What We Do
Gracious Hands is a non-profit organization that serves homeless women with children in the Charlotte, NC area. The rate of homeless women with children is at an all time high in this area. Gracious Hands is a temporary home, equipped with supportive resources to "LOVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN BACK TO LIFE".
2 homes. 1 heart.
One of the most important strategies for lifting families from homelessness is rapid re-housing. The quicker families are connected with permanent housing and provided with support, training, and assistance, the quicker families can return to self-sufficiency.
Gracious Hands is a holistic transitional program and is not intended for permanent housing. The program will cap assistance at twelve months. Within twelve months the families will receive help with job training, job readiness, assistance with seeking and maintaining employment, childcare assistance, permanent housing assistance and financial counseling. Applicants are screened to assess current needs, future needs, and for prior displacement history.
3131 Oneida Road
3430 Fincher Road
Our Services
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
Affordable supportive housing designed to provide housing and appropriate support services to women who are homeless or who are close to homelessness. The transition is to help them be more self-sufficient to move towards independent living on their own.
One of the most important strategies for lifting these women from homeless is rapid – rehousing. However, here at Gracious Hands we like to focus on the holistic view of encouraging woman to get back in the community and on their own in the right way, so they do not repeat the same cycle over and over.
Our goal is to help single mothers return to self-sufficiency. We do that by providing an affordable, temporary housing situation. Our program at Gracious has a 12-month residency cap, however most of our residents successfully transition before that 12-month period ends. Within their stay and transition back into the community, mothers will receive skills training, job readiness training, financial literacy training and counseling, employment assistance, childcare assistance, permanent housing assistance, among other life skills that will help them become self-sufficient.
LIFE SKILLS
A part of helping our residents find self-sufficiency also includes preventing recidivism. We want to ensure that our residents are prepare to survive on their own again, the best way they know how, once they leave Gracious Hands. Not only do we want to prepare them for life, we want them to understand what they want to do with their life. We want to understand what our residents are good at, what they have a passion for, and things they desire to do. Whether it be the need for further education to get into desired career or seeking the training needed to enhance their skillsets, Gracious Hands is here to help make our residents become the best person they can be in order to be self-sufficient. We believe that if our residents are on this path, this will ultimately increase the chances of them being happy with everything they do, bring purpose to their lives, and increase the want and need to be self-sufficient.
To help keep our residents on a path to self-sufficiency, each mother and children are assigned a life coach to walk with them through their journey. Watch a testimonial on our life coaching here.
THERAPY
Outside of the assistance and programs we provide, our residents still need ways to cope with life. Therefore, we offer the opportunity for our residents (mother and children) to grow through therapy.
Our therapeutic services provide comprehensive mental health and therapeutic methods to assist each resident with their needs in every facet of life. We believe therapy is unique and everybody has different views on what might help them in life. Our ultimate goal is to make sure our residents feel comfortable on their journey.
Our therapists also follow our residents for a year after transitioning to allow for any assistance adjusting to self-sufficiency.
JIMMY LUB CLOSET
In August of 2019, G.H. opened a clothing closet in honor of Jimmy Lub, who loved helping the homeless and when he passed away, a collaboration was formed and the family started a non profit in his honor. It is part of the Jimmy Core foundation. This closet provides everyday wear for women and children fleeing domestic violence. The closet runs off of donations and the mothers and children receive the clothing items at no charge.
DAYCARE
We understand the challenges faced by our residents, especially when it comes to balancing their own well-being with the care of their children. That's why we offer a vital service: free daycare. We recognize that without a safe and supportive environment for their children, mothers may struggle to focus on rebuilding their lives and accessing the resources they need. Our daycare services provide a lifeline, allowing mothers to engage in counseling, job training, and other programs aimed at securing stable housing and improving their overall situation, all while knowing their children are in capable hands. By alleviating the burden of childcare, we empower homeless mothers to prioritize their own growth and recovery, laying the foundation for a brighter future for both themselves and their children.