Martha's Place

Description

Martha's Place was started in 2000 and serves approximately 35 women per year in its six-month transitional phase and 8-10 per year in its long-term phase.

Martha's Place is a program of Newborn Holistic Ministries (NHM), a 501(c)3 community based nonprofit founded in 1996 to serve Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester and Upton communities. These and the surrounding communities have struggled for many years with major issues related to poverty and NHM has responded with a mission to preserve and enrich life in these communities by providing services that enable residents to meet their material, social, and spiritual needs.

The program offers both a six-month transitional phase as well as a long-term independent housing phase. The program helps women achieve sobriety while maintaining a job and housing and serves approximately 50 women per year.

Six-month transitional housing: Women completing 28-day detoxification or 30 Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings in a span of 30 days, are eligible to apply for the six-month transitional housing program at Martha's Place. The program focuses on teaching women the skills necessary to overcome their drug-dependency while simultaneously developing the skills necessary for independent living. Residents of the six-month program participate in individual and group counseling with the Martha's Place Addictions Counselor, attend daily NA meetings, obtain employment, participate in money management training, pay rent ($10 nightly), complete house chores, and obtain a sponsor.

Long-term SRO (Single Room Occupancy) housing: Women that complete a six-month transitional program are eligible to apply for residency at one the Martha's Place long-term SRO homes. Each of the four SRO homes offer individual bedrooms and shared living rooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, laundry facilities, and outdoor gardens. The SRO homes are unstaffed recovery homes where residents can apply the skills learned from the six-month transitional program in an independent environment. Supportive services such as addictions counseling, money management, remain available to residents on request.