"Our Family Services Department is the nucleus of what we do. When a family comes into shelter, that is that first department that they really work with. Our overall goal is to have this experience of homelessness be their only or last experience of homelessness." On World's Children's Day, Annamaria Santoro,
Every August brings a flurry of activity to children and parents at HFH, with a steady stream ofbookbag giveaways, end-of-summer soirees, and back-to-school preparations. In 2020, with the NYC Department of Education’s announcement of a hybrid learning model, back-to-school season took on an added urgency at HFH, with both K-12 and Family Services staff adapting their services
Celina Rodriguez has been Director of Family Services at Prospect Family Residence since 2017 and was recently promoted to Assistant Administrator of Prospect Family Residence. In the lead up to the 2020-2021 school year, Rodriguez and her staff have been providing educational guidance, in addition to housing, employment, and social services, to families with
Family Services staff at Williamsbridge designed a six-week workshop for parents to visualize the intersection of homelessness, mental health, unemployment, family, and love through the assembly of vision boards. According to staff, the workshop was intended to create "a safe place for clients to express their past sufferings and present distress through dialogue
Originally from New Jersey, Shallaya discovered she was pregnant while living at a single women’s shelter in Harlem. “I’m new to New York, so I wasn’t sure how to do things,” she explained. “So I had to start from scratch.” After entering Prospect Family Residence in 2018, Shallaya, then 23 and pregnant with
In early February, staff at HFH family residences had the opportunity to connect with representatives from local community organizations at two resource fairs, gathering information and resources that will help them to offer the best possible services to their clients at HFH family residences. Staff from HFH’s Bronx locations—Prospect and Williamsbridge—attended the first
As a teenager, Celina Rodriguez, Director of Family Services at Prospect Family Residence, experienced living in a homeless shelter with her single mother and four siblings. Now, she channels that experience into coordinating comprehensive support for homeless families seeking to secure permanent housing and financial stability. “It helps me to communicate with people
