The Women’s Home in Houston, Texas, builds communities that strengthen women and support families as they reclaim their stability. Through their holistic approach to treating the whole person, they are dedicated to helping women embrace their unique value and potential for a life filled with love, dignity, and purpose.
While originally founded in 1957 to support women who were unhoused due to mental health and substance use disorders, The Women’s Home’s services have broadened to include four unique programs: a residential treatment and transitional housing program, two permanent supportive housing programs, and a collaborative service center that offers support services to help prevent and end homelessness in the community.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, substance abuse is more prevalent in unhoused people than in those who are housed. For many, substance abuse is the result of the stress of housing insecurity, rather than the other way around. To help women reclaim their stability and sobriety, The Women’s Home developed a model of care to build a path to recovery.
The Women's Home services address each client holistically rather than focusing on isolated issues. These efforts address their clients' emotional, physical, social, vocational, fiscal, and spiritual wellness. For instance, their intensive residential treatment program ensures that clients have the tools to overcome their challenges and achieve lasting recovery. The program provides individualized care plans that include counseling, addiction recovery support, and mental health services, all within a safe, nurturing environment where clients can begin to heal from trauma and focus on their future.
Understanding that attaining economic independence is essential to achieving stability, The Women’s Home helps clients develop new skills, build resumes, and secure employment. By offering vocational training and job placement services, these clients can sustain their progress and build a foundation for success.
Another vital part of The Women's Home’s mission is building a strong emphasis on community. Through its supportive housing program and social enterprises, such as The Cottage Shop resale store, the organization fosters a sense of belonging and connection with its clients and the community. Additionally, these community initiatives provide additional resources and opportunities for clients to engage, learn, and grow together.
With a grant award from the Maximus Foundation, The Women’s Home received additional funding to help it achieve its mission of strengthening women and supporting families as they reclaim stability. The grant award was applied to costs associated with operating its 50-bed residential living facility, including staff salaries, utilities, supplies, and other operational expenses for residential treatment, as well as outpatient treatment and wrap-around support services.
The work of The Women’s Home’s residential treatment program has been highly impactful. In 2023, it served over 110 women who were homeless due to mental health and substance use disorders, including more than 40 women in the intensive treatment phase and over 80 women in its supportive treatment phase. Of the women who completed the intensive treatment phase, 89% achieved mental stability, 100% maintained sobriety, and 59% transitioned to continue their recovery journey in the supportive treatment phase. For women who participated in that phase for at least six months, 100% achieved mental stability, 78% maintained sobriety, 100% left with a steady source of income, and 52% left having obtained stable, permanent housing.
The Women’s Home’s holistic approach helps women recover and lays the foundation for their long-term success and wellbeing, creating a ripple effect of positive change in the Houston community. Learn more about how the organization supports women in overcoming adversity and reclaiming their stability.
Giving back to the communities we serve
The Maximus Foundation is one of the ways Maximus employees are doing something greater together. Established by the Maximus Board of Directors in 2000, the Maximus Foundation is an independent, employee-led, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Employee donors pool their charitable contributions together through the Foundation, double their impact on the grantmaking program through Maximus' dollar-for-dollar matching pledge, and make their voices heard by nominating and voting for future grantee partners. Though the Foundation focuses its giving strategy on grantmaking, it also helps coordinate corporate-wide humanitarian efforts and empowers employees to donate their time and skills to nonprofits. Their inspired giving and volunteerism help accelerate the missions of nonprofits on the front lines of the communities we serve. Learn more at the Maximus Foundation website.