There is no halfway in this house
Hananiah House provides safe, stable transitional housing for women who have been incarcerated.
Our faith-based nonprofit program includes job training, counseling, and daily support that empowers our residents to heal, grow, and build a positive future for themselves and their families.
Time in prison can make it feel impossible to go home again.
That’s why transitional housing is so much more than a place to sleep.
It’s also why you won’t hear us refer to our homes as “halfway houses” or define our success by how many beds we have to offer.
We believe that the only remedy for the traumatic, often tragic outcomes of the prison system is to offer our residents unconditional love, respectful accountability, and practical answers to the many challenges associated with incarceration.
Together, we can achieve positive, lasting change in the lives of Hananiah House residents, their families, and their communities.
The road home can be a long one.
Hananiah means “grace for all” in Hebrew. We chose our name because we serve those who need it most: women who have been in the criminal justice system for an extended period of time and served at least three years in a maximum security facility. These inmates historically face devastating rates of abuse, poverty, addiction, and familial incarceration.
Our mission is to create a realistic, sustainable model for post-incarceration housing and employment that breaks the current cycle of trauma and recidivism and brings about true generational change.
With that in mind, the Hananiah House organization was developed to address the five most significant roadblocks faced by women after arrest and conviction:
1) Recovery from Trauma & Abuse
Focused therapy and active recovery efforts to address trauma and abuse
2) Adjustment to Modern Living
Specialized training to help residents thrive in the present-day world
3) Need for Community Integration
Intentional care so residents build community and learn to trust again
4) Access to Meaningful Career Opportunities
In-depth guidance to help residents find fulfilling, sustainable work
5) Protection from Contagious Illness
Well-planned strategies to lower the risk of life-threatening illness, including COVID-19
From the Ashes
On the evening of March 8, 2023, a tragic accidental fire destroyed our first Hananiah House residence, displacing the women we serve and leaving us to start again. It is hard to put into words how difficult this loss was for our team and our residents…
The facts may help. In a recently released series of over 50 studies and reports conducted by the Prison Policy Initiative, one overwhelming truth surfaced: Housing is the single most important factor in determining whether an inmate will avoid repeat incarceration, stay healthy and sober, and advance economically.
Of course, the property we lost was much more than a house. It was also a home – the first stable, loving home many of our residents had ever experienced.
We are immensely grateful that no one was hurt in the fire, and our residents remained committed to their healing and growth. Our team remained just as committed to maintaining safe, stable spaces where women can start again.
That commitment helped power us forward, as we put into place emergency fundraising measures and spent countless hours quickly setting up another residence in a rented home. We are incredibly thankful for the community support we received from many individuals and organizations, including Providence Church, the Butler Snow Foundation, and the Office of the First Lady of Tennessee.
While this is never how we would have chosen to grow our program, we believe that there is good to be found in everything. In the months since the fire, we have been blessed to go from having nowhere to call home to having three residences!
We now have two homes in East Nashville serving our current program members. And with the generous support of our donors, we also rebuilt the original Hananiah House structure to serve as a step-up house, where graduates from our own program and other transitional houses in the area can begin to build a rental and credit history with a room of their own.
There is still much work to be done, but we have never felt more affirmed that this is the right work, and that we are privileged to do it.
Will you please consider a donation to support our residents? 100% of your donation will directly support the care, support, and healing of the women we serve.
Thank you to our generous private donors and organizations including:
