By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA — Disadvantaged women and children in Ashtabula County may have new hope.
Sister Patricia McNicholas, executive director of Beatitude House in Youngstown, hopes to expand the mission to Ashtabula.
“Beatitude House is a program sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, designed to provide an opportunity for disadvantaged women and children by creating homes, providing education and fostering healthy families,” McNicholas said. “We transform lives.”
They hope to use the St. Joseph Elementary School building on Lake Avenue and remodel it into 10 apartments.
The Ashtabula City Planning Commission will discuss the project and zoning at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
A public hearing on the matter is tentatively slated for Aug. 17, but only will go forward if all of the paperwork is submitted in time to the Clerk of Council.
Sam Parisi, who lives in the neighborhood, believes it’s a good idea.
“The building has been vacant for 20 years,” he said. “Why not serve a purpose?”
The 18- to 24-month program helps women work to overcome the many obstacles that lead to homelessness, such as no driver’s license, debt, no high school diploma, lack of health insurance and domestic violence in the home, she said. The program also helps women prepare to move from homelessness to permanent housing.
The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown have operated Beatitude House since 1991.
Their typical client is a young woman who grew up in a violent home and left the home at a young age, and by age 22, she is homeless with a young child, McNicholas said.
“We need a comprehensive program to help these women or they will return to homelessness,” she said.
McNicholas said there is someone who is committed to paying for half of the cost to remodel the elementary school building.
McNicholas said they also applied for grants.
Ashtabula City Council Vice President Betty Kist said the program is definitely needed in Ashtabula.
“It’s a great idea,” she said.
McNicholas said more than 90 percent of the women who complete the program never return to homelessness. In fact, most go on to earn a high school diploma and many get a college degree.
The program will be for Ashtabula County residents and there is a rigorous application process, McNicholas said.
“We look for a seed of wanting to succeed,” she said.
The Ursuline Sisters have a long history in northeast Ohio.
In 1874 the immigrant children at St. Columba School in Youngstown needed teachers. On Sept. 18 of that year six Ursuline Sisters from Cleveland arrived in Youngstown to begin teaching at St. Columba School.
Before long, the sisters started an academy that eventually evolved into the present day Ursuline High School in Youngstown.
For more information, call (330) 744-3147 or go to www.beatitudehouseonline.org.
