New shelter in Savannah caters to unaccompanied women experiencing homelessness

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Parker's House, just west of Savannah's downtown Historic District, is located at 125 Fahm St.

Credit: Benjamin Payne / GPB News

A first-of-its-kind shelter in Savannah opened its doors Tuesday to women experiencing homelessness.

Parker's House, located just west of the city's downtown Historic District, is the only facility in coastal Georgia to provide emergency short-term housing and support services solely for unaccompanied women.

Run by the nonprofit Union Mission, Parker's House can shelter as many as 32 women at a time for up to three months.

“They'll feel safe here and they'll be able to get what they need to move to the next level, to move to stable housing,” said Union Mission facilities director Tommie Jones, who added that a majority of women experiencing homelessness suffer from some form of domestic violence.

A case manager is assigned to each woman to assist them with wellness checks, referrals to primary health care and mental health providers, along with help in finding a job.

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One of the 16 bedrooms at Parker's House, which welcomes new clients with a care package of essentials.

Credit: Union Mission

“We assess [clients] for mental health and substance abuse history, if they need the services,” Jones said. “We don't provide treatment here, but we will refer them out, and the bed will still be available once they return, if they need to be inpatient. But if they're outpatient, they can go every day to their services.”

Women make up about 28% of the homeless population in Savannah, according to Union Mission. The group also says that Chatham County has the second-highest rate of homelessness in Georgia.

Clients will be referred to Parker's House by the nonprofit Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless (CSAH), in addition to other regional partners through the Chatham County Continuum of Care.

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Parker's House includes several communal spaces, including a dining room, kitchen, living room, computer room, conference center, and laundry room.

Credit: Union Mission

The 10,590-square-foot facility gets its name from a charitable fund established by Parker's Kitchen — a convenience store chain in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina — which last year donated $250,000 to Union Mission to get the project off the ground.

The Savannah-based company said that it will also match up to $100,000 in new donations to Parker's House through the end of September.