2022 COMBAT Funding: $100,699.00

In Amethyst Place's Own Words

About Amethyst Place

After more than two decades of transforming lives and healing generations, we believe our work is more than a mission; it’s a noble cause. We inspire transformational healing and empower generations of women and children to achieve recovery, reunification, and resilience. Each year, we provide nearly 200 women and children in Kansas City with truly comprehensive, family­centered care to help them overcome the interconnected cycles of poverty, trauma, and substance use to achieve multi­generational impact.. 

Family Empowerment Program

This program provides prevention services related to child abuse (e.g. Parent Cafes, Strengthening Families, and Conscious Discipline programming), domestic violence (e.g. Healthy Relationships programming), drug use prevention (e.g. recovery coaching and meetings, Caring for Kids prevention programming), ex-­offenders and violence (e.g. court advocacy), parenting and family interventions (e.g. Parent Cafes, Strengthening Families, and Conscious Discipline programming), and youth support services (e.g. child activities with volunteers, wellness programming, tutoring; adding Youth Empowerment Coach and associated programming through this grant). Family Empowerment programming includes case management, court advocacy, educational support, workforce readiness, supported employment, recovery coaching and meetings, wellness programming, and financial coaching.

Our Family Empowerment Program's unique focus on advancing post­secondary education provides single mothers the rare opportunity to pursue their education while supporting their families thanks to our income­based housing. Investing in education allows mothers to pull their families out of poverty, which will profoundly impact future generations. Staff help moms complete their GED, enroll in college, and get the tutoring support they need for themselves and their children. In addition, our 100 Jobs for 100 Moms program offers supported employment through 19 employers. Moms receive on­the­job mentorship and access to a meaningful career path that helps them achieve financial security. Through the Encompass mentoring program, moms develop positive social networks with two mentors, meeting twice a month for a meal and activity, and oftentimes receive additional support outside of scheduled sessions. Additionally, our Family Empowerment program leverages the power of peer support and lived experience through the work of three staff who are previous graduates of Amethyst Place. They help families address common pitfalls of early recovery: poor physical health/nutrition, financial management, job history, and educational attainment.

Through this grant, we will add a fourth ­ the Youth Empowerment Coach ­ to provide more individualized prevention services and programming for children. Currently, our Financial Empowerment Coach helps moms resolve past debt and legal issues, build financial literacy, and develop budgets to support their financial goals. Utilizing her own lived experience in recovery and past financial challenges,she coaches moms on the intertwined relationship of finances and recovery. Additionally, our Wellness Empowerment Coach brings a renewed focus on family wellness and offers group fitness and nutrition programming and individual health coaching, intertwined with recovery coaching, to help moms find healthier and more sustainable paths to long­term recovery. Finally, our Career Empowerment Coach helps moms pursue their educational and professional goals through support to obtain a GED, begin college, and start a meaningful career path through our supported employment program. 

All three Empowerment Coaches also provide recovery coaching and lead Amethyst Place Sisterhood, a graduate aftercare program. 

Therapeutic Support Program

This program provides prevention services related to child abuse (e.g. adult, child, and family therapy), domestic violence (e.g. adult and family therapy), parenting and family interventions (e.g. Family Therapy, monthly "Moms' Week" with Child Therapist), and youth support services (e.g. child therapy). Families have therapy), parenting and family interventions (e.g. Family Therapy, monthly "Moms' Week" with Child Therapist), and youth support services (e.g. child therapy).

Families have access to on­site therapeutic services provided by our therapeutic team, which includes a Director of Clinical Operations, Clinical Therapist, and Child Therapist. Most adult residents have a dual diagnosis: substance use disorder with co­occurring depression, anxiety, and/or PTSD. Additionally, children often arrive with a host of emotional issues that are a result of separation from their parents and experiencing the chaos of parental substance use, making the need for family therapy essential to improving family functioning and relationships.

Each family develops an individualized care plan in concert with the Clinical team. Amethyst Place uses a variety of evidence­based therapies and practices to help families better manage their mental health and heal from trauma in individual, family, and group modalities.

Goals

Our goals are to: 1) reunite, stabilize, and heal women and children experiencing homelessness; 2) remove barriers and individualize services to promote sustainable recovery and healthy living; and 3) build capacity of mothers to overcome generational poverty and lead healthy lives.