The Living Room Day Services for Women and Children Who are Homeless

The Living Room is moving to a new home base in 2015! We’ve been taking care of homeless women and children for 21 years at space leased from Church of Incarnation, downtown Santa Rosa. Sadly, due to the increase of homeless women and children in our community, we’ve seriously outgrown our space and need a new home. We are glad to announce we’ve purchased a property close by that fits our needs and will allow us to improve our program. However, in order to make it home, it needs some fixing up and improvement, including a commercial kitchen. Since we receive less than 15% of our funding from government sources, our existence depends on the generosity of others. In the months ahead while preparing to move, we are reaching out for support with monetary donations and in-kind assistance to make our new home ready. WILL YOU HELP?

About The Living Room: We are Sonoma County’s only daytime center providing services specifically for homeless women of all ages - many are mothers with children. We served over 1200 individuals last year including over 300 children. But, we continue to see more women sleeping outside and in cars due to the overcrowded shelters and the mothers with young children who must leave the shelters early in the morning with no place else to go. For example: Trish came to us when she ended up living in her car. Penny came to us after a disability caused her to lose everything. Deseree found us when she had to leave the shelter at 8:00 a.m. with her newborn son.

We recognize that most of the women have been through trauma, and our goal is to help them become self-reliant and able to meet the challenges facing them. Our staff and volunteers make every effort to meet the individual’s specific needs by providing a safe and warm place to be during the day when shelters are closed, while working in conjunction with other community agencies.

Our services include two healthy meals per day and we average about 70 people for lunch. We offer medical referrals, counseling, parenting classes, computer and phone access, voice mail, mailing address, community and housing referrals, job search assistance, and much more. We also provide clothing, diapers, bus tickets for medical appointments and job interviews, and LOTS OF LOVE.

We are also a critical first stop for women who are on the verge of becoming homeless, the first place that at-risk or newly homeless turn to for relief and referral guidance. Our goal is to help keep this vulnerable population safe while they stabilize their lives. Our program is designed to foster self-sufficiency and independence in an atmosphere of respect.

To learn more about The Living Room and how to donate, visit www.thelivingroomsc.org or call Cheryl Parkinson, Executive Director at 707-579-0138. Address: 636 Cherry St. Santa Rosa, CA 95404