Haven House Inc

Haven House is a faith-based organization providing supported and structured living opportunities to foster healing and self-sufficiency for women coming out of prison. The home is designed to be a positive, supportive living environment which will stimulate personal and spiritual growth, encourage accountability and financial responsibility, and provide essential re-entry services during the resident’s re-adjustment into the community. Haven House residents will be expected to participate fully in community activities, including: house meetings, meals, and chores. Other services offered include: case management; regular status review; compliance monitoring; relapse prevention support groups; referrals to other community services; and assistance with food, clothing, transportation, employment, and career development.Women who leave prison, despite having a serious determination to succeed, face significant hurdles, including: atrophied life skills, low earning potential, potentially destructive habits and relationships, and limited access to successful role models and supportive relationships. Haven House will provide up to two years of transitional housing, a faith-based community with successful role models and opportunities for positive relationships, life skills training, and an opportunity for residents to support one another.Residents of Haven House will not be pressured to claim a particular faith or be required to worship or accept religious doctrine. Christians, non-Christians, and those with uncertain faith will be respectfully welcomed if they are open to seeking healing and renewal in the context of a faith community. Faith will be discussed at Haven House. Staff and volunteers will express their faith, and activities may include Christian scripture and/or prayer in the sincere belief that faith in Christ offers the best path to healing and change. Willing residents will be encouraged to participate in regular worship services in a local faith community of their choice. Simply put, our intake process will attempt to assess sincere desire for change, personal responsibility, and readiness for community participation; it will not depend on professing a specific faith.The Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force, created in 2010 and endorsed by Governor Parnell, wrote in its strategic plan, “Over the last decade, Alaska has experienced rapid growth in its prison population... Citizens from the faith community provide much of the mentorship required to help newly released prisoners turn away from the negative influences that lead back to prison. Without the stabilization that comes from access to housing … individuals… revert back to old patterns." 66% of those released return to prison within three years and DOC now recognizes that new approaches are needed to curb recidivism in Alaska, otherwise the number of prisoners is likely to double by 2030. Haven House is unique in that it is a faith-based home providing natural supports to its residents based on the presumption that women in safe, stable housing situations are less likely to re-offend.