Page 52 - BusinessWest October 27, 2021

the board,” she explained, “our mission was to educate, embrace, and encourage mothers and their children who are homeless or near- homeless through the love of Jesus Christ.”
The results — specifically, the many lives changed not only in the moment, but for the long term — speak for themselves, and demonstrate why Mumblo, by taking her mother-in-law’s vision to new heights, is certainly a Woman of Impact.
Teach a Woman to Fish...
At its heart, Christina’s House provides a program for moms and their kids to transition out of homelessness or near-homelessness and into independent living, Mumblo explained.
“It’s not a shelter — it’s a transitional, educational facility. We didn’t just want to house people, we wanted to teach them then skills they needed to break the generational patterns of poverty, abuse, trauma, all the barriers
that keep people in a place of poverty. It’s education.”
The program can last anywhere from 18
to 24 months, Mumblo said. “It can take six months just to earn their trust that we don’t want anything from them, just the best of who they are, and the motivation to be part of the program — six months to let their walls down and receive what we’re giving them.”
Early on, she and her team members break down with each client what their goals are — financial, educational, employment, health, parenting, even spiritual — and create a syllabus to help them achieve those goals. “Every week, we look at each of those categories and more and go through them and start to unpack them
The first Christina’s House location on Madison Avenue (pictured) was followed last year by a second site on Union Street.
— look at what they need in each area and seek resources to help fill the gaps.”
Those resources include community partners ranging from Dress for Success and Springfield WORKS to local churches and community colleges. And the program ranges from job- training initiatives to classes that bolster life skills from parenting to anger management. Counseling is a part of every client’s schedule, including financial counseling from the United Way of Pioneer Valley’s Thrive program. After about a year in the program, discussions begin on planning for independent living, whether in a house or apartment.
Mumblo said she wants to stay in contact with graduates for at least five years after they leave, not only to track their self-sustainability and
independence, but because the stories can be inspiring.
“Once you’re really invested in the program, this becomes like a family. Most of our moms and kids didn’t have a family coming in here, so this becomes their family, and we don’t let them go,” she said, noting that one of the program’s first graduates came back to volunteer, and Christina’s House sent her son to summer camp for two weeks.
“She’s saving up for a house now. She’s still independent, still growing, still getting raises in her job. She’s a corrections officer — that was always her dream, and that’s what she’s doing.”
Even those who don’t finish the program can reap its benefits, she noted, recalling a woman who left the program early, and how devastated
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