Ribbon cutting held for the opening of new Parker’s House

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A ribbon cutting marked the opening of the Parker’s House, Home for Women, which sits where the former J.C. Lewis Healthcare building was on Fahm Street.

Parker’s House is the only facility solely focused on providing comprehensive services and emergency shelter for unaccompanied women from Florida to South Carolina along Georgia’s coast.

“Women come here, they get a mental health assessment, they get food, clothing, transportation...they get a bed. There’s all sort of enrichment, peer groups. We have the whole mental health counseling center here,” said Michael Traynor, the president and CEO of Union Mission.

Just last year, Union Mission helped transition just over 600 men, women and children from the streets of Savannah to safe, stable housing.

And beginning next week, Parker’s House will begin providing that support to about 100 women annually.

“It means a lot, in terms of getting individuals to stable housing. And ultimately that’s our goal; get people to stable housing,” Traynor said.

Parker’s was an integral part of this facility becoming a reality, donating $250,000 toward the cause last year.

“This really resonated with us, because our brand has been focused on women. Our brand filter, the focus through which we look at everything, is a working mother. And it’s been that for over 25 years. So we felt that there was a need, and we were asked, we said, time to step up. Let’s do something about it,” said Greg Parker, the founder and CEO of Parker’s.

And Parker says finding out the hardships women without shelter in the community face, further led to his company’s decision to be a part of the effort to open a facility to help them.

“The fact that there are over 180 women any day in Savannah, the greater-Savannah are that are homeless, is really troubling. And then when you find out that 40% of them have been sexually abused, 70% of them have been physically abused, really pulls at your heart strings.”

Each woman coming into Parker’s House will be assigned a case manager, wellness checks employment support and referrals to primary and mental health providers.

Parker’s House includes resources like a computer lab, kitchen ant 16 bedrooms with adjacent shared baths, as well as a gated courtyard