Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Providence House, founded in 1988 by Jean Sayres and Mary Anne Selber of First Presbyterian Church, addresses the core needs of homeless families. Traditional shelters separated families and children based on age and gender, leaving them unable to heal and grow together. Our unyielding focus is centered around helping families (single parents or married couples with children) reach their highest level of self-sufficiency. Our three strong pillars include: EDUCATION - Our 4-star child development center is available for clients and the community. We offer a HiSET/GED program, parenting classes, financial literacy, and more. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT - In partnership with Bossier Parish CC, adults have the chance to take on-site courses such as Industrial Readiness Training, ServSafe Certification, and more. SUPPORTIVE SERVICES - We offer counseling, case management, dietary services, and children’s support. Our newest addition is a calming studio for children who have experienced trauma.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Providence House
Providence House is a residential shelter for homeless families with children. Our holistic program hinges on three strong pillars: (1) shelter- emergency/permanent, (2) supportive services- counseling, job training, parenting classes, workforce development, life skills training, financial literacy training and (3) education- 4 STAR Child Development Center and a full time adult HiSet Program.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2010
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence 2010
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) 2010
United Way Member Agency 2010
United Way Member Agency 2022
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce 2022
State of Louisiana Department of Education 2022
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsAverage number of service recipients per month
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Providence House
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of people using homeless shelters per week
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Providence House
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Providence House
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Providence House imagines a community where no family is homeless. We want to be a catalyst for change so that no family in our community is homeless by providing an opportunity to thrive as equal members of our community by engaging people in acts of compassion, empowerment, and advocacy.
The singular aim of Providence House is to break the homeless cycle one family at a time. We are a residential development center and temporary home for homeless families with children providing comprehensive supportive services for improving the family structure and moving the family into independent living to break the homeless cycle.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The main facility on Cotton Street provides emergency and basic support services such as shelter, meals, laundry facilities, and a 4-star child development center. A family entering Providence House participates in assessing the needs and obstacles to permanent independent living that a family faces and focuses on providing life skills training, behavior modification, education, and employment at the highest level of each individual's ability.
Families who have become stabilized and are working full-time at a job or on their education move out of Providence House and into our community. These families add to the stability and quality of life in their new neighborhoods and demonstrate to others what people can do to help themselves through education and hard work. Once these families have successfully managed their responsibilities within their new home, they graduate from the program.
Our Strategic Goals are:
1) To engage parents and encourage them to become involved advocates for their children. Specifically, we will give incentives to parents and students to take an active role in attending school functions, events, and meetings pertaining to their children's progress, behavior and enrichment;
2) Focus on developing employment opportunities that will allow families to expand career options. The goal is to have parents begin careers, not simply obtain a job;
3) Enhance our focus on the mission by implementing more effective case management while building relationships with support and appreciation; and
4) To market and grow our Child Development Center.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our ability to accomplish these goals is predicated on the involvement of all staff. In October of each calendar year, the entire staff meets to measure our success (or failure) of each goal. We are only capable of moving our strategy forward when:
1) We employ, empower, and entrust the best and the brightest to support specific programmatic area;
2) We provide compensation commensurate with the expected outcomes with each program sector;
3) We research, collaborate, and share best practices;
4) We constantly and consistently engage the families that we serve to determine if we are hitting our intended benchmarks;
5) We measure performance strategies, checking that our Who, What, When, and Where benchmarks are correct -- revising as necessary.
Providence House employs staff with experience in the social service sector and others that bring in a different level of expertise. The private sector offers a wealth of information that can enhance the work of the non-profit sector. It takes both groups to yield the outcomes and expectations within our strategy.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since its inception, 665 families have completed the program at Providence House and moved from homelessness to independence.
In 2021:
- 17,888 nights of lodging were provided;
- 20,913 meals were provided in the House and the Child Development Center combined;
- 18 families on average were served daily; of these families, we served an average of 30 children (newborn to 18) per day;
- 36 families obtained permanent housing;
- Over 4,000 calls were received for homelessness prevention;
- 61 families in Shreveport were helped with rental and utility assistance;
- 138 counseling sessions were provided for residents and others in the community;
- 39 people graduated from workforce development courses at Providence House through our partnership with Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC).
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Homeless families with children
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Our families concluded that children with undiagnosed learning disabilities had no outlet within the shelter. This was true! As a result, we raised $40K to establish a state of the art Calming Studio in our homeless shelter.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
PROVIDENCE HOUSE
Board of directorsas of 08/05/2022
Attorney Jacob White
Ayres, Shelton, Williams, Benson & Paine, LLC
Term: 2022 - 2024
Partner/CPA George “Trey” Delano Fauber, III
Cole, Evans & Peterson
Term: 2022 - 2024
Reginald Abrams
Abrams & Lafargue, LLC
Brian Crawford
Willis Knighton Health System
Justin Gambill
Cross Keys Bank
Felicia Hamilton
Law Offices of Felicia Hamilton, LLC
Judy Madison
Red River Bank
Marcia Moffatt
Committee Activist
Jean Mosley
Griggs Enterprise
Joy Reynolds
Reynolds Foundation
Dr. Sue Seiler-Smith
Ochsner LSU Health System
Margaret Sour
Camellia Trading
Benny Vaughn
Vaughn Builders
Michelle M. Arnold
LSU Health Science Center
Matthew Sawrie
Home Federal Bank of LA
Bert Schmale
Home Federal Bank
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/04/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.