Sundari Foundation, Inc., (dba Lotus House) – Certstaffix Training’s Charitable Partners

Posted on 08/16/2020 by Niko Venev

 

In its efforts of helping local communities, Certstaffix Training has partnered with different organizations that make a difference. For our third “Certstaffix Training’s Charitable Partners” blog post, we would like to introduce you to “Sundari Foundation, Inc., dba Lotus House.”

Here is a short interview with the Community Outreach Director of Sundari Foundation, Inc – Mimi Pink

What is the mission/goal of your organization?

Our mission at Lotus House is to improve the lives of women, youth, and children who are experiencing homelessness by providing sanctuary, support, education, tools, and resources that empower them to improve the quality of their lives on every level, achieve greater self-sufficiency and build safe, secure lives. In their dreams come true, we enrich our community with the fruit of their potential realized.

To support our mission, we also advocate on behalf of homeless women, youth and children to raise awareness of their individual needs; inspire innovative, holistic solutions that truly break the cycle of childhood abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness; and advance research and enlightened social policies for greater understanding, social inclusion, and resources for homeless women and children.

Our vision is that every homeless woman, youth, and child will have the opportunity to heal, learn, and grow, build the foundation for a brighter future, and blossom into who they are truly meant to be.

What audience or population does your organization service or benefit?

Lotus House serves women, youth, and children with high special needs who are experiencing homelessness. During the past year, we served a record 368 women and 302 children. It is worth noting that on any given day, we now shelter more children than adults, made possible by our new facility at Lotus Village. The human trauma of those we serve is almost unimaginable. Here is a snapshot from a study we recently presented to The Children’s Trust in Miami-Dade, Florida, for which Florida International University is our research partner.

• 72% of mothers report a history of domestic violence, sexual assault or violent crime
• 67% of mothers report being sexually molested, abused or neglected in their childhood
•  96% of mothers have one or more diagnosed disabilities
•  85% of children had one or more indicator of a clinical need
•  60% of children have histories of trauma

Here at Lotus House we focus a lot on addressing the root causes of homelessness that lead someone to our shelter, with practices of intensive counseling, parent-child therapies that rebuild the bonds of attachment and help break the cycle of homelessness that is intergenerational, group therapy, employment and life skills training, education, and alternative pathways to healing such as yoga, acupuncture, meditation, art classes, and more. With intensive resources and supports, the families we served in this past year showed enormous progress in their path to security and stability. Of all families who exited Lotus House during the past year, 90% successfully exited outside the shelter system.

What is the history of your organization? How did it start?

Lotus House was founded in 2004 and opened in 2006 in a single apartment building in Miami’s historic African American District, Overtown, located just west of downtown Miami. After a decade of growth, and still not being able to serve all those in need, we put our research and resources together to build one of the largest shelters in the country exclusively serving women, youth, and children. Lotus Village opened its doors on December 31, 2017.

Designed as a prototype for the future, this comprehensive five-story, 100,000 square-foot mixed-use “village” combines state of the art shelter facilities and holistic, trauma-informed, supportive services for mothers and their children experiencing homelessness. In addition to doubling the capacity to 500+ daily, Lotus Village contains a health clinic offering medical, dental, vision, pediatrics, and OB-Gyn care; the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation Children Wellness Center that provides early learning for our newborns and toddlers, as well as the Carnival Foundation Play Therapy Rooms; a gathering pavilion with a kid’s corner, outdoor gardens, and play areas; the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation Arts and Activities Lab; Lotspeich Family Education Center; the Vivian Morera Healing Hands Salon; The Wildflower Foundation Yoga and Meditation Room and Zen Garden; various outdoor garden and play spaces; specialized services within residential programs, working classroom kitchen, and an intake sanctuary. We put children first, encourage learning through play, provide healing therapies, resource coordination, skill building, and above all – dignity.

What is a recent project or work that you are excited about?

Lotus House is especially excited about its new home at Lotus Village – a first of its kind helping to set a new standard nationally with service driven research and evidence-based, best practices that put children first. With expanded capacity, including the working classroom kitchen and education center, we are able to provide more job skills training for our guests. We held our first Job Fair in July 2018, with more than 30 prospective employers on site in our main gathering space – the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation Pavilion.  Since opening our working classroom kitchen in June, we have trained four cohorts of paid interns who are learning all aspects of a commercial kitchen – from prepping and serving to cleaning and logistics. Our education center, with its many computer stations, allows us to expand our education offerings, and the yoga/meditation room and arts and activities lab provide our guests with a variety of alternative therapies.

Most recently, on August 11, 2018, we produce the 1st Annual “It Takes A Village” Overtown Block Party. This highly successful event, sponsored in part by Certstaffix, provided the perfect opportunity to introduce the neighborhood to Jessie Trice Community Health System (JTCHS), which will operate the new clinic at Lotus Village. At Lotus Village, JTCHS will offer medical, dental, ophthalmological, and OB/GYN services. A men’s health initiative is also being planned to address their special needs, and the clinic will serve all of Overtown, including our guests at Lotus House. The new clinic includes five medical exam rooms, triage, seven state-of-the-art dental exam rooms, a panoramic dental x-ray machine, labs, and sterilization facilities and a welcoming lobby. Hundreds of neighbors and Overtown residents attended this first-ever event, with many children able to complete their back-to-school health screenings and immunizations. It was a truly magical day – with music, bounce houses, face painting, food from local restaurants in Overtown, participation from a number of community groups and local non-profits, and lots of dancing by everyone. This first-ever event brought out the best camaraderie one could hope for. One police officer on site commented, “Overtown hasn’t had a community event like this for a long time.” Thank you, Certstaffix!

How can people help your organization the most? What is your biggest need currently?

Financial support is critical for sustaining our operations and maintaining our commitment to ending patterns of homelessness and preventing its occurrence for our youth and children. We also have a HUGE need for diapers – of all sizes! We are serving more children than ever before, and we need help in keeping them fresh. You may order diapers online and have them shipped to our shelter: Lotus House, 217 NW 15th Street, Miami, FL 33136. Financial donations may be sent here, as well.

What is your organization’s website or the best way to contact?

Our website, www.lotushouse.org, is filled with information on ways people can make a difference for the women, youth, and children we serve. Or you may call our Community Outreach office at 754-465-5783. Either way, we would love to hear from you and share how you can make a difference for those who are experiencing homelessness. Many thanks to Certstaffix for helping us get the word out. It truly takes a village!