Ashley and Shawn Moorefield started a mentorship program in 2007 that intentionally brought youth from their community together to work on homework and talk about difficulties these young people were facing in school and throughout their community. Over time the Moorefields discovered that some of the young people they served were at risk for homelessness. Through a CRAZY (Ashley’s words, not mine) time of moving out of their own house and relocating her own family with young children in order to house these young people into their family’s home, their official non profit was born.
SLTH is a transitional home was founded in 2017 for homeless girls and young women who are transitioning out of foster care located in East Liberty, Pittsburgh. They serve ages 18-23 because Ashley found that most programs serve youth under the age of 18, or adults who have a legal situation where they have been mandated to a program through the courts. The young women can stay at SLTH for up to a year and their plans for achieving sustainable, well rounded lives.
Ashley and Shawn have integrated service into their family’s every day reality. Her son creates care packages for the homeless, and he reaches out to the community for donations for SJ Cares. His little sister includes hand drawn pictures in the care packages. We have a frank conversation about the difficulty explaining topics like homelessness to young children and how to involve them in service projects.
Open call for community connections!! Does your hobby or business promote personal growth? Would you be interested in facilitating a session with Serenity Living? You could teach these young people how to change the oil on a car, how to read a credit report or how to extreme coupon! If you have a passion, please reach out to see if it is a match with this group.
