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Housing for New Hope is a 501(c)3 non profit organization, initially created by the Durham Presbyterian Council (DPC) and founder, Terry Allebaugh, in 1992 to develop and operate housing programs designed to assist the homeless in Durham. The organization's core goals include outreach to homeless persons, and the provision of transitional and permanent housing. Crisis assistance and prevention of homelessness are also a key focuses of the organization.
Housing for New Hope arose out of the experiences of the DPC and Mr. Allebaugh in their work of creating and operating the Community Shelter for Hope, an emergency shelter facility, now know as Urban Ministries of Durham. From its inception, Housing for New Hope established and maintained transitional housing programs, beginning with the Phoenix House in 1992, and the Dove House in 1996. These facilities provide housing for single, homeless men and women willing to accept a structured program in order to regain independence in their lives. Men and women from the Phoenix and Dove programs transition into permanent housing with their name on a lease indicating residential stability and an end to their homelessness.
Program graduates have formed their own service and support group called the Alumni of Housing for New Hope. Alumni provide ongoing peer support to one another through life's ongoing challenges and opportunities. They perform regular outreach activities to those still homeless, including presentations at the program sites; monthly outreach to the unsheltered homeless in camps, under bridges, and in the woods; and participation in the CROP Walk. The Alumni are a voice of advocacy for the homeless on Capitol Hill in Washington and at City Hall in Durham, as well as at numerous community functions and events.
In the interest of helping develop homeless prevention programs Housing for New Hope welcomed Presbyterian Urban Ministries (PUM) into its fold in 2000. PUM provides crisis assistance for families with children, disabled adults, and senior citizens with limited income and resources, many at risk of becoming homeless. Additionally, in a desire to outreach and engage the chronically homeless living unsheltered in our community, Housing for New Hope began contracting with the Durham Center in 2004 to operate the PATH (Projects Assisting Transitions from Homelessness) program for outreach to the mentally ill.
Housing for New Hope has long seen the need for more permanent, supportive housing, especially units that are affordable to formerly homeless people working entry level jobs or with limited income due to disability. Housing for New Hope partnered with others to develop Sherwood Park Apartments in 1997, a 70-unit apartment complex that includes 20 units for homeless people. Merging with another non-profit, New Directions for Downtown, Inc. in 2005, Housing for New Hope assumed ownership and operation for another supportive housing development, Andover I Apartments, providing permanent affordable housing for homeless persons with a disabling condition. Building on the success of these programs, the Andover II Apartments were completed and opened in 2006. A third, 10-unit apartment building is in the pre-development stage with constuction slated to begin late 2007 and completion by September, 2008.
As Housing for New Hope enters its fifteenth year, the organization looks forward to continuing to expand the vital services it provides to the neediest of Durham's citizens through a unique continuum of care encompassing the prevention of homelessness, outreach and crisis assistance, transitional, and permanent housing.
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