Since its beginning in 1989, the St. Petersburg Free Clinic Women’s Residence has helped thousands of women regain control over their lives. Now, it has added certification from the National Alliance of Recovery Residences (NARR).
The Virginia and David Baldwin Women’s Residence provides stable housing and support services to single homeless women between the ages of 18 and 65 while they build the skills they need to be self-sufficient. Participants stay between one and 12 months while making connections within the community and establishing themselves. Programs assist with basic needs that range from food and hygiene supplies to a clothing boutique to assistance obtaining a Florida identification card.
“We are the only program in this area that offers the woman an opportunity to come into a recovery residence for no money for 90 days,” said Cynthia Burnham, who has been residence director since 2012. “I don’t believe there’s another program like that.”
More than 65 percent of women who join the residence program successfully transition to self-sufficiency and stable housing, she said. Of those, more than 90 percent retain their independence. The statistics are emphasized by how much activity the program sees: In one year alone, the home provides shelter and support to 131 women.
In recognition of these achievements, it recently received its Recovery Residence Certification from the Florida Association of Recovery Residences, the statewide division of NARR. The association does not offer providers specific instructions for operating. It uses 38 standards to measure the quality and consistency of support offered. Doing so allows the residence to offer a broad range of opportunities as it sees fit. The certification program is voluntary.
“Aside from attracting funding opportunities, it speaks highly of the services we provide,” Burnham said. “It lends credibility. It says we know how to do what we say we do.”
Despite the current success of the program, the Baldwin’s Women’s Residence was not always as well-known. Before 2016, the residence was accommodated in two houses built in 1926 that Burnham said were “falling apart around us.”
The Free Clinic successfully held a $4.5 million fundraising campaign, demolished the dilapidated houses, and built the current structure, which opened in January 2016. At 20,000 square feet, it comprises 40 bedrooms, a large kitchen with teaching areas, a shared dining space, and training rooms for teaching career and life skills. The clinic also increased its capacity from serving 20 women to housing 50 concurrently.
“We were very low key in the area for many, many years … unless you’ve been in the neighborhood for a while, you wouldn’t know who we were,” Burnham said. “Since the campaign to get the new building, we’ve become more of the community. We’re holding AA meetings in house, for instance, and bringing the community in.”
Community engagement has helped the residence flourish, allowing it to offer the unique and engaging opportunities for which it has become known.
“We offer the option to learn with a mentor, a professional woman from the local community willing to empower our women and expose them to some things they haven’t had the opportunity to do in a while,” Burnham said. “Go to a play, just to feel normal and start doing some of the things they’ve been seeing people do.”
With certification, the women’s residence is looking for funding to expand its mental health counseling services. Group counseling is currently offered, and the hope is to add one-on-one sessions in the building and to bring on a full-time licensed clinical social worker.
Burnham praised the home’s dedicated employees and volunteers.
“We’re defined by our enthusiastic and engaged staff,” she said, “because many of us are in recovery ourselves.”
For more information about the Women’s Residence and other St. Petersburg Free Clinic services, or to make a donation, visit stpetersburgfreeclinic.org.
