Our History
ForKids was founded in Ocean View in February, 1988, when Father Joe of Holy Trinity Church found homeless women and children sleeping on the church grounds. He called together his parishioners, who in turn gathered support from their friends from other Ocean View churches, and decided to open a shelter for families. Together they founded “Homeless Haven, Inc.” and incorporated in 1988.
Haven House Emergency Shelter was established in at 131 D View Avenue in the Ocean View area of Norfolk in 1991. Two board members, Mike Abbot and Pete Craig, each volunteered over two years of their time to head up the renovation of the building, and hundreds of other volunteers joined in this effort. The Executive Director was hired in July 1991 and on December 16, 1991, Haven House opened its doors with room for eleven homeless families.
The next major step forward for ForKids came in the summer of 1992, when Life Savings Bank donated two apartment buildings on 7th Bay Street for use as transitional housing. In 1995, ForKids received grants from the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Federal HOME Program to renovate the buildings. Morgan Place Transitional Housing – named for Ernie Morgan, a founder and strong Haven advocate – was dedicated on May 16, 1996, and now houses eight families. Services are provided through HUD funding.
The Legacy Permanent Supportive Housing program began in 1994 with the help of Norfolk’s Episcopal Churches. On May 20, 1997, ForKids broke ground on its first Legacy home. Legacy now provides permanent housing for six families with diagnosable disabilities.
In 1998, we initiated a six-month LEAP Aftercare program for clients who have exited our residential programs. Through this HUD-funded program, we offer the same counseling, case management and children’s services families received as residents, with the goal of helping them make the transition from our programs to independent living.
In May 2002, we opened the Junior League-ForKids Family Resource Center, which is located in our administrative offices at 4000 Colley Avenue. Board member Lisa Shapiro donated the services of her architectural firm, and the Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach provided funding as well as tremendous volunteer support. Additional funding from HUD, Norfolk Foundation, Landmark Foundation, and Norfolk Community Development Block Grant allowed us to build the Center and establish our Education and Services Initiative (ESI) program. The Center houses a Resource Library as well as ESI classroom space, and is open to anyone in the community who needs information on homelessness and related issues.
In May 2003 ForKids partnered with Virginia Social Ventures (VSV), a new non-profit organization under development, to provide training and supported employment opportunities for individuals with substantial barriers to employment. VSV will manage and develop social purpose enterprises that train and employ chronically impoverished individuals while generating earned income to support the organization’s mission.
In February 2005 we opened Elizabeth Place Transitional Housing, which provides five additional family apartments. This program offers a mid-term alternative (3-6 months) to our two year transitional housing program, and will allow ForKids to serve 25% more homeless families each year.
