Grantee Spotlight:
Lotus House
LOTUS HOUSE is a transitional housing and
resource center for homeless and distressed women in Overtown,
which opened its doors four months ago. Lotus House which is a
Women’s Fund grantee partner, allows guests to live rent free
for up to a year until they find permanent housing. Equipped
with a communal kitchen, computer center and courtyard, Lotus
House is a holistic healing environment surrounded by lush
greenery that includes tropical gardens and fruit trees.
Women’s Fund
of Miami-Dade recently visited with Lotus House Director,
Constance Collins, to see how the program is progressing.
Women's Fund of Miami-Dade:
How is Lotus House different from other homeless shelters in
Miami?
Constance Collins:
This is more than
a homeless shelter. Our purpose at the Lotus House is to treat
the whole person to help them transition to permanent housing.
When I imagined it, I wanted to create someplace I would want to
live. Lotus House’s program is not for everyone. We seek women
who are ready to make big changes in their lives and stop living
on the streets. People who have lived on the streets have a
difficult time transitioning because it’s a huge lifestyle and
philosophical change. We have to recognize the realities of what
it takes for a person to break out of the cycles they are in.
WFMD:
Explain how the “focus on healing” is central to the mission of
Lotus House.
CC:
First, we have
to ask, ‘What creates a healing environment?’ To start, we all
need three meals, shelter, access to medical resources and a
connection to nature. We have three gardens on the grounds:
vegetable, lotus flowers and herbs. We encourage Lotus House
guests to participate in yoga and morning exercise. We take
field trips every other Saturday to places such as the beach,
museums and parks. All these things are integral to being
grounded in the world and rising above the day-to-day.
Art is an important way for women to access the
source of their creative potential. Everyone at Lotus House is
given a journal and sketchbook when they first arrive. We
encourage expression because learning how to express ourselves
facilitates healing. It is a subtle but strong connection to the
world. I see art as very spiritual.
Lotus House guests also participate in enrichment
programs such as job training, GED classes and computer training
to help them prepare for employment. We connect them to
agencies that offer health screenings, HIV prevention and family
planning education.
WFMD:
What are the requirements to
live at the Lotus House?
CC:
First, women have
to be willing to make fundamental changes in their lives to
transition to permanent housing. On a day to day level, guests
must help out with chores like landscaping, cleaning the grounds
and cooking or taking computer classes if they are in job
training. The other requirement is that each guest must
participate in trauma counseling, if applicable, or else general
mental well-being counseling. Ninety percent of the women who
come here have suffered serious trauma. We work with Victims
Services Center to help them work through traumas they’ve
suffered.
Women's Fund of Miami-Dade:
Tell us about some of the successes and lessons the Lotus House
has experienced since opening on March 1st.
Constance Collins:
Success is
defined differently for each woman. For example, we recently had
a woman with severe diabetes live here for two months who needed
continuous medical attention. She really needed to live in an
assisted living facility. She went to the hospital numerous
times and tried to tell social services that she needed assisted
living but they refused. Finally, the next time she went to the
hospital, we sent Cindy Bell with her. Cindy, the Lotus House
Resource Coordinator, is a nurse and was able to convince the
hospital staff that this woman needed assisted living. I was
thrilled she got the services she needed and that we could
advocate for her.
As far as lessons—we’ve had many. I guess the
biggest lesson was that we needed to evolve from service mode to
empowerment mode. It has become very clear that our purpose is
to assist Lotus House guests in preparing for the day they leave
Lotus House. Each guest has a different action plan. Our
role is to enhance and coordinate with the programs already
offered in the community so that women can have access to the
support services and resources they need for their transition to
permanent housing. We also help women access benefits by
assisting them with completing applications and navigating
through various complex systems and procedures.
WFMD:
What do you see as the major contributing factors to
homelessness and what do you think needs to change to eradicate
homelessness?
CC:
I think one of
the biggest contributing factors to homelessness is not having a
support network or, for those who are unemployed or disabled,
having a supplemental income. Most people living on the streets
are there because they don’t have a support system. Without
that, it is very hard to get on your feet. Living in emergency
housing is not the solution. Eight to ten days at a mission or
even 60 days is often not enough time.
Many women suffer from violent crimes and abuse,
which often makes them
withdrawn. Finding and
keeping a job becomes very difficult when they've been traumatized.
Homeless people are not working on an equal playing field. Lotus House
levels the playing field by providing a supportive environment
to give women the space to make dramatic changes in their lives.
