About Us
The vision of Martha's Home is to assist residents in developing the knowledge and support systems needed to become contributing members of society. It is hoped that the skills and knowledge obtained at the Home will become a permanent part of their lives.
For over 21 years, Martha's Home has provided shelter for single women and mothers with children who have become homeless as a result of various traumatic reasons. The shelter is dedicated to using all avaliable community resources in order to assist women with personal growth, education, employment opportunities, and successful management of their daily lives.
Through the years, Martha's Home has grown from a small two-bedroom house to four residencies. One home is for single women, one for mothers with children, and two are used for transitioning to more permanent housing. The average number of clients served by Martha's Home per year is 95 women and 100 children.
Click here to view our Board of Directors.
Inside Martha's Home you'll find:
- Comfortable temporary living space in a warm, loving atmosphere with an "extended" family for the women and children.
- Empathetic supervision.
- Individual case management, counseling, and life skills training.
- Assistance in accessing community resources for legal aid, medical assistance, academic programs, scholarship applications, vocational training and information, life skills, parenting classes, day care facilities, and supervision of their children.
- Mentoring by other women who have been temporarily homeless and have become successfull and contributing members of our community.
- Assistance with moving to permanent housing.
History of Martha's Home
1987 - A group of local Amarillo citizens became concerned about the growing presence of women and children who had need for temporary housing. To meet this need, Church Women United donated $250.00 and this was used as seed money to start a women's and children's homeless shelter. They named this shelter Martha's Home. The first Martha's Home consisted of a 2-bedroom house located near Washington and I-40.
1988 - The David and Mary Mullin family donated a larger, 5-bedroom home, and Martha's Home moved to a permanent location at 1204 SW 18th. A "Specific Use" zoning permit was submitted and approved by the City of Amarillo in June 1989. This permit limited the number of residents to 10 women.
1992 - The second residence, located next door to Martha’s Home 1, was acquired. This residence is known as Martha's Home 2 and can hold up to six women and their children (a total of 16 residents). Those women who have dependent children living with them reside at Martha's Home 2.
2005 - A grant was awarded by the Mary E. Bivins Foundation to purchase a 3rd residence on 18th Street. The home was renovated by volunteers and opened in May of 2007. This residence is set up to house 3 single women or 3 moms and up to 7 children - a total of 10 residents. Only those women who have shown responsible behavior while staying at Martha's Home 1 or 2 will be allowed to live in Martha's Home 3.
