Lotus Village: A Hope for Homeless Children and Women in Miami

Table Of Content

• CHILDREN PAY THE HIGHEST PRICE IN THE REFUGEE CRISIS
• Our Partners In Ending Homelessness
• Miami women’s shelter finds success for its guests comes with care
• Lotus House in Miami Plans to Build $20 Million Children’s Village
• Thrifting in Miami Lotus House Chic Boutique A shop that benefits Women's Shelter
• Support Our Most Urgent Needs

Partners will include the Overtown Children and Youth Coalition, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Overtown Optimist Club, Urgent Inc., Miami Mindful Kids, Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, Nana’s Restart, Girl Power Rocks, Easterseals, and Lotus Children’s Services, in addition to a coalition of health and wellness providers. In the U.S., one-third of the homeless population is women and girls — and their experiences of homelessness are markedly different from that of men and boys. Knowing this, the researchers looked at why women’s specific services are key to addressing women’s unique experiences of homelessness, in addition to their overall health and wellbeing. Lotus House serves women who are homeless, whether due to domestic violence, untreated medical or mental illness, disability or economic reasons.

CHILDREN PAY THE HIGHEST PRICE IN THE REFUGEE CRISIS

Big gift to Lotus House leads to a culinary center at the Miami women’s homeless shelter - Miami Herald

Big gift to Lotus House leads to a culinary center at the Miami women’s homeless shelter.

Posted: Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Mothers provided with evidence-based trauma resolution therapy and strong supportive parenting skills can positively impact everything from their child’s chances of high school graduation to their long term health and wellness and success in the work force as adults. Lotus House is committed to providing child and family centered services that promote trauma resolution in both children and mothers. In holistic child and family centered programming and support services, Lotus House helps these special women and their children emerge from the shadows, give voice to their dreams and aspirations, and become who they are meant to be.

Our Partners In Ending Homelessness

Understanding what constitutes a specific culture, though, is critical to addressing homelessness. With this study, the collaborative research team developed a blueprint that can be applied to other shelters, regardless of size or financial resources. Lotus House Holistic Programming utilizes the healing arts to create alternative pathways to wholeness for women, youth and children whose lives have been marked by trauma. Our guests benefit from holistic programming classes scheduled daily, engaging all ages in therapeutic activities aimed at creative expression through the arts, exercise, yoga, dance and movement, fieldtrips and a wide range of activities.

Miami women’s shelter finds success for its guests comes with care

Now the organization that helped Resper get ahead has broken ground on Lotus Village, a building that will serve as a shelter and community center and will include a daycare center, a holistic health clinic, a library with computers, and gardens for recreation and the healing The project will cost about $25 million. From helping serve a meal, organizing a supply closet, to hosting a workshop or activity- volunteers make a life changing difference in the lives of the women and children we shelter. Women come to Lotus House through referrals from homeless outreach, shelters, safe houses, rehab centers, prisons, hospitals and courts, as well as the streets.

Our programs are designed to provide them with access to the tools and resources they need to secure full or part-time employment and become economically independent. The Children’s Village will also serve as home to other community-based nonprofits, offering an array of resources and programming for children and youth and their families in Overtown and surrounding neighborhoods. A quiet enclave with lush gardens, Lotus House offers a sanctuary – a place where the minds, bodies and spirits of women and infants most in need are supported, nurtured, uplifted and afforded an opportunity to learn and grow on every level. The first initiative of the Foundation was the establishment of the Lotus House Women’s Shelter in 2006 in the heart of Overtown, Miami serving homeless women. During infancy and early childhood, children develop their capacity for trust, self-esteem, conscience, empathy, problem solving, focused learning and self-control.

