Haven House keeps families together when it matters most

Imagine losing your home. You, your spouse and your children are on the verge of being homeless.

You look around for a shelter where you can find temporary housing and get some help getting back on your feet.

But men aren’t allowed in the shelter. Only women — and only boys younger than 12.

So your family has to split up at a time it matters most to stay together for support.

That’s the case for many families in search of temporary housing, but not if they can find help through Haven House in East Lansing.


Haven House — formerly known as the Economic Crisis Center — has been providing emergency housing and support services for homeless one-parent and two-parent families with children since 1983. Most shelters don’t allow men, and many don’t allow teenage boys. Haven House does.

The shelter features 28 beds in seven large bedrooms and can house up to nine families at one time.

“We try to make it as much of a home as we can,” said Angela Mayeaux, director of Haven House.

Indeed, it does feel like a large home — kids’ artwork hangs on the walls, toys are heaped in office corners and there is a general liveliness to the place.

Mayeaux said the best compliment she ever overheard about Haven House came from a young woman on the phone.

“She and her boyfriend were at the shelter with her child, and she got a call from the child's father. He was mad at her for being in a shelter,” Mayeaux said. “And she told him, ‘They’re here to help. It’s really nice here, it’s really clean. You should come see it.’

“They were our star pupils,” Mayeaux said. “They did everything we asked of them, followed through on every housing and job referral we gave them.”

Haven House gets funding from a variety of grant sources, and the money that comes from the Capital Region Community Foundation serves an important need. In 2009, the foundation awarded $8,801 in grants to Haven House.

“The foundation’s grant money frees up other unrestricted funds we receive so we can continue to expand our programs,” Mayeaux said. “The Community Foundation filled a gap — now operating bills can be paid, we can expand our support staff and grow the services to help our clients.”

Mayeaux said the support goes beyond the money, though.

“It’s kind of a quiet way for the community to tell us they support the work we’re doing,” she said. “When we get the ‘yes’ on a grant, we feel like the community believes in us. That’s something that’s hard to show on paper, but it means so much. All those grant committee people had to say yes. It’s a nice affirmation that they trust us to do good work.”


Haven House
• Where: 121 Whitehills Drive, East Lansing
• Online: www.havenhouseel.org


WHAT THEY DO:
Haven House has been providing emergency housing and support services for homeless one-parent and two-parent families with children since 1983. The shelter helps families prepare for permanent housing by developing and promoting self-sufficiency, stability and financial responsibility.

Not only does Haven House support its residents with basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing and personal-needs items, but it has developed programs designed to make an impact on the lives of families after they have left the shelter, making them less apt to become homeless again.