The Dumas Wesley Community Center and the Baldwin Family Village Foundation are proud to announce the launch of Baldwin County’s first transitional housing program, the Baldwin Family Village (BFV). Slated to open this April, it will be operated by the Dumas Wesley Community Center, modeled after its highly successful transitional housing program, the Sybil Smith Family Village. The Village enjoys an average success rate of 88% among residents who completed the program and remained permanently housed for two years. This figure is 45% higher than the national average, according to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), a data collection service which measures housing services and outcomes nationwide. In the last six years, 0% of SSFV graduates returned to homelessness, within 2 years of program completion, compared to the national recidivism rate of 19%.
The Baldwin Family Village will provide 12 months of housing stability and wrap-around services for up to 100 women and children annually. According to United Way of Southwest Alabama’s crisis calls, in 2021, 1/3 of the calls received from Baldwin County are related to homelessness and/or housing assistance. Last year, the Baldwin County Public School System reported that 300 school-age children were homeless on any given night in Baldwin County.
Basic eligibility criteria for admission into Baldwin Family Village are:
- Must be at least 24 years old,
- Must be homeless or fleeing domestic violence (PFA must be obtained upon entry),
- Must be able to work and/or attend school (volunteer hours do not count),
- Must be drug and alcohol-free,
- Must be willing to live in a drug/alcohol-free environment (and take random drug tests), and
- Must be willing to participate in a case management plan.
Baldwin Family Village Progress Timeline:
- January 2022: 19570 County Road 33, Fairhope, AL, a former memory care facility, identified as a potential site for the Baldwin Family Village
- February 2022: Property placed under contract at a purchase price of $700,000
- May 2022: The Baldwin Family Village Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Baldwin Family Village, raised more than $700,000 to purchase the property and entered into an operating agreement with Dumas Wesley
- June 2022: The Baldwin Family Village property was purchased outright
- Year-End Achievements: To date, $656,481 has been raised for the Baldwin Family Village’s three year operating budget of $1,620,000
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