Haven House, Serving the Homeless
Haven House has been helping individuals and families in the greater Lansing area since 1983.
Haven House's Mission, Vision and Values
Haven House’s mission is to guide and support families who face homelessness on their paths to stable homes. Our ultimate vision is of a community where all families thrive at home. Haven House is committed to supporting positive housing outcomes for the families we serve, and delivering programs through behaviors aligned with our core values of integrity, accessibility, empowerment, and compassion.
Haven House's History
Haven House has provided temporary shelter for homeless families since 1983. Over the years, the scope of our programs and services has increased dramatically. Not only do we support our residents with basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, and personal needs items, but we have developed programs that will make an impact on the lives of our families after they have left our shelter. We also work to prevent homelessness for families whenever possible.
Giving our clients the opportunity to improve their lives through goal setting, training, and education enables them to become more productive and less apt to become homeless in the future.
Haven House's Emergency Homeless Shelter for Families and Related Programs
During their stay in our shelter, residents engage in our housing first approach, with a goal to move into permanent housing, within a sustainable budget, as quickly as possible. While in shelter, staff members meet daily with clients to discuss progress in finding permanent housing and provide advice in dealing with landlords and local agencies. Clients develop personal budgets that are realistic and goal plans that are productive.
Many volunteers help in the office, provide activities for children and families, and handle many other tasks to assist residents and ex-residents and help the shelter run smoothly. Upon exiting, our residents receive an “exit bucket” filled with cleaning supplies and personal needs items.
Once families reach their new permanent home, our Partners in Progress (PIP) program provides follow-up care for up to a year. The PIP program assists families who have successfully reached housing. A staff member works with these clients to set realistic goals and monitor progress in employment, budgeting, arranging childcare, improving parenting skills, and connecting with the neighborhood and the community. In addition to shelter and housing services, clients receive access to food, crisis counseling, assistance with goal setting and referrals to other agencies as needed.
Haven House Board of Directors
Jim Patterson , President
Kristin Bellar, Vice President
Matt Anderson, Treasurer
Tawnya McKinzie , Secretary
Linda Doyle-Bennett
Mikki Droste
Ashita Ghelani
Ken Jones
Bino Manjasseril
Dan Ream
Erin Roberts
Michelle Selby
Alex Stratilatov
