Published in our 2015 Annual Report.

NOTE: As of 2016, Baronne Street Housing services are no longer offered by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.

When Rebecca and her four children Eric (7), Angelique (6), Yulius (5), and Isaac (2), were suddenly put out of their home, they had nowhere to go. Rebecca had lost her job. Fortunately she and her children found the stability at Baronne Street Housing, a facility of our Homeless Services program. Through Catholic Charities she found the support and resources she needed to get her and her family back on their feet again.

“They gave me some tough love, which I needed since I wasn’t close to my family. They call me their adoptive daughter,” Rebecca reflects on the staff and their support during her stay there.

‘To see that they really cared about me made me actually listen,’ Rebecca credits the staff’s support as a strong motivator in getting her life in order.

Baronne Street Housing is a transitional shelter for women and their children. While having a safe place to temporarily reside, residents are required to attend life skill and parenting classes. Case managers work with residents to develop life plans, find employment, get healthcare needs met, and find permanent housing solutions.

Homelessness perpetuates the cycle of poverty by preventing families from being able to stabilize themselves and rebound from a difficult economic setback. When the basic need of shelter is met through transitional housing, a family can plan and work towards longer-term solutions for their situation. Apart from Baronne Street, Catholic Charities offers a 6-9 month shelter, rapid rehousing for families and permanent housing for women suffering from substance abuse and the mentally ill.

Causes of homelessness often share one common trait. “We all fell on hard times. No one really had a support system,” Rebecca reflects. During Rebecca’s time at the shelfter, she became more independent and got her affairs in order with the help of Baronne Street Housing staff.

“To see that they really cared about me made me actually listen,” Rebecca credits the staff’s support as a strong motivator in getting her life in order.

Now, Rebecca and her children have moved into their own house in Gentilly, even though her middle boy, Yulius, says he misses living at “the brown house” that is Baronne Street Housing.

In the last fiscal year, Catholic Charities Homeless Services provided a safe space and gave hope to 387 men, women, and children in need.