For homeless women in Cuyahoga County, the Norma Herr Woman’s Center, (NHWC), acts as a welcoming neighbor, opening its doors to those facing the harsh realities of the seasons in Northeast Ohio—and the harsher realities and challenges of life. The Norma Herr Women’s Center, located in Cleveland, is an emergency shelter that is owned and operated by Emerald Development and Economic Network, (EDEN), Inc., in partnership with FrontLine Service, who provides the onsite staffing and supportive services. The Center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Center’s main goals are to safely shelter homeless women who cannot access another form of shelter, and to help those women ultimately secure permanent housing, and achieve greater independence.

Serious illness, ongoing disability, accidents, unemployment, death of loved ones, financial hardships—the upheaval of such “life storms" can overwhelm us, and threaten to take us under. Imagine if such traumatic events were compounded by the loss of a home, and feelings of displacement, abandonment, loneliness, and utter hopelessness.

During the past year, over 900 women received shelter and services at the Norma Herr Women's Center. Each night, an average of 177 women are provided with a safe place to sleep, and a respite from the streets. During August, the average number of women staying at the shelter has increased to approximately 200. No woman in need of emergency shelter is turned away from the Center.

In addition to providing sleeping accommodations and meals, residents are assisted with identifying personal and community resources so that they can achieve greater stability. The Center's staff works with residents to help them secure permanent housing, gain access to mental health services, seek employment, enroll in chemical dependency treatment, and locate assistance with benefits and personal finances.

Recently, it was determined that Norma Herr's major systems had aged beyond useful life. These systems required continual maintenance and repair, which drained vital funds from the Centers operations. Due to the age and condition of the current system, applying "band-aids" to address broken components was no longer sustainable, and the need for a long-term solution became urgent. In order to make the NHWC a safer, more nurturing, and welcoming space for the women that call it their temporary home, EDEN was required to make critically-needed repairs and improvements to the Center’s physical plant, especially in the areas related to plumbing, thermal comfort, roofing, security, and building structure.

The need for a generator has now become paramount to the Center’s operations. There is a history of outages at the facility. The most recent outage lasted over 12 hours. The new HVAC systems, as well as the refrigeration systems for food storage, would benefit greatly from the use of a generator, especially since the facility is operational around-the-clock. Additionally, the Center’s new wheelchair lift runs on electrical power, and a generator would enable it to remain functional during a power outage.

EDEN has secured a grant from Northern Ohio Golf Charities in the amount of $10, 655 to support the purchase and installation of a generator for Norma Herr Women's Center. However, the organization must raise an additional $20,000 to fund the complete cost of this critically-important improvement to the Center's operations.

At the heart of each of EDEN’s activities is its emphasis on the interdependence of all facets of our community. We remain unwavering in our commitment to the community, but understand that the ultimate success of this effort depends, in large part, on building partnerships with community members that also want to proactively combat homelessness. Through your support, we can each continue to define what it means to be a true community member, which is, neighbor taking care of neighbor.

EDEN would be truly honored to partner with you so that we can continue to provide a safe and secure shelter for Cuyahoga County's most vulnerable women!