Written By: Kathleen Sanger, Director of Development at Home of the Sparrow

At Home of the Sparrow, we work with single women and single mothers in Chester County who are facing housing instability, including possible eviction. When we begin working with a program participant, we are struck by her extreme fatigue as well as her frustration and desperation. Living in poverty is exhausting.

Why can’t a woman who is employed or receiving social security, make ends meet? The greatest expense a woman faces in Chester County is housing. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Chester County is over $1,200/month. Instead of spending 30% of their income on housing, our women are spending at least 50%. The result is frightening gap between income and expenses that can end in homelessness. If on older woman is employed, she is likely making $16/hour – well above the minimum wage of $7.25 but well below a living wage of $27.52 (according to MIT’s “Living Wage Calculator). Working fulltime does not provide everyone with a means to avoid poverty.

Of special concern is older women who are on fixed incomes, who may have one or more chronic health conditions (and cannot be employed) and have little to no assets. This is the focus of our partnership with The Alliance for Health Equity. Via the Seed-And-Scale Match Fund, we have $45,000 to help older, single women in Coatesville with rental subsidies, entry money to secure a lease, utility payments, transportation and other expenses. In addition, this partnership provides for one-on-one case management services to help each woman access additional programs and services she needs. AHE’s initial investment of $15,000 inspired a donor to match the grant which then released another $15,000 from AHE!

We are grateful to AHE for expanding our Pre-Senior Bridge Housing Program in Coatesville. Our Catherine Twomey House in Coatesville features 4 single apartments and one double apartment, thus accommodating up to six women at a time. With AHE’s investment, we can serve many more women in Coatesville who are struggling to pay their rent. On average, we pay, directly to a landlord, $350 – $500 to pay a woman’s rent in full. Without a rental subsidy, these women may face eviction and/or reduce their spending on other necessities like food, prescriptions and travel to medical appointments.

To date, we have helped 23 older women remain stably housed thanks to the funding partnership. Watch our full impact update HERE. 

This kind of partnership is also alleviating a huge stressor for older women – that of finding the names and numbers of local churches and other agencies to call to ask for financial support. (There is no “call sheet” that someone can download if they cannot pay their rent in full.) Typically, women make 12-15 calls to organizations to piece together the money they need. This can be frustrating and greatly affect a woman’s feelings of self-worth. Asking for help, especially financial help, is upsetting. Having to ask multiple organizations means experiencing that feeling over and over. Plus, there is no guarantee anyone will be able to help. Some inquiries will result in a “no” – another cause for feeling defeated.

But thanks to AHE, we can say “yes”!