Evergreen Safe House could expand shelter services

Current plans call for converting Bailey Hotel into women's shelter

 

   When Annette Goudeau started Evergreen Safe House in her home in 2014, she already had dreams of a bigger program to help women and children in need.
   Earlier this year, she began steps to realize the next step in realizing that dream by applying for grants to purchase and renovate the historic Bailey Hotel in Bunkie to serve as a women’s shelter for women and children who have been victims of abuse.  If grants are approved, the Bailey will play a key part in giving new lives to the women and children who will be sheltered there. 
    If the grants are not received, Goudeau will regroup and try a different route to make her dream -- and the dreams of those she seeks to help -- come true.
    Goudeau is founder and chief executive officer of Evergreen Safe House, located in her home.
   Evergreen Safe House has been operating “out of my pocket” since 2014. She served children through the Louisiana Mentor program until late 2015. She admitted her first women’s shelter client in November 2015. That shelter can serve 10 individuals. She currently has three women and six children in the program.
    Phase II is to create a larger shelter -- at this time, hopefully the Bailey. As envisioned, the project will serve 200 women and children in the 38 rooms to be used for housing residents.
She hopes the grants are approved and work can begin by Aug. 1.
    Her desire to help women and children in need began when she worked for the Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago.
    Goudeau is originally from Chicago. She met and married Albert Goudeau, from  Goudeau, and they lived in Chicago “until he got ill. He had Alzheimer’s and he wanted to come home to die.
   “We bought some land and built a house in Evergreen,” she said. “He died in 2012.”
   Goudeau said she is a domestic abuse survivor, having endured domestic violence in the 1970s. She said she left that situation and considers herself to be “a phenomenal woman to this very day.”
 
“Need to believe”
    She said women coming out of an abusive relationship “need to believe that they have worth, that they can overcome their past and can succeed on their own.”
However, they need help to reach that point. They need a safe place to live while they get their life in order. They need professionals that can help with education, job skills and placement, counseling.
   “We will also need a lot of help to make this program successful,” Goudeau continued, “not just financially, but spiritually and physically.”
   While helping victims of domestic abuse is the primary purpose of Evergreen Safe House, Goudeau hopes to have a multi-purpose facility in the Bailey.
   She said one wing of the hotel will be for women with children and another wing will be for domestic violence victims with no children.
   One wing will be for women re-entering society from prison -- a need of which Goudeau is keenly aware in her job as a guard at the parish women’s prison in Cottonport. 
   Another wing of rooms will be for women who find themselves homeless for various reasons.
  “These could be veterans who have fallen on hard times or women who are homeless after leaving a bad situation,” Goudeau said.
   A few rooms will be set up like small apartments. Most rooms will have between two and four bunk beds, based on the room size. Goudeau said residents will not be crowded in their rooms.
   Goudeau said Evergreen Safe House has numerous grant applications pending.
   The largest one is for up to $5 million, which would fund the purchase and renovation of the hotel.
   She said there are numerous state, federal and private foundation sources that provide grants for the types of programs that will be provided.
 
Accepting donations
    In addition to grants, the non-profit organization is also accepting tax-deductible donations.
   Once tenants find employment, they will pay a small room and board fee until they leave the program, she said.
   “There will be a house full of counselors,” Goudeau said. 
  There will be an on-staff nurse for two shifts and a nurse on-call at night. Security will be provided by certified police officers. There will be metal detectors and surveillance cameras to ensure security. There will be a physician on staff.
   She said three meals a days will be provided and there will be a day care for children in the facility.
   In addition to the residential rooms, there will offices, classrooms and two rooms for evaluations. She said high school equivalency classes will be taught at the site.
   Goudeau said the residential program is designed to be for two years, but can be extended if the woman is not able to exit the program after two years.
   “We want a success rate of 100 percent, to return these women to society as productive citizens,” she said. “Every person who breathes should be valued by society.”
    Goudeau said the Bailey Hotel project is Phase II in her  “10-year plan.”
   “Phase III will be a men’s program,” she said. “I have talked to contractors and have two places in mind for that program.”
   The final phase of that plan would be to build transitional housing units on land she owns in Cottonport. These apartments would be used as permanent homes for individuals re-entering society after completing the program. 
    She said there may be a facility donated to Evergreen Safe House so it can provide services while the Bailey is being renovated. 
    For more information on the proposed project, to inquire as to how you can volunteer or assist in the program, or for information on how to donate, call 318-346-4962.
Evergreen Safe House could expand shelter services | AvoyellesToday.com | Avoyelles Journal, Bunkie Record, Marksville Weekly | Avoyelles Parish, La.

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