Our Programs

Each year, in collaboration with North Shore – LIJ Health System as well as various other church and civic groups, Bethany coordinates a Christmas Program wherein our women and children are provided gifts, clothing, food and other surprises for the holiday. This program is now beginning its thirty-fifth year!

Haven is the Molloy College/Bethany House Coalition for the Homeless. Founded in 1994, Haven sponsored an all day college-wide series of workshops on homelessness entitled "Living on the Edge: Hungry and Homeless on Long Island" in Spring of 1995. In October of 1996, Haven orchestrated a highly successful event called BOXTOWN at which over eighty students "spent a night out" in a cardboard box in solidarity with the homeless. This event was not only a consciousness - raising effort but also a fund raising activity, and netted over $9,000 to assist with Bethany House's newest program Rest Stop.

BOXTOWN II was held in October of 1997 with over 150 students, faculty and staff members participating to raise over $15,000. BOXTOWN continued the tradition annually through 2002. In 2003, Bethany House added a new program, BOXTOWN Comes to Bethany, wherein participants spend an evening at one of Bethany's residences to understand firsthand the struggles of the homeless families we serve.

Heading Home is another innovative program of Bethany House, created to serve women who have achieved at least six months of sobriety within a structured rehab environment and who now need a limited extension of structured living in order to be ready for independent living and job success. This program, begun in October 1996, has met with great success and has already completed its first expansion. Like all of Bethany House's programs, Heading Home is designed to be as cost-effective as possible and requires a minimal amount of funding to operate it effectively.

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children Project has recently been added to Bethany House's programs as a response to the unique needs of women who are either pregnant or have just given birth and whose lives are further challenged by the crisis of homelessness. This Project provides case management, interactive learning and skill development, a variety of workshops, training sessions, and group opportunities for these young women as they take on the awesome responsibility of raising a child.

The Kids Who Care Program was created by Bethany House to provide school – aged children who are not homeless a variety of opportunities to better understand the struggles of the homeless children who live right here on Long Island. The program includes consciousness - raising activities and planned action steps, and has been used by an average of fifteen schools each year for the past eight years.

Parents and Children Together is a family counseling program that was begun in October of 1998 to provide for the complex needs of women in recovery who are working to reunite with their children who have been in the foster care system during their mother's period of rehabilitation. This intensive group and individual counseling program integrates the needs and struggles of both the parent and the child in order to make the transition to shared living as smooth as possible. This innovative program was initially funded through the tremendous generosity of the Hassler Family Foundation.

REST STOP, begun in the Fall of 1997, provides crisis housing for families and single women who are not eligible for assistance under the stringent guidelines of federal funding under the Welfare Reform Act. This program is housed in "Bethany, too" and can serve up to twelve families or individuals who are homeless and unable to obtain any financial assistance. This program relies extensively on volunteer assistance, and any funds needed for its operation come from Bethany's fund-raising efforts.

Workout is Bethany's job training and employment program. Workout provides job placement and career counseling to women who are seeking entry into the job market. Bethany House also has an agency commitment to hire whenever possible, the homeless women who have at one time been guests of Bethany.