A Home for families in the process of recovery
Miriam's House is a transitional sober living program that offers comprehensive social services to low income mothers and their children.
Structured around a one-year curriculum, clients move through a four-phase program with incremental expectations and responsibilities. Residency is contingent on maintaining continuous sobriety, participation in a 12-step recovery program, enrollment in a ten week parenting class, and actively striving toward self-sufficiency and employment during the later phases. Residents commit to a comprehensive agenda encompassing recovery, parenting, life-skills and vocational training. Extended stays in our program are decided on a case by case basis.
Onsight programs
On a daily basis clients participate in a combination of in-house activities and services. Onsite programs offered include: weekly individual goal assessment, parenting classes, anger management and domestic violence workshops, and 12-step meetings. The Promises Foundation collaborates with more than 15 local community organizations to provide our clients with healthcare, job skills training, and other ancillary services. Additionally, Miriam's House has a long-term alumni mentor program to keep families connected to the organization.
Population
Miriam's House primary population is single homeless mothers in recovery and their children. Individually, the issues of homelessness, substance abuse, and poverty create a lot of adversity and unique problems for individuals to address. The population that we serve are at the intersection of all of these. Mental health issues and trauma are often interwoven into the aforementioned experiences. 100% of the women in our program were immediately homeless or had experienced homelessness in the year prior to entering our program. 50% of the women who enter our program had been in prison immediately before entering our program or in the year prior.
The issues that mothers experiencing poverty face are exacerbated many fold when they are tied to substance abuse.
Nationwide, it is estimated that 5 million Americans need drug treatment but only 2 million will receive it. Of that, only 14% of all women and 12% of all pregnant women who need substance abuse treatment will get it. As a mother, having documented problems with substance abuse can make you eligible for having your children taken away. This creates an environment where women will not seek help in fear of losing their children to the courts. Furthermore, if a pregnant woman tests positive for drugs in the state of California, they will automatically be reported to social workers and have a case opened with the Department of Child and Family Services, making them eligible for losing their children. This creates an environment of fear for pregnant mothers with substance abuse problems.
For low income mothers that do seek help, access to services that address the complex needs their families have, is difficult to attain. This can include housing, health care, therapy, family counseling, parenting, work readiness services, social services, legal services, child care, and counseling for substance abuse. In order to achieve long term sobriety, mothers need a large network of services that are affordable. Furthermore, when mothers have felonies on their record, the journey to obtaining employment and being able to return to school are full of obstacles. Miriam's House supports the women in our program through partnerships with organizations providing career services and legals clinics to help clear their record.
Addiction is considered a family disease as it affects all members of a family, with children being the most vulnerable. The children of persons with substance abuse issues are at high risk for mental, physical, and emotional problems. This begins in the womb when their mothers are actively using. Children of Addicts (COA) are 6 times more likely to experience physical abuse than children with sober parents and 4 times more likely to eventually abuse drugs themselves. Drug use in the family has been connected to stress related health problems in children such as Asthma, Enteritis, and Colitis. Psychiatric disorders are also common in COA, for example depression and anxiety.Being exposed to much of this at such a developmental stage of growth, children see a major decline in their emotional well being and educational preparedness. Without the proper help and services, their experience can have a life long impact into their adulthood. (www.coaf.org) Miriam's House continues to serve as a beacon of hope for mothers with problematic substance abuse to end the cycle of addiction and poverty while keeping their families together.
