Homeless need community support.

At Housing Transitions, Inc. we work with families, single parents, and single men and woman to help stabilize their lives by providing emergency, temporary and permanent housing.

In larger cities, emergency shelters are designated for either men or women and children. Homeless families can find themselves separated, with the father staying at one shelter and the mother and children in another. We are fortunate to be able to keep families together while they struggle through difficult times.

Between July and December 2009, Housing Transitions worked with 794 families (1,368 individuals) through our continuum of housing services. Of those, 38 families stayed at Centre House, our emergency shelter program. Just a year earlier, between July and December 2008, Centre House provided housing to 17 families.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently released the annual homeless assessment report. The report — based on data collected in 2009 — showed a rise in the number of families seeking shelter across the country.

When we reflect on the needs of families— even our own — we realize that keeping them healthy requires a great deal of hard work, sacrifice and support. This is a simplified statement; it’s much more complex than that. Taking time to stay connected with your partner; balancing work and personal lives; keeping the children a priority; and budgeting, planning and saving — all of these things are important and require effort and commitment.

My husband and I are starting a family, so we have been thinking a lot about this. It is an exciting and challenging time. There is a great deal of anticipation and fear of the unknown. We have a wonderful family and support network of friends who have not only shared stories with us about their own child-rearing experiences and passed down baby equipment and clothes but who will be there if we need anything once the baby is born. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have that support.

Imagine adding one or more seriously stressful events to this already complex balance of family life. Imagine that your spouse was laid off and became very depressed, making it seem less and less likely that he or she will ever find another job. Imagine that you lost your apartment because the rent went up again and you could no longer afford to live there. What if a serious medical condition suddenly limited your ability to work and you no longer had medical coverage?

Many of the families that find themselves at Centre House experience similar situations. Homeless families need the same things that every other family needs, and then some. At Housing Transitions, we help identify those needs and work together with the entire family to provide the needed supportive services.

Erica Anderson is the development and community relations coordinator at Housing Transitions