hits funding goals.
TEQUESTA — On a quiet evening in the 1990s, Carol Beresford and her husband, Pastor Paul Beresford, woke up to a phone ringing. It was a call from a young woman at their church that would change both of their lives and the lives of 2,000 women — from their home in Ohio all the way to South Florida — over the next 30 years.
On the line was a distressed mother-to-be. She told the Beresfords that she felt she had no other option but to terminate her pregnancy. She wanted to keep her child, but had no resources or support to do so.
The Beresfords answered that call in more ways than one. They took her in, giving her the encouragement and resources that she needed to become a mother. Then they started a nonprofit to help other women like her.
“I wanted to offer women a choice,” Carol Beresford said. “A real choice.”
The Beresfords opened Hannah’s Home in Ohio in 2001; the Tequesta location followed in 2011. It’s a home for disadvantaged women seeking a soft transition into motherhood. Now, Hannah’s Home has helped close to 100 families avoid churning through the welfare or foster care systems.
And that number will grow as the home raises money to expand. The nonprofit will devote the proceeds from its March 2 gala to reach the $10 million needed to allow it to increase its care to 24 mothers at a time instead of eight.
What, exactly, does Hannah’s Home do?
Hannah’s Home is named for the barren Old Testament woman whose desperate prayers for a son were answered. Beresford named the nonprofit for Hannah as a reminder to its young mothers that Hannah’s Home sees their choice to have their babies as a blessing.
Joanne Dively, its chief operating officer, calls it a haven for women who want to keep their babies but need help preparing for motherhood — and who need understanding instead of judgment.
It teaches the moms skills such as career-building and financial literacy to help them thrive as working, single parents once they leave. Its program has three stages and lasts from two to three years, depending on how far along a mom is in her pregnancy when she arrives.
- During the first stage, the expecting mom is assigned chores around the home and attends life skills classes.
- The second stage is focused on career-building and the differences between a job and a career. Moms also take lessons in budgeting, resume writing, dressing for success, and the staff helps them find jobs.
- In the final stage, the emphasis shifts to financial planning by helping them find permanent housing and affordable child care.
Andres Leiva – The Palm Beach Post
Hannah’s Home also teaches the moms to save money, requiring them to save about 75% of their paychecks. While in the program, mothers have access to free clothing, food and medical and dental care through the nonprofit’s partners. Hannah’s Home is supported by an army of corporate and community partners like Florida Power & Light, The Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, The Mastroianni Family Foundation and The Quantum Foundation.
Two years from her baby’s birth, a Hannah’s Home mom will ideally leave with a stable job, a career plan and a nest egg to spend on whatever she deems most useful, such as a car or a down payment on a condo or an apartment.
The Tequesta site has had to turn away about 50 women a year since it opened.
Hannah’s Home has always had one issue: Too many moms want to stay there.
The nonprofit says it hasn’t had enough space for over 2,000 of the moms that have come to them for help since its Michigan site opened over 20 years ago. The Tequesta site has turned away 500 women alone in the 10 years it’s been open.
The Tequesta home currently can’t take in any more than eight mothers and their babies at a time and its beds are full. With four moms, their kids and two sets of house parents, the 5,000-square-foot space can get cramped.
“The hardest part of my job is having to turn away a mom with a child or a pregnancy because we don’t have the room,” Dively said.
The expansion will let Hannah’s Home house 24 families at a time
Hannah’s Home has the space to expand at its 4-acre property on County Line Road, but not yet the money. In 2019, it began a $10 million capital campaign to pay for an expansion, which it is rolling out in phases.
The project will allow Hannah’s Home to house 24 women and their kids with the addition of a two-story dorm-style building and four two-family cottages.
Andres Leiva – The Palm Beach Post
The cottages are the next project the campaign will fund. They’ll house eight families during the last stage of their stays. Each one costs $400,000, and the nonprofit has only collected 25% of the cost to build the first one.
After the duplexes will come the dorm, with space for 16 moms and their kids.
The first new building was a chapel, where the women are encouraged to attend worship services. The building where the Hannah’s Home residents currently eventually will become into offices and classrooms.
Article from The Palm Beach Post