Mothers and children to be reunited at Susanna Wesley BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF A United Methodist shelter in Baltimore is taking on a new mission: reuniting women and their children. Susanna Wesley House, which is owned and operated by the United Methodist Women of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, is beginning a new partnership with one of Baltimores most successful agencies in assisting homeless women. The partnership with the Womens Housing Coalition is expected to be formalized this month, and it is hoped that residents will move into the facility at 609 Park Ave. by February. The Susanna Wesley House board of directors will serve as the houses landlord. The Womens Housing Coalition will oversee the program for homeless women who are partly self-sufficient and are ready to be reunited with their children and learn effective parenting skills. The Susanna Wesley House has had a tumultuous history. It was opened in 1929, as the Wo-Ho-Mis Lodge, and later Park Avenue Lodge, as a home for young women who had come to work in the city. A decade ago, fire devastated the two building, which were connected by a skyway. In recent years, financial difficulties and an inability to raise sufficient income has plagued the ministry at the Susanna Wesley House. Alluding to complications that arose from a recent audit, Susan M. Thompson, executive director of the Womens Housing Coalition, acknowledged that the past year has been a rough one for the Susanna Wesley House. But thats over now, she said. Were ecstatic about this new partnership. The Womens Housing Coalition, with a waiting list of 600 women, focuses on helping single homeless women overcome addictions and other difficulties and find employment. Because of the intense efforts required by the women in the coalitions programs, their children are kept by relatives or placed in foster care. The program at the Susanna Wesley House will allow women to be reunited with their children as they continue their journey toward self-sufficiency. The need is extreme, said Thompson who estimated that their waiting list could triple in size if they accepted women with children. Plans are underway to renovate the building at 609 Park St., downsizing the program that during the past few years has housed 12 women and their children, to make homes for six to 10 women and their children. Downsizing will allow women to live in suites, rather than dormitory-style rooms. Plans are also underway to redo office space into an apartment for a larger family and to create a computer center. This is a time of excitement and vision as we continue to be involved in ministry with women in transition, said the Rev. Edwin A. Ankeny, Baltimore North District superintendent. Although hes hesitant to make any predictions about timetables, Ankeny is looking forward to the new leadership being able to provide access to resources that will enable the house next door also being renovated and used in ministry. Peggy Millender, treasurer of the Susanna Wesley House board of directors, anticipates that bringing in the expertise of the Womens Housing Coalition, which reports having a 90 percent success rate of women going on to self-sufficient living, will enrich the United Methodist Womens ministry to the women of Baltimore. While the Susanna Wesley House board of directors will serve as landlords, covering building expenses and doing major repairs, Millender anticipates that United Methodist churches and womens groups will become involved in hands-on and sponsorship ministries with the women. The United Methodist Womens Susannas Kids Program, which does activities with the children in the house, will continue. In addition, individuals and groups are being sought to sponsor specific projects around the site. One project might be replacing a hideous barbed-wire fence in the backyard, Thompson said. It speaks to whoever lives there about what kind of place theyre staying in and what theyre worthy of. Other immediate projects include buying microwave ovens, new cribs, bassinets and other furnishings. A letter will be sent to every church as soon as the details of the partnership with the Womens Housing Coalition are finalized, said Millender. The Susanna Wesley House is an advance special of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. A Susanna Wesleys birthday offering is taken in conference churches on the Sunday closest to Valentines Day, Millender said. Thompson is willing to speak to any church or United Methodist Womens group interested in learning more about the program at the Susanna Wesley House. For more information, contact her at (410) 235-5782. | 
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