History of the Elizabeth Stone House
The Elizabeth Stone House was founded as a Therapeutic Community in 1974 by a group of former mental health patients and community activists to provide women with mental illness a residential, therapeutic option other than institutionalization. In 1979, Stone House added a domestic violence component to its residential programs. Recognizing that women frequently “graduated” from short-term shelter only to find themselves with nowhere to go, ESH conceived its Transitional Housing Program, the first program in the nation for formerly-homeless women and children making the transition from short-term shelter to independent living. The Transitional Housing Program began its first full year of operation in 1988, and in 1989, ESH received the United Nations Award of Excellence in recognition of the program’s unique effectiveness.
Each of these residential programs has provided wrap-around services to its participants from the beginning. Since many of these services could also benefit women in the community, Stone House opened its program of support services to women in our neighborhoods in 1995. These services are available to any woman who wishes to take part, but most participants come from the Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester areas. Some programs are open to men as well. The effectiveness of the program was recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (now known as the Department of Children and Families or DCF), which significantly increased funding in 2006 to enable outreach into the neighborhoods surrounding our residential facilities.
All Stone House programs have, from the start, welcomed the children of women who sought our help. In 1997, ESH’s services for children and families were consolidated within our Parent-Child Center (PCC), located on the Roxbury grounds of the Transitional Housing Program. Over the decade since the PCC’s establishment, it has become increasingly clear that PCC programs are enormously helpful not only to Stone House residents but also to women and children in the community. For this reason, PCC programs welcome both resident and non-resident families. These parents and children take part in PCC programs to strengthen their families and to reduce the possibility of having children removed from the home by DCF. DCF has recognized the significant role the PCC plays by adding it to the DCF Family Network of Approved Providers of Services to Children and Their Parents. In addition, DCF has funded a “Child Witness to Violence” pilot program, run through our PCC.