The St. Petersburg Free Clinic is expanding residential services for women. The Virginia and David Baldwin Women’s residence will provide an additional 30 beds for women when it opens. Current capacity is just 20 beds.
The facility serves women by providing transitional housing for various periods of time to give residents the opportunity to secure employment, continue education, get sober or any other steps necessary to be able to move into permanent housing and live a sustainable life.
In addition to housing, the residence center also provides food, external counseling services for things like addiction, job placement and continuing education, Internet access and transportation.
The idea is to give women all the tools necessary to baby-step their way toward financial independence.
Of women who participate in the program and exit it successfully 90 percent remain self-sufficient after one year. And Beth Houghton, the St. Pete Free Clinic’s executive director, said most women who stick with the program for the initial probationary period leave successfully.
The two-story facility located right next to the clinic will have 10 double occupancy bedrooms on the first floor that will house 20 women. The rooms are similar to dorms. Occupants have their own bed and closet.
The second floor will have smaller, private rooms. Residents share restrooms located in common areas, a kitchen, dining room and training room.
The training room will be used for outside service providers to help residents prepare for self-sufficiency. Those services can include help writing resumes, interview training or help getting into educational or vocational programs.
Each participant in the Saving Grace project is assigned a case manager who helps that woman work through whatever steps are necessary to become independent. For some women that could mean attending AA meetings. Others may need to get a replacement birth certificate to find a job. The case worker helps clients work through their list of must-dos in a manageable way and holds the women accountable for following through.
Last year the home served 66 women in its 20-room program. That number is expected to double once the new facility opens. Houghton expects that to happen in February.
The first rooms will go to the 18 women currently housed at the Urban Style Flats near Tropicana Field who were relocated during construction of the new building. After that Houghton said a few women will be introduced to the program each week until they are at capacity.
“We serve women who are ready to do what it takes to be in permanent, stable housing who are committed to education, employment or sobriety,” Houghton said. noting that women all come with different hurdles to overcome.
Some just need job training. Others need to beat drug or alcohol addiction. Some need the whole gambit. Because there is such a diverse group of women all with unique challenges, the time they stay in the program can vary dramatically.
While some women may only need a few weeks to get back up on their feet, others may need an entire year to work through their challenges.
The St. Petersburg Free Clinic also provides, as the name suggests, free health care to St. Pete’s working poor. The Pinellas County Health Department next door serves those who make below the poverty level and don’t have access to health care. The Free Clinic serves those who may be above the poverty threshold, but still cannot afford even sliding-scale health services.
The group also collects food daily from local grocers. Last year they collected about 3 million pounds of food. About half gets distributed to other programs throughout the city like St. Vincent de Paul to feed the homeless or to stock food pantries.
The food collected also gets put into the Free Clinic’s own food bank and used for its men’s and women’s housing.
“When a need arises and nobody else is taking care of it, we ask, ‘Is this something we can do?’” Houghton said.
The $4 million women’s residence was entirely funded through philanthropic sources and most of the daily operations will also be funded through contributions.
