After years of planning and fundraising, the Evansville Rescue Mission is launching the Susan H. Snyder Center for Women and Children. The nonprofit organization will host a grand opening on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the former medical building at 1400 Professional Blvd.
According to ERM, women make up 40% of Vanderburgh County’s homeless population. National statistics show homelessness among women has increased 12.1% since 2022.
“In the last decade, for sure, five years, predominantly, the amount of homeless women and homeless women with children has grown exponentially,” said Kyle Gorman, ERM’s director of advancement. “Women are in need, and they need a helping hand to get out of the situations that they’re in.”
On March 31, the remodeled 42,000-square-foot center on Evansville’s east side will begin offering 125 women and their children a space to recover from homelessness, domestic violence and other issues.
“A lot of times women are invisible if they stay with their abuser. That to me is still homelessness. They’re afraid to leave,” said Dr. Nancy Miller, the center’s executive director. “What this center is going to do is make a huge impact on these women. They have a safe haven to come to and a second chance.”
Planning a space for women
Since 1917, ERM has been helping individuals overcome homelessness, poverty and addiction. With more than 200 beds, the men’s residence center on E. Walnut St. provides shelter, meals and services to people in need.
Gorman told Inside INdiana Business that developing a women’s residence center has been on the mind of CEO Tracy Gorman for the last decade. However, the project formally began in 2022 with the groundbreaking following in 2023.
“Before Nancy came on board [in 2023], a lot of [the planning] was the high-level logistics. How do we raise the money? What building do we find? What do we want out of the building and the programs? It took a lot of time and effort from our executive team and board coming together on setting what that looked like,” said Gorman.
To fine-tune the vision and build a curriculum for the Susan H. Snyder Center, Miller served as the executive director of the men’s residence center for nearly a year. She also researched how different parts of the world handled homelessness and explored women’s centers in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Florida.
“It was a great experience to go and see other women’s shelters throughout the country and see what went well and what didn’t go well and listen to the concerns and issues that women and children have who are experiencing chronic homelessness or just homelessness,” said Miller.
ERM completed a three-year capital campaign to fund the new center, including a $1.5 million donation from United Way of Southwestern Indiana on March 10. The $9 million goal covered the building purchase, renovations and three years of operating costs.
“We did that so that our general fundraising can build over the next three years,” said Gorman. “This is a massive operational expense we’re adding, so it gave us some breathing room. That’s all coming from grants, individual donations and businesses. We don’t take government funding.”
‘A small city in one building’
At the Susan H. Snyder Center, displaced women and children will have a roof over their heads plus access to several amenities such as a laundromat, a fitness center and play areas. On social media, the Commission on Homelessness for Evansville and Vanderburgh County referred to the facility as “a small city in one building.”
“We have medical assistance from all kinds of different RVs coming in to assist them and legal assistance,” Miller said. “We have AA and NA classes that will be available. We’ll have devotion church services. We’re going to have a day care center so that they don’t have to worry about their children.”
Of the 125 beds, 16 are available 24/7 for emergency stays lasting up to 30 days. Women may reside at the center for up to 77 weeks if they participate in programming. The curriculum is based on research related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their connection to a person’s well-being.
“If [people have] four or five of those situations [such as experiencing violence, abuse or neglect], they usually repeat the pattern,” said Miller. “It’s chronically going from generation to generation. We’re using that philosophy to counsel our folks and to help provide services.”
The center’s programming includes case management, counseling and educational support for the women as well as literary assistance for the children.
“If a child in third grade doesn’t read at a third-grade reading level, the rest of their life, they will be struggling academically and professionally. And we want to give them every chance to have a level playing field,” Miller said.
Achieving self-sufficiency
Gordan said the Susan H. Snyder Center was named after ERM board leader Norm Snyder’s late wife who had a passion for helping women. The goal of the facility is to elevate distressed people from homelessness to self-sufficiency, according to Miller.
“We’re hoping that when they get done, they have saved $10,000. They have a career lined up. They have five to seven safe women who they have built healthy relationships with, and they don’t return to what was the negative part of their life,” she said.
Millers insisted the availability of intermediate housing for women coming out of the center is a key component of the transformation process.
“Once they finish the program, having enough homes in safe communities where these women and children can move to is such an important element,” said Miller. “We’re partnering with Habitat for Humanity—they have an excellent program—and other entities willing to help in the transitional segment for these women.”
Gorman expects ERM’s mission-driven businesses at Washington Square Mall on Green River Rd. to play a part in sustaining the organization’s residence centers.
“We own and operate the thrift store, Mission Grounds [coffee shop] and the furniture warehouse. So we’re looking at how those enterprises can expand and help us grow our revenue. That all of that revenue gets put right into the programs that we have here for women and children and then also our men,” he said.