Transitional Housing

A Place of Healing – A Voice of Hope.

Providing a critical link between emergency shelters and independent living.

Lydia’s House is the only program in eastern Missouri providing confidentially located, long-term transitional housing for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. The goal of our transitional housing program is to help these women gain the skills and resources necessary to find permanent housing and live independently. While emergency shelters serve as a short-term place of refuge, Lydia’s House provides up to 24 months of critically needed additional time — creating space at the emergency shelters for those in immediate danger.

Our transitional housing is:

Safe and confidentially located
Fully furnished with appliances, furniture, personal care items and household supplies
Pet friendly, for those who fled from abuse with an animal companion
Available to support up to 50 women and 85 children at one time
Responsible for more than 50% of all safe bed nights in the state of Missouri

Transitional housing is not an emergency shelter. Women are referred by shelter advocates after identifying the need for continued safety and support. If you are in crisis and need immediate shelter, please find a list of resources on the “Get Help” section of our website.

Safe Bed Nights in One Year

Provided in Missouri

Provided by Lydia’s House

What is Transitional Housing?

For survivors of domestic violence, transitional housing is the step between emergency shelters and independent living. Transitional housing is a residency program which includes support services, such as childcare, job assistance and 1:1 advocacy. Residents can stay in the program for up to two years. This provides a critical opportunity for women to develop the life skills necessary to rebuild after a crisis and, ultimately, begin a new life free from abuse.

Emergency shelters are an essential place of refuge for women and children, but these shelters are typically unable to provide long-term residence. Lydia’s House was established to help meet this need and to help provide the skills which can prevent survivors of domestic violence from becoming unhoused or living in poverty after leaving their abuser. Because of this, 100% of women who graduated from our residency program in 2020 moved into permanent housing.

What We Provide

Lydia’s House owns two confidentially located, multi-family apartment complexes which allow us to support up to 50 women and 85 children at one time. All these units are fully furnished, because many survivors of domestic violence have fled from abuse with little or no personal belongings.

Residents of Lydia’s House participate in several programs and services, including:

Personal Advocacy
Support Groups
Counseling
Children's Programs
Spiritual Support
Community & Family Activities
Housing Advocacy
Immigrant Support Services
Job Education & Training
In-House Medical Clinic

Pet-Friendly Spaces

Lydia’s House partnered with Purina and Rescue Rebuild to become a “pet friendly” community. Only 10% of domestic violence shelters nationwide allow residents to bring their animal companions, which can cause a woman to delay leaving a dangerous situation. Many times, these pets have also experienced abuse, with more than half of domestic violence victims reporting that their pets were threatened, harmed or killed.

With the help of Rescue Rebuild and more than 75 Purina volunteers, Lydia’s House converted four of its apartments into pet-friendly spaces and continue to move forward. These organizations also created a dog park at Lydia’s House for residents and their pets to spend time together privately and safely — creating a welcoming space for families to adjust to their new life at Lydia’s House.

Raising Awareness of Important Issues

Lydia’s House partnered with Purina and Rescue Rebuild in 2018 to become a pet-friendly community. At the time, Purina was actively involved in supporting and promoting the Pets and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, a bill which was signed into law on December 20, 2018, as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. This bill sought to include family pets in federal laws pertaining to interstate stalking, protection order violations and restitution.

Through our corporate partnerships, Lydia’s House is proud to help raise awareness of important federal, state and local issues seeking to help victims of domestic violence. We aim to provide supporters with the knowledge and information they need to get involved in direct advocacy, if they feel called to do so. Lydia’s House is also supported by an Advocacy Council.

Building a Life of Hope

“I really struggled when I first came to Lydia’s House, but the staff helped me learn from my mistakes instead of making me feel bad about them. My staff advocate helped me to set goals and stay focused, because I wanted a better life for my girls. Although I was finally able to move into my own apartment, I still go to support groups and meet with my advocate. Their support has truly been a blessing in my life. I finally feel safe, and I’m so glad that my girls will know how to love without pain.”