10 Years of Healing: How a Stable Home Helped One Mother and Her Twins Thrive

Every child who experiences homelessness faces trauma and instability that can last a lifetime. This trauma impacts emotional well-being, educational achievement, physical health, and future economic opportunity. A safe, stable home can improve and advance a child’s development.

For over a decade, the Virginia Women and Family Support Center has provided long-term housing for women and children experiencing homelessness. Throughout the years, we have witnessed the profound impact that stable housing has on children’s development and on women’s maternal health outcomes. We’ve also seen how a permanent address can be a critical step toward independence, opening doors to employment opportunities and ensuring children can be enrolled in school.

As we reflect on the lives we have touched through our program, this story reminds us of the courage, resilience, and strength of the women we serve.

A few months ago, one of the mothers in our residential program gave birth to premature twin boys. The twins spent two months in the Inova NICU, where doctors discovered that one of the babies had been born with a hole in his heart.

At a recent follow-up appointment, the mother received wonderful news: the hole had closed on its own. While the family plans to return for another checkup in a year, this update brought tremendous relief and served as a powerful reminder of the importance of stable housing.

Over and over, findings have underscored that when women are not stably housed, medical appointments, including prenatal follow-ups, are often not prioritized. Through access to stable housing and prenatal and postnatal care, our program helps ensure that mothers and their babies receive the support and maternal health resources they need during life’s most pressing moments.

Our program not only stabilizes families. It also helps close the developmental gaps children experience as a result of the trauma that homelessness causes.

As we celebrate 10 years of providing housing and support to women and children, stories like this remind us that when a mother has a safe place to call home, she has the opportunity to build a brighter future for herself and her children.

Thanks to supporters like you, this mother and her twin boys were able to receive the life-changing resources they needed to move forward with hope.

Help Us Keep Our Doors Open

For 10 years, we have provided safe housing and support to mothers, children, and newborns, helping families build stable and brighter futures. Our goal is to raise $250,000 to continue this life-changing work. Every gift helps keep families safe, supported, and moving toward stability.

Donate today at: https://bit.ly/vawfsc10years