St. Matthew's House

St. Matthew's House is committed to serving hungry, homeless and addicted populations across southwest Florida. Our programs are focused on alleviating the needs of the nearly 40,000 people in Collier County who suffer from food insecurity, the roughly 40% of residents who are considered housing-cost burdened, and the 650 individuals sleeping in places not fit for human habitation each night. Our goal is to identify and eliminate root causes of addiction, poverty and hunger by equipping each individual with the resources needed to for self-sufficiency. We work to provide a hand-up to those we serve and focus our programs on holistic rehabilitation rather than short-term relief or temporary shelter. Residents receive a comprehensive intake assessment to identify underlying factors and vulnerabilities, and then work with staff through individualized case management to develop goals. As residents receive basic necessities of food, shelter, clothing and safety and begin moving from a position of instability to one of stability, they can then direct their attention to achieving long-term physical, mental, emotional, relational and financial health. Individuals and families in our care benefit from medical and mental health care, employment training, educational opportunities, life-skills and financial literacy classes, interview coaching and more. For individuals who have experienced homelessness or addiction, these resources were limited at best, and often non-existent. The goal of all St. Matthew’s House programs is to eliminate such obstacles and increase access to the resources that every individual in our community needs to thrive, regardless of socioeconomic background.

In order to identify underlying causes of addiction, poverty and homelessness, all clients receive a thorough intake assessment. Once strengths, vulnerabilities, needs and barriers to success are determined, residents then work with program staff to design specific case plans of weekly, monthly, and overall goals. Weekly individualized case management is a mandatory requirement in order to ensure that each resident is making continued progress towards such goals. Through referrals to partner agencies, residents are connected to community resources as needed in order to avoid duplication of services. On site, individuals and families have access to job training and placement services, life-skills classes, educational opportunities, spiritual development, recovery meetings, accountability and peer support to encourage independence and self-sufficiency. To ensure that everyone in need has access to such resources, St. Matthew's House is committed to continual growth and expansion of our programs, especially as all of our facilities currently operate at capacity with waiting lists. Our strategic plan is focused on expanding access to emergency shelter, affordable housing and addiction recovery services through the acquisition and renovation of new properties.

Over the last 34 years, St. Matthew's House has emerged as a leader in the fight against poverty, addiction and hunger in our community. With highly-qualified and dedicated staff, a commitment to excellence and a history of demonstrated success, we strive to serve as a model agency for others looking to care for vulnerable populations. To continue serving our community effectively, St. Matthew's House is committed to meaningful collaboration with partner agencies, increased volunteer, staff and donor engagement, adherence to industry best practices, and regular evaluation of program outcomes and performance indicators. Further, St. Matthew's House works to steward all funding with excellence and efficiency by practicing proactive, rather than reactive growth. Expansion of our services is always precipitated by additional fundraising revenue and social enterprise growth to avoid increased program expenses without sustainable funding and support. As a result of this model, social enterprise revenue funds all administrative expenses so that 100% of every donation can be allocated directly to our life-saving programs.

What began as a modest soup kitchen over 30 years ago has grown into an expansive organization with 15 locations across southwest Florida. Every year, more than 1,000 unique individuals are served through our shelter operations in both Naples and Immokalee, and over 300 men, women and children call St. Matthew's House home each night. To date, nearly 800 men and women have successfully completed the year-long Justin's Place Recovery Program. We also provide over 200,000 hot meals and distribute groceries to thousands of households in our community every year. In an effort to generate revenue for our programs and diversify our income stream, St. Matthew’s House developed a unique social enterprise approach which has expanded over the years to include eight thrift stores, a restaurant and catering company, and a hotel & conference center.