About the Nonprofit
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Since our doors opened in 1982, Villa Majella of Santa Barbara has supported hundreds of women 18 and over in their decision to carry their babies to term under difficult situations, whether they choose to personally parent or lovingly select an adoptive home. Our Maternity Home Program equips and empowers pregnant women. We provide a safe, supportive and structured living community, pregnancy care, educational programming, and guidance to ensure stability during pregnancy and beyond.
Villa Majella of Santa Barbara is Santa Barbara County’s only maternity home program. Located in a residence in Goleta, we have one program site that provides physical and psychological safety to vulnerable pregnant women primarily from Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties. Homeless pregnant women often cannot remain in shelter environments due to their pregnancies. We serve as an important resource for county shelters who reach out to us when they find out a shelter client is pregnant.
The women we serve experience fear, stress, and great uncertainty. They arrive to us in the midst of crisis situations. We provide secure and stable shelter, 24-hour support, and wrap around services. Our staff works with each individual to successfully secure prenatal medical care, mental and emotional health services, nutrition resources, as well as additional resources for those that struggle with addiction or substance use disorders. We take a personalized approach based on individual needs to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Over the past year Villa Majella has received between 7 and 15 inquiries per month from women who are pregnant and in search of shelter, safety, information and resources. Our program site provides shelter and safety for between 15 and 25 women and their babies per year. The geographical distribution of service recipients is wide, as we are the only maternity home program providing shelter and safety for in-crisis pregnant women in the county.
The pregnant women we serve arrive to us in the midst of crisis situations and often struggle with multiple challenges. The personal histories of the women we serve include homelessness, substance abuse, economic hardship, abuse, domestic violence, incarceration, neglect and mental illness. Many women are experiencing homelessness and are unable to remain in shelter environments due to their pregnancy. Some are formerly incarcerated, on probation, from inpatient alcohol and addiction recovery programs. Some have been identified as being at risk for/survivors of, sex trafficking.
During their time at Villa Majella pregnant women stabilize and get connected to the resources that will support them during pregnancy and as they grow toward independent living and self-sufficient parenting.
We believe that Maternity Group Homes are a powerful tool to transform health outcomes for at-risk pregnant women and their infants. Villa Majella is an intervention that helps break the cycle of dysfunction during socially complex pregnancies. We are advocates for pregnant women in crisis. We facilitate connections between pregnant women and the health services that are available to them.
