L.I.G.H.T. FOR CHARITY™ (‘Long Island Giving Help Together For Charity’) is my column where I shine a light on a different Long Island-based charity each month.
For this column, I focus on Bethany House, a 501(c)(3) organization that offers a safe haven for healing and personal growth for women and mothers with children facing homelessness.
Bethany House was founded in 1978, with the goal of addressing the growing number of homeless women and children on Long Island and opened its first shelter in 1981. It has since expanded to three shelters.
Bethany House provides a continuum of care for women and women with children by providing food, clothing, shelter, and safety. It also delivers trauma-informed services, comprehensive health care, and dedicated case management with an emphasis on education and employment growth opportunities.
An important initiative of Bethany House is its provision of emergency housing to women in need.
Bethany House operates emergency shelters in Baldwin and Roosevelt that provide safe, warm, and home-like environments for women, and women with children experiencing homelessness in Nassau County.
Guests are provided individualized, knowledgeable case management, together with other trauma-related services, such as mental health awareness training.
Bethany House also provides semi-independent transitional housing. Through this program, Bethany House allows for a longer stay than traditional social services to achieve education and career goals while helping individuals build savings.
Individuals are offered case management services, access to therapeutic services, and connections to quality resources.
Bethany House hosts various events throughout the year to engage the community.
Bethany House’s next event is a ‘paint and sip night’ that will take place on Jan. 23 at the Rockville Centre American Legion at 197 Maple Ave. in Rockville Centre.
Tickets are $65 and include an instructor-led painting event with all proceeds going directly to support the women, and women with children, at Bethany House.
A pickleball tournament raising funds for Bethany House is also being scheduled for Feb. 2.
If you’d like to support Bethany House, you can do so by donating funds, which will be used to make a difference in the lives of others who are less fortunate.
You can also donate clothing to be donated to those in need of work, babies, children, or teenagers. For more information,
please visit Bethany House’s website at https://www.bhny.org.
