Casa Teresa – Empowering Pregnant Women
One of the community charities that the Vincent and Shannon Pozzuoli Charitable Fund (VSP) proudly supports is Casa Teresa. Shannon and Vincent Pozzuoli are passionate about giving back to their local community and Casa Teresa is a very worthy cause.
Casa Teresa is a local Orange County shelter that provides residential crisis support to pregnant women, offering a loving home environment as they begin their journey towards healing and a better life. The compassionate team at Casa Teresa is a group of professionals who help to empower pregnant women to regain their control over their lives by breaking the cycles of addiction, abuse, and homelessness. They are provided with the opportunity to learn lifelong skills to transform their lives and to create families that thrive now and into the future.
Casa Teresa was founded by Neill and Sally Sullivan in Santa Ana in 1976. At that time, it was one of the very few shelters for pregnant women aged over eighteen and who were single, homeless, or without support. Casa Teresa expanded and relocated to Orange County in 1985, to a better location thanks to access to public transport, healthcare and local stores.
Casa Teresa provides housing at low-cost and within each woman’s budget based on her employment or government assistance. All residents must find employment or enroll in school as a condition of their residency. Those who are unable to pay for themselves due to unemployment or government assistance ineligibility are provided with a home and services at Casa Teresa through funding grants and private donations. This is one way in which the VSP Charitable Fund supports Casa Teresa.
Casa Teresa Programs
Casa Teresa helps pregnant women in an array of ways. There are numerous services and programs that seek to address the various needs of pregnant women in crisis in the local community. These include:
- Hannah’s House Adoption Program –this program addresses the needs of women who seek to place their baby with a loving adoptive family.
- Transformation Program – this is a communal program for residents of Casa Teresa who are deemed to benefit from a longer stay at the facility.
- Emergency Maternity Shelter –this facility is located on Casa Teresa’s main campus and caters to women struggling with intensive issues including but not limited to chronic substance abuse and homelessness.
- Alumni Resource Center – provides ongoing case management, education, and supportive services to Casa Teresa Program Graduates.
At full capacity, the facility can currently accommodate thirty-six women and babies. In more than forty years of service, Casa Teresa has helped and transformed the lives of almost seven thousand women, babies, and children.
Casa Teresa is operated by a Board of Directors (twenty-one people), thirty full-time and part-time staff members, and four hundred volunteers who give many hours of service in an array of ways, including babysitting, running classes, tutoring, providing professional guidance and support, landscaping, and operating The Collection, which is a resale store run by staff, residents, and volunteers and which provides residents an opportunity to gain paid work experience and invaluable customer service experience.
Vincent Pozzuoli and his wife Shannon are proud to support Casa Teresa as a local community charity and it’s one way they work to promote a stronger, more productive community. The joy gained from helping others is immeasurable.
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