Sojourner House provides a continuum of care — Transitional Housing Program, Supportive Housing Program, and Outreach Services — that enables women in crisis, many with children, to overcome what appear to be insurmountable barriers to achieve self-sufficiency and family stability. The short-term success of Sojourner House families in overcoming these difficult circumstances relies on the services provided in the Transitional Housing Program. Their long-term success in maintaining their self-sufficiency and family stability is a result of the long-term support they receive through Sojourner House’s Supportive Housing Program and Outreach Services. Year after year, Program Results and graduate’s Success Stories clearly demonstrate that Sojourner House helps the women and children it serves build better lives for themselves, gives them hope for the future, and the support they need to achieve their goals.

Client Profile — 2006 – 2007 Program Year

• 100% homeless
• 48% arrived from an emergency shelter or in-patient treatment program
• 90% substance abuse
• 75% alcohol abuse
• 82% mental illness
• 76% domestic violence victims
• 74% involvement with the criminal justice system

  Marital Status	Race

Median Age: 36.2 years with 7% under age25 and 12% age 45 and older

Education: 33% had less than a high school education

Community Need

The number of women and children in crisis in the Rochester Community who desperately need the services provided by Sojourner House continues to grow. According to the Rochester/Monroe County Homeless Services Network (HSN) 2007 Point-in-Time Survey, women account for 44 percent of the homeless population in the our Community, up from 38% in 1995. Nearly 20% of these women had dependent children living with them. When asked about the reasons for their inability to stay housed, 30 percent of the homeless individuals responding to the survey cited drug or alcohol dependency, while 31 percent noted mental health issues or dual diagnosis and 9 percent indicated medical issues. One in ten (10 percent) reported that domestic violence was a cause for their homelessness.

Another study, conducted by the Women’s Foundation of Genesee Valley, further illustrates the overwhelming need to provide services to homeless women and their children. The study shows that in Monroe County, women with children represent 33% of those living in poverty and an additional 29% are single women. The figures are even more staggering in the City of Rochester where 40% of women with children are living in poverty and 24.6% of single women live in poverty. The statistics sited in the Women’s Foundation report are based on the Federal guidelines for poverty, and the report goes on to demonstrate that the guidelines are woefully inadequate in relation to the real income needed for self-sufficiency. Therefore, the assumption is that the actual number of women and children unable to meet their basic needs is far higher.