Description
Located in the Shaw/Bloomingdale section of Washington DC, Sinai House provides two-bedroom, two-bathroom, fully furnished apartments to families who are homeless. Our facilities accommodate four families at a time. Residents are able to live at Sinai House for two years, while working to achieve stability and independence.
Housing is just the start. Sinai House provides a wide range of social services to its residents to support them in this transitional phase. The program sets financial, educational and employment goals for each member of the family and helps them to achieve these goals. In exchange, residents must comply with the program's strict standards. In order to be a resident of Sinai House, adults must be working full-time, in school or job training full-time, or engaged in a combination of school and work. Their children must attend accredited daycare or school. Adults must sign a contract before entering Sinai House acknowledging their obligation to abide by the rules and guidelines of Sinai House, to attend all programs, and to meet regularly with the Sinai House Program Director.
Sinai House offers the following services to residents:
Financial Literacy Counseling
Sinai House residents often arrive at our doorstep with little understanding of personal finance and often deep in debt. The Sinai House Financial Literacy Program is geared towards breaking this cycle of debt. Residents regularly participate in financial planning seminars. Residents learn budgeting, the costs of household maintenance, and the fundamentals of debt, credit, savings and investment. To provide its residents with the incentive to save money, Sinai House has a mandatory saving matching plan. Residents are required to save a sum of money each month. For teach month in which the resident meets all the program requirements, Sinai House matches each of those resident's monthly contributions with a 2:1 contribution upon successful completion of the program. Residents who leave Sinai House at the end of two years can depart with up to $4,000 -- enough for the first and last month's rental payments for their new apartment.
Parenting Program
Every other week, residents attend parenting classes to help them navigate multiple challenges in raising children on their own, often in difficult circumstances. Taught by parenting "coaches," these courses emphasize balancing children and work.
Therapy
Sinai House residents are often struggling with a complicated and intertwined set of psychological and emotional issues. Once a week, a licensed therapist comes to our facility to provide one-on-one counseling for all residents. In addition, our Program Director conducts group sessions to provide added support and to help foster trusting relationships between Sinai residents.
Peer Support
Sinai House creates a nurturing environment in which our residents are encouraged to interact and to help each other. Our Program Director organizes recreational activities and social events such as holiday and birthday parties. Weekly community meetings are held at which residents may share concerns, discuss issues of mutual interest, and participate in family support and skill-building activities.
