My Sister's Place Women's Center

My Sister’s Place Women’s Center, which opened on November 20, 2008, is a comprehensive resource center welcoming Baltimore’s homeless and poor women and their children. The mission of the program is to provide a safe, supportive environment where vulnerable women and their families can access housing, referrals, life skills training, and other resources to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency.

MSPWC is the combined new home of three existing Catholic Charities programs: My Sister's Place, the Samaritan Center, and Families that Work, and provides, among other things, housing assistance, education and life skills training, benefits advice and enrollment, case management, emergency financial assistance, linkages to other community providers (e.g., for mental health and addiction services), financial literacy services, and personal services (e.g., shower and laundry facilities, mail and telephone access, etc.) MSPWC also provides three meals each day to women and children in need. We are currently serving between 50 and 125 women and children daily.

Amenities include a day room with comfortable seating, a fireplace and mounted television. Three large classrooms are available for workshops. A large kitchen allows volunteers to prepare meals and a dining area holds adjacent cubicles for outside provider assistance. Offices for staff allow privacy and an enclosed play area is provided for children. Flower-filled window boxes hang from windows.

Funding

The program is located in the former Our Daily Bread building at 17 W. Franklin Street, and two adjacent townhouses. These structures have undergone substantial renovation. Catholic Charities raised approximately one-third of the funds for construction from public sources and the remainder from private sources, including the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Aegon Transamerica Foundation, and Middendorf Foundation.

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