FRIENDSHIP HOUSE INC

At Friendship House, we meet individuals and families wherever they are in their journey. Our compassionate staff help them experience the hope, empowerment, and self-sufficiency they deserve. Friendship House serves New Castle County through various programs that attempt to fill the gaps in the homeless service network.

Friendship House is in a field of its own because we are so many things to so many people and we focus on serving where gaps exist. For the gentleman who just found himself living on the streets for the first time with temperatures falling quickly overnight, we are his sanctuary. for the woman with kids walking away from an abusive partner, we are a safe haven. For the parents with four kids and not enough jobs to pay their rent, we are their last hope. And for organizations all over the county, we are a partner, friend, and collaborator.

Friendship House works with anyone at any point on their journey. We don’t have hefty income or location requirements. We don’t have quotas we have to meet. We don't have contracts limiting or requiring our way of offering help. What we do have are our hearts, and we open them to anyone who enters one of our many locations. We also do not limit the length of time we will walk with any individual – we walk with them as long as it takes and as long as they want us there.

We strive for every person, whether it be staff, volunteers, or clients, to be treated with mutual: Love, Respect, Compassion, Grace, and Acceptance.

1. Sponsor low-budget, volunteer-intensive survival programs that fill gaps in the human service safety net. Examples: Transitional Housing, Sunday Breakfast, Friendship House Clothing Bank, Winter Sanctuary, Empowerment Centers, New Castle County Hope Center.

2. Operate Empowerment Centers open to anyone in need. Such centers offer a variety of consumer services that attract large numbers of displaced people with specific needs (e.g. Non-perishable food, a clothing referral, a bus ticket, hygiene products, assistance obtaining necessary identification documentation, funds to help with one's rent or utilities, etc.). Clients meet with trained case workers who help them assess their current situation, develop a strategic plan, and identify the appropriate, available resources.

3. Strategic Problem-Solving: Having helped the client assess their current situation and prioritize their issues, Friendship House encourages the client to identify and address their most pressing personal issue in a strategic manner. In some cases, Friendship House connects the person to the appropriate program that will provide the professional services and resources needed to implement this strategy. In other cases, the client is admitted into one of Friendship House's own programs.

4. Strategic Living: Clients that have experienced success in addressing one of their problems in a proactive, strategic manner are then invited to extend these life lessons to other aspects of their lives. Such clients enter into long-term relationships with Friendship House that usually include six months to a year's residency in the Transitional Housing Program. During that time, they may address issues as varied as family reunification, career development, credit restoration, recovery from an addiction, restitution for a previous criminal act, etc. Friendship House has developed the resources to address all the above issues through matching financial assistance and on site programs sponsored by volunteers who offer their professional services.

5. Although clients graduate from various Friendship House program stages, Friendship House is committed to their permanent well-being as well as their programmatic success. For this reason, more than 25% of empowerment center clients and 60% of housing clients maintain ongoing relationships with Friendship House. Such graduates often become peer mentors themselves within the programs. Having owned their past, they can face their future.

Friendship House has multiple programs that work to fill the gaps in New Castle County’s homeless service network. These programs are broken into the following:

The Friendship House Clothing Bank has continued to grow as a clothing resource for the community, an employment opportunity, and a vehicle through which a large coalition of community organizations can collaborate in service. The Clothing Bank has three primary missions. First, it serves as a location for collecting and distributing donated clothing with a delivery service to those community agencies in direct contact with individuals and families in need. Second, it provides entry level employment and training to women re-entering the work force. Third, it creates volunteer opportunities for churches, businesses, and community organizations.

The Transitional Housing program is designed to support adults who are committed to making changes in their lives. Friendship House operates several houses for motivated employable adults, with or without children, who are looking to re-establish themselves as independent, self-supporting members of our society. Many individuals come directly from drug/alcohol rehabilitation programs, prison, or even domestic violence shelters. The program operates in three stages and, on average, offers about one year of transitional housing and programming.

The Empowerment Centers offer a wide variety of services focusing on empowering individuals who feel lost, displaced, or powerless. The Friendship House Empowerment Centers offer anyone experiencing significant strife daytime sanctuary and vital services. As a referral and screening source for more than twenty-five churches, the four empowerment centers are a life line for individuals and families at risk of losing their housing. They also serve as empowerment centers where those experiencing homelessness receive the professional case-management, communal support and financial resources they require to rebuild their lives.

Finally, the Winter Programming includes winter sanctuary, Code Purple, and an Empowerment Program at the New Castle County Hope Center. Friendship House runs a winter sanctuary program from November – March. As bitter cold temperatures can cause loss of limbs or even life with extended exposure, we partner with our faith community to ensure there are warm options for our friends facing homelessness. Code Purple shelters those experiencing street level homelessness in New Castle County when the temperatures were low enough to be dangerous to keep them safe. The programming at the NCC Hope Center provides guidance, case management and various referrals to over 300 guests 24 hours a day.

Friendship House has walked with thousands of individuals and families through their various programs.

The Friendship House Empowerment Centers have served over 40,000 individuals to date at their four locations. In 2020 alone, the Empowerment Centers walked with over 2,000 individuals. The Empowerment Program at the NCC Hope Center has walked with over 400 individuals to date, along with over 20 pets.

The Friendship House Transitional Housing Program has assisted over 2,000 residents to date. In 2020, Friendship House guided over 75 residents, and 11 residents graduated the program.

The Friendship House Clothing Bank works with over 100 referring agencies. In 2020 the Clothing Bank processed nearly 150,000 pounds of donated clothing, and employed 12 job trainees, and served almost 4,000 people across New Castle County.