Lotus House Plans $20 Million Expansion With New 75,000-Square-Foot ‘Children’s Village’ Facility

It is a time of intense growth and development in all areas, including a child’s intellectual, social and emotional development, laying the foundation for their success in school and later life. When their needs are met by positive and consistent early experiences with loving caregivers and nurturing environments, babies and young children thrive. We have an opportunity to mend broken bonds and the trauma leading to homelessness with an inclusive, welcoming sanctuary designed to heal. Staying awake through the night out of fear, they sleep on buses and in airports, hospitals, abandoned buildings, backyards and alleyways in a desperate attempt to find shelter each night without being detected. Physically vulnerable, homeless women and female youth are at heightened risk of sexual assault, human trafficking and violence in its many forms.

Development of the Children’s Village kicked-off during a groundbreaking ceremony on April 25th at the project site, located at 219 NW 14th Terrace in Miami’s historic Overtown District. Hundreds of neighbors and community stakeholders attended, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, City of Miami Commission Chair Christine King, City of Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes, and The Children's Trust of Miami-Dade County President & CEO James Haj. “[Lotus House] is an oasis and represents a second chance for many people to get their lives back on track,” said Miami-Dade County Assistant Mayor Russell Benford.

Thrifting in Miami Lotus House Chic Boutique A shop that benefits Women's Shelter

We are an essential partner with Lotus House Women's Shelter located in Overtown-Miami, Fl. When you donate gently-used items and shop with us, you help uplift the lives of women, youth and children experiencing homelessness, improving the quality of their lives on every level. According to new research, what they need to begin to heal and build a better future is an act that is basic, yet fundamental to all people — to be cared about and to be cared for. On Friday, Lotus House staff, women and children who live or have lived in the shelter and Miami-Dade officials gathered on the site where the building will stand to celebrate the start of construction. The shelter currently serves nearly 190 people, but demand is much higher and each year more than 2,000 people who knock on the shelter’s doors asking for help cannot be helped. Your support is essential to our work to empower women and children most in need to become whole again.

Support Our Most Urgent Needs

We are a leader in addressing the special needs of homeless women, youth and children with innovative, holistic, evidence based solutions to break the cycle of childhood abuse, domestic violence and homelessness. If the dreams come true of those we serve, we are all enriched by the fruit of their potential realized. Our Education Program allows women and youth to further their education and employment goals, and improve the quality of their lives through varying educational supports such as tutoring, basic supplies, college counseling and more. Our job readiness training program supports, uplifts, and empowers the women and youth at Lotus House to achieve greater financial self-sufficiency.

Inspired by this study, Lotus House is currently conducting a national survey of women’s shelters to gather and share information on challenges and best practices. Asia Eaton's Psychology Today blog dives deepers in what a "culture of care" looks like and how it can be a way shelters, as well as other types of organizations can enhance and improve peoples' lives. Since the 1980’s, studies have indicated that gender-specific programming is critical to effective outcomes for women.

The facility includes a special maternity wing for women who are homeless and pregnant and their infants. In The Children’s Village, Lotus Endowment continues and deepens its commitment to the important work of Lotus House changing and transforming the trauma of homelessness into a window of opportunity for children to heal, learn, grow and thrive and preventing and ending homelessness. The findings been shared with Lotus House leadership and staff — including Program Coordinator Jackie Roth and Wellness Director Rai Johnson, a Lotus House alumna — who will use them as a guide as the organization shapes current and future operations, programs and policies.

Since launching in 2006, Lotus House has sheltered more than 9,000 women, youth and children experiencing homelessness, with more than 80 percent of the shelter’s guests successfully exiting the shelter system and achieving greater financial self-sufficiency. More than providing a sanctuary, Lotus House offers holistic support services including restorative therapies for children and adults, job readiness training, employment assistance, life skills training, early childhood education, medical and mental health services, and more. Together, these tools empower women and children to heal, transform, and achieve greater self-sufficiency. Homelessness itself is another layer of trauma for mothers and children, and yet, there is hope. The latest research indicates that it is possible to break the cycle of childhood abuse, domestic violence and homelessness with life changing support, tools, education and resources that heal broken bodies, minds and spirits.