Lydia's House Inc

For 29 years, Lydias House has been providing safe, confidentially located, Transitional Housing for abused adults and their children who are victims of domestic violence for a stay of up to two years. Lydias House continues to be the only stand-alone/confidentially located Transitional Housing Program in Missouri and is one of the largest in the country. Since inception in 1995, over 1,373 adults and their children and pets have come into Lydias House for safety and resources. Lydias House serves 50 adults and up to 85 children at one time for up to 24 months. In this fiscal year the average stay was 18 months. In this fiscal year, Lydias Houses Transitional Housing Program provided 29,091 nights of safe housing and supportive services to a total of 125 survivors(61 adults and 64 children) as they made the transition from emergency shelter to safe independent living into homes of their own after receiving all the resources that they needed to overcome domestic violence. Of those leaving the program in the fiscal year, thirteen moved to their own permanent housing and thirteen moved in with friends and family. The program held 15,749 individual Case Management Sessions to help adults and their children heal and to provide resources to achieve their educational, health, employment, permanent housing, and other related goals. In addition, Lydias House provided 209 sessions of Individual Advocacy related to legal issues such as Orders of Protection and additional Civil/Criminal Advocacy. Twenty-nine (29) adult Support Groups and thirteen (13) childrens support groups were conducted to provide the opportunity to share experiences, knowledge, and strength related to the violence they experienced. Advocates also provided 1,751 Follow-Up sessions to former residents of Lydias House. Periodic satisfaction surveys show that 98% of adult domestic violence victims reported having an increased knowledge of resources and 100% reported an increased sense of safety as a result of Individual Advocacy and attending Support Groups. Lydias House also has a job training and employment program - Lydias Ladle. The Ladle offers paid job training in the culinary field to both residential and non-residential DV survivors. This program provides participants with the opportunity to gain valuable job skills, build their resumes, create references for future employment, regain self-confidence, and improve their immediate financial situation. In 2024, Lydias House was issued the year two seal by CARF International proving that Lydias House is following its best practice policies and procedures. Lydias House relies on the generosity of friends and supporters to meet the enormous cost of providing programs and services year-round to adults and children escaping domestic violence. Abusive behavior and violence are never acceptable. Everyone deserves to feel valued, respected, and to live in a safe place they can call home.