Volunteers of America is proud to announce the recent opening of our newest family shelter, “Moving Forward.” VOA has partnered with Monroe County to create a new shelter with 58 private units to address the growing number of unhoused families in the Rochester area as a way to keep families together during a time of crisis. This shelter will serve families of any composition, a model VOA introduced with our first shelter, The Guest House, which opened in 2008 with 14 private units. In addition to safe shelter, Moving Forward will provide families with meals, transportation, and on-site support services that will assist them with finding permanent housing, connecting with health care, and securing income. These services are currently unavailable to the many families placed in hotels with nowhere else to go.
“The affordable housing crisis impacts too many Monroe County families,” said County Executive Adam Bello. “Thank you to DHS Commissioner Thalia Wright and her team, our county legislature for their support, and our partners at Volunteers of America for their dedicated work to ensure our families have a safe place to stay and to access the resources families need.”
VOA’s Moving Forward family shelter will significantly expand assistance to those families like Monica’s, who came to VOA’s Guest House shelter when the house they were renting for years was sold and they were forced out by the new owners. Suddenly homeless and struggling to find affordable housing for their family of five, Monica was referred to VOA. The VOA team was able to get Monica and her family moved into our Guest House shelter, where our staff provided temporary housing and assistance in finding a new place to live. Within a few weeks, VOA identified an available apartment and assisted the family in transitioning to their new home. This support helped Monica and her family maintain their self-sufficiency and become stabilized in housing.
This story is just one example that exemplifies how VOA’s shelters and comprehensive support programs provide critical assistance to families in need, helping them regain stability and build a brighter future.
The new ‘Moving Forward’ shelter will extend this vital support to even more families, offering them a safe haven and the resources they need to overcome homelessness, achieve self-sufficiency, and move forward with dignity.
