Adrienne’s House, a transitional home on the west side of Owensboro, provides a safe place for women to start anew.
Director Becky Barnhart said the house can accommodate 3-4 women who are working toward being self-sufficient.
“The ultimate goal for this season of their life is to spend no more than 12 months here and gain their independence,” Barnhart said.
Many of the residents have come from Crossroads Emergency Women’s Shelter, which provides a meal and safe place to stay overnight for women (with or without children), and OASIS Women’s Shelter – a Domestic Violence Program for battered women and their dependent children.
Staying at the house means more than just having a place to sleep.
“If they don’t have a job, we help them with that and we help them budget,” said Barnhart. “We encourage them to volunteer, and they have to attend support groups if they’re coming from a substance abuse situation.”
The women are assigned different chores and responsibilities, creating a springboard for them to get their own place.
“We help them strengthen their foundation,” Barnhart said.
The hope is to eventually expand the house to serve more women.
Until this year, Adrienne’s House was affiliated with A Simple Path, which created a working environment for the women as they cooked meals to be purchased by the community. It also provided funding for the program.
Currently, New Life Church is the caretaker for Adrienne’s House. The church provides funding through donations, fundraising events and community ventures, such as New Life Thrift – a thrift shop opened five years ago at 1920 West Fourth St.
New Life Church Pastor Todd Camp said the thrift shop benefits many.
“We profit share with the community,” Camp said. “About $24,000 a year – that goes to Adrienne’s House, Habitat for Humanity and Foust and Cravens resource centers.”
He said the church originally had a huge free clothing closet and people continued donating until the church had rooms full of clothes.
“I started eyeing the facility across the street from the church with 4 garage doors,” he said, adding, “We’re overwhelmed with donors. They’re so supportive.”
They’re so overwhelmed with donations they opened a second location at 501 Crabtree Ave. on Nov. 27 called New Life Thrifty Dollar. Items in the store are almost all one dollar and are supplied by the surplus of goods at New Life Thrift.
“We’ll take the overflow from the thrift store and sell for one dollar,” said Camp. “Then we’ll profit-share with homeless shelters and transitional homes that struggle with fundraising.”
The church still has its clothes closet, but it has a narrower focus on blankets and children’s clothing. Camp said the church sees a lot of homeless, or nearly homeless, on Tuesdays when it provides a soup kitchen.
“Lately, with it being cold, I’ve given out a blanket almost every night,” he said.
Thrifty Dollar will allow the church to help those in need in a way they may be more comfortable with.
“Most everyone can afford one dollar,” Camp said. “That allows people to say ‘I bought this,’ and there’s dignity in that.”
Camp said the best way for others to help is to shop at the thrift stores.
“We need customers,” he said. “We have really good items. Only the best of the best get put out in the store, like a consignment shop.”
You can donate goods at New Life Thrift or make a monetary donation to New Life Church, designating the funds for Adrienne’s House.
