Jennifer House Phone Number
(585)288-1074
Jennifer House Mission & Programs
Hope Is Where the Heart Is
Jennifer House serves homeless women with a criminal history who are entering the community from jail, in-patient facilities, the streets, and other homeless situations. Opening in 2002, the Jennifer House has provided a safe and structured home for women for nearly two decades.
In addition to a warm bed and safe place to sleep, the Jennifer House is able to provide for residents’ basic needs with home-cooked meals, a clothing closet, and a well-stocked supply cupboard for toiletries and personal effects. Residents can expect twenty-four hour supervision and intensive case management services as well as personal and spiritual guidance.
Residents with substance abuse and chemical dependency are encouraged to participate in a Twelve Step Program. In addition to weekly meetings and reflections, the community of the Jennifer House also offers the opportunity for residents to become mentors for other women battling substance abuse and mental health issues.
Our program model is truly holistic, going beyond just stabilization and providing for residents’ basic needs to the recognition that, often times, the women we serve are challenged by more than just a lack of housing and the traumas of substance abuse and incarceration. At Jennifer House, we assist women in the process of recovering from mental illness, domestic and interpersonal violence, poverty, and lack of opportunity. The women of the Jennifer House heal, laugh, cry, sing, dance, and rebuild their lives in a safe home. For many, the Jennifer House is the first safe home that they have ever known.
Family Reunification
An overwhelming majority of the women who live at the Jennifer House are mothers; however, most have been separated from their children due to incarceration, homelessness, and substance abuse issues. Once a mother begins to address underlying traumas and adverse life experience that are at the root of her challenges and substance abuse, family reunification can greatly enhance her sense of well being, purpose, and provide a motivation for the challenging work of personal development.
Through our Family Reunification Program, we provide a safe and structured home environemnt for children to reunite with their mothers. In this way, we help to break the cycle of poverty and allow families to start the process of becoming whole once again.
Recreation Therapy
Jennifer House is honored to have an experienced recreation therapy instructor who engages with the women weekly. Residents are able to enjoy meaningful workshops that consist of art, music, outdoor, and meditation activities. Recreation therapy provides the women with experiences that help strengthen the mind, body, and soul.
Women’s Empowerment
The Women’s Empowerment Program allows the Jennifer House to follow alumnae who may still have unmet needs when they move on from the Jennifer House to obtain critical and life-changing services if needed. These services often times consist of ongoing case management, assistance accessing community services and referrals, transportation assistance in the form of bus passes, access to hygiene products, and more. Women are very secure in knowing that Jennifer House can and will still be a support even after they move on to become alumnae.
Hagen Grant
Our newest addition to the suite of programs and services offered on-site, the Hagen Program is a vocational and educational program for current residents and alumnae of the Jennifer House. In order to effectively transition into the community, one must become self-sufficient. The Hagen Program provides a dedicated case manager who assists women with identifying their goals and formulating next steps as well as connecting to and navigating available community resources. The primary goal of this program is to work on obtaining meaningful employment.
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach is able to offer this program through the generosity of the Rochester Women’s Giving Circle, who made a three-year grant of $100,000 to support this initiative.
Internship Program
Jennifer House takes pride in working with students that are interested in utilizing the House as an internship site. Internships help develop skills, gain experience, and teach methodology as well as learn hands-on practices. Jennifer House staff and residents welcome students interested in working in a residential setting. Please use the Contact form to inquire with our staff about an internship experience at Jennifer House.
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