A New Home for a Growing Community

June 13, 2017

In 1988, CUCS began providing services to the women living at the 350 Lafayette shelter in Lower Manhattan. Over the course of the last 30 years, our 350 Lafayette transitional housing program expanded to 43 beds and transitioned nearly 2,000 women into permanent housing. We transformed what was a struggling shelter into a safe community where women with histories of homelessness and mental illness could find safety and stability.

In 2015, the owners of the property at 350 Lafayette decided to sell the building and so CUCS began the search for a new location to house the program. In March 2017, the staff and women made the move to their new location in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Located on a beautiful tree-lined block near Prospect Park, the new building offers more program space and an expansive backyard and deck, providing a safe area with outdoor recreation to the women residing there.

The program is in the process of expanding to 90 beds, with 63 currently occupied. “We want to be thoughtful about the expansion,” states Brooke Vanegas, Program Director at Prospect Place, explaining the importance of ensuring that all the women moving into Prospect Place receive the supportive care they need.

One major benefit of moving to a larger location is the opportunity to grow the kinds of support offered to clients. One of the cornerstones of the program at 350 Lafayette was making it feel like a safe, temporary home where clients could feel supported to be an active part of the community and work on individual goals, while also receiving on-site medical and psychiatric care. Brooke’s focus now is to establish the same caring, supportive culture at Prospect Place. “I’m excited to see this new program take shape, to expand and make a meaningful impact on more lives,” she explains.

In addition to the medical and psychiatric care, art therapy classes and community groups offered to clients at Prospect Place, Brooke has plans to make sure the women are able to enjoy the neighborhood’s many perks, including the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Prospect Park, and the Prospect Park Zoo. Many of the women residing in the new location have expressed how beautiful the building is and how happy they are to be there.

Even more than the classes and the location, Prospect Place offers a program where clients can feel secure and supported. “There’s something in the program the clients can connect to, little things the staff does to make it feel like home,” explains Brooke. Recently, she overheard two clients talking about the program, discussing how helpful, supportive, and caring the CUCS staff is, and to her, that is the biggest success of all.