Oct 25, 2018 3 min read

The Washington City Mission celebrated the grand opening of its newly constructed Avis Arbor Women with Children Shelter on Thursday.

Several local politicians, officials and community leaders conducted the ribbon-cutting Thursday morning before taking tours of the center, located next to the City Mission on West Wheeling Street.

“We feel so blessed that we were able to be a part of this effort to help homeless women and children in our community,” said Sally Mounts, chief development officer for the City Mission. “God’s been really good to us. We are so thankful to the community for all the support we’ve received.”

The center, designed specifically for women with children, has been open for about two months, and is already full with a waiting list. The apartment building has 11 families living in the 11 suites, according to Leah Dietrich, the director of residential programs at the mission.

Through the center, the mission provides child-care services for the children, from newborns to teenagers.

Erika Edwards and her toddler, Aivalee, have been living in one of the suites for more than a month. She recently graduated from a halfway house program in Washington and needed a place to live that would help her get back on her feet.

“I have a year clean, and I wanted something that would help with my recovery,” she said. “I just want to be successful without being overwhelmed.”

Dietrich said the 12-to-18-month program begins with a 30-day “gateway program.”

“This is a chance to get to know our families and what brought them to us,” she said.

The next phase is a “life recovery” program that’s about six to nine months, to focus on recovering from the issues that brought the women to the shelter, be it domestic violence, substance abuse or other similar situations. The last six to nine months of the program is for “re-entry,” and focuses on the women’s careers and sustainability.

Amber Miller, the mission’s housing coordinator for the shelter, said it’s been a rewarding two months.

“I love it and being able to see the women grow every day,” she said. “I think every day there’s somebody knocking on our door to donate something.”

Mounts said women with children make up the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population across the nation. Locally, she said that’s partly due to the opioid epidemic and high rent prices resulting from the growth of the oil and gas industry.

During a presentation about the mission’s goals for the center, Mounts thanked several people for their support, including Lisa Scarmazzi of Scarmazzi Homes, who raised money and furnished all the suites. Scarmazzi said the past 20 years she’d been a patio home community developer in Washington County, and before that she ran her own design firm.

“This was a rare opportunity to use my experience to help others,” she said. “I knew this was my purpose. To see the rooms being used and enjoyed – it’s overwhelming.”

Mounts also thanked Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan for her support for the shelter.

“I cannot imagine a mother’s despair when she cannot provide the most basic care for her children,” Irey Vaughan said. “These families are God’s children just like us. I pray that all the women and children that walk through the doors of the Avis Arbor Center will find safety, security and, most importantly, God’s love and mercy.”