Doorways

This evening I went with several neighbors to tour a home associated with Arlington's Doorways program. Here is a photo of the home, which can accommodate something like 24 people in need of emergency housing due to domestic violence or homelessness. It's located near us, and they are giving tours in order to reach out to the larger community and let people know what they do. One thing that's unusual is that they were able to demolish the existing house on the property and build a house that suited the needs of the people who would be living there.

Wow -- I was so impressed, particularly after working the homeless shelter in Fredericksburg -- lots of cots. This is a true home for people -- they live as families in their own suites, cook their own meals in a beautiful kitchen, and have a lovely living room with an adjacent playroom for children. The staff and volunteers explained all the services they offer -- to help people move from doorway to doorway until they can live independently. After they leave this house they move into apartments that Doorways either owns or has worked on with landlords to make rent affordable as people build up savings and capacity. And all through this people receive all kinds of support -- financial planning, social work, jobs skills training, and they put people in touch with all the different services in the area.