Harbor House of Central Florida Officially Breaks Ground on 119-Bed Emergency Housing Facility

Harbor House of Central Florida, one of the nation’s most comprehensive domestic abuse organizations, officially broke ground on a new 119-bed emergency housing facility named the Morgan & Morgan Home – A Safe Haven for Families. The organization also announced replication plans of the facility for other domestic abuse shelters around the world.

“We call the project ‘Building Courage,’ because it takes such incredible courage for survivors to leave their abuser,” said Ruffin Rhodes, project architect with Rhodes+Brito Architects. “This new home will provide a shining light for domestic abuse survivors, showing them hope for a better life where they regain their dignity and provide a peaceful, loving home for their children.”

Last year, Harbor House reached more than 15,000 domestic abuse survivors through its outreach services. The current shelter includes 102 beds, but has averaged 147 temporarily living on the campus, nightly, over the past year.

MORGAN & MORGAN HOME – A SAFE HAVEN FOR FAMILIES

The new home was designed to balance two distinct needs: the survivors’ psychological needs for a warm, healing, home-like environment; and a cost-effective facility that can be built and maintained efficiently without feeling cold or institutional.

The new emergency home will be 27,500 square-feet and house up to 136 survivors in 20 bedrooms. Each will have built-in bunk beds with stairs and sleep six people due to a unique trundle design. Every survivor will have their own bed behind a locked bedroom door, allowing for the privacy and dignity required to heal. In addition, four private bedrooms will meet the special needs of moms with newborns and guests with disabilities; and provide a private living space for men with children.

Harbor House estimates approximately 60,000 people experience an abusive relationship across Central Florida yearly. Of that, at least 2,000 are homeless due to domestic violence and are in danger of losing their lives. Half are children mostly under the age of five. The average stay for a family on Harbor House’s campus is 70 to 80 days.

“We’re much more than a shelter; we help survivors find safety through court advocacy, a 24-7 crisis hotline, and twelve community outreach offices in Orange County,” continued Wick. “Today, we broke ground on an innovative building designed by survivors for survivors to reduce trauma and meet their unique needs. Each investment in this new temporary home will also help other survivors around the world.”

WORLDWIDE SUPPORT

Harbor House’s new emergency home was also designed based on standards established by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded research by the Washington State Coalition against Domestic Violence to determine best practices for short-term housing of domestic abuse survivors. Harbor House is one of the first domestic abuse organizations in the country using these standards and is the only sharing the design to save other organizations the cost of designing their own centers.

VOA Architects and Collage Companies have waived their rights to any additional design fees for organizations around the world. This, in turn, will save each organization $220,000.