Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Eichhold.
Maria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2009, after graduate school I moved to Phoenix, Arizona to complete one year of service at an organization that houses pregnant women who are homeless. I turned one year into two living with and serving women of all backgrounds who were homeless and pregnant. The experience showed me so much transformation – not only in the women we served but also in myself as I learned that we have more similarities than differences.
I left Phoenix in 2011 to pursue my professional career in Social Work and obtain my clinical license. I worked in Washington, D.C. for about eight months before a group of my friends who worked with me in Phoenix all came together for a wedding. That’s when the words were spoken that changed the course of my life forever: “Hey guys, let’s move to Dallas to start a home for pregnant women there.”
To make a long story short, the relationship I was in ended, I quit my job, and I packed up my things and moved to Dallas without a job, without family, and without a clue what the future held. As I drove across the Texas border with my life packed in my Toyota Corolla, I saw a beautiful rainbow to the east. The sight of that rainbow gave me peace that I was doing the right thing moving to Dallas. It was the image of that rainbow that sustained me in the months and years to come when this path presented many trials.
Two others moved at that time with me – Ashleigh Brown and Emily Klespis. We spent our free time crafting and developing our vision for starting this home. We spent our first three years meeting and talking to as many people as possible who might be able to help us get off the ground. After hitting so many barriers and walls, in the summer of 2016, many things started clicking. We found a property that we could renovate to meet our needs. At that time, we decided we had what we needed to start our own organization from the ground up. We filed to be our own 501(c)3 tax exempt non-profit, we created a Board of Directors, and we came up with our name.
In the creative strategy session where we decided on the name In My Shoes, one of our board members asked the founders – why do you want to do this? Why are you so dedicated to getting a home for pregnant women off the ground? The answers ranged from “we want to be the hands and feet of Christ” to “we want to heal what is broken.”
But the reason that stuck with me and several others was – “we want to walk side by side with women during the journey of their pregnancy.” We acknowledged that we will never know exactly what it’s like to be in their shoes, but with entering into their lives and offering empathy, we can walk the journey with them.
Since moving to Dallas, I always had a “real job” while I was working on this project on the side. In February 2017 I quit that job to become the Executive Director of In My Shoes. Right at the same time, we signed our agreement to use our current building for our mission. In May 2017, we started the renovations and opened our doors mid-September 2017.
Since we accepted our first mom on September 19, 2017, we have successfully provided housing for 23 women during their pregnancy. We have welcomed home eight babies from the hospital and have witnessed the growth of not only the baby but also the mother.
As you can see from our overall numbers, we have had several moms come through our program who have not stayed the entire time. That is a reality of housing those who are homeless. Although to some this may not seem like a success, to us, the simple, yet profound offering of a safe, welcoming environment for even one night is an open door to experience Christ’s pure and unassuming love for us. And that is a huge success.
Within our walls, we have witnessed even further success. We have celebrated many moms’ sustained periods of sobriety, acquiring jobs, getting accepted into the school, obtaining a GED, paying off court fees and complying with or completing probation.
Furthermore, we have witnessed moms who never considered it before to breastfeed their baby. Moms who, in the past, have lost custody of children, and now are able to develop a bond and relationship with their baby in a safe environment — moms who feel empowered to keep their child and become a good parent.
We are currently able to house nine women at one time. When we are fully staffed and fully funded, we have the capacity to serve 18 women at one time. We are looking forward to the future of serving more women and creating an even greater impact in the city of Dallas and beyond.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Before we decided to become our entity, we had many struggles. We had tried to partner with other organizations, and that never worked for us. Persevering and enduring through what seemed like so many walls and barriers was tough. There were many times that we wanted to give up. We were spending so much time on what seemed hopeless and out of range.
Those challenges pale in comparison to what was to come. Once we opened our doors, the real challenges started. We had a very FAST opening. We were open, but still completing finishing touches to the renovation. We had our intake set up, but so many aspects of our programming incomplete. We had experience under our belt, but not the experience of starting from scratch.
We had two full-time and one part-time live-in staff members slated to start in the first month of opening. After about two weeks, two of the three decided it wasn’t for them. I don’t blame them, It was rough at first. With two of us to cover 24-7 duty shifts, I moved in during the week. Due to an old heater system, we went weeks without hot water. When it first got cold, we didn’t have heat for several days (saved by space heaters).
I went to donor meetings and interviewed potential staff members without taking a shower many days (shh, don’t tell. ;)) I packed my bag on Sunday night to stay at the In My Shoes house and went home on Friday night. From September to December, almost every single board member did an overnight duty shift to give us a break.
To varying degrees since we’ve opened, the challenge always remains to maintain the programming and progress of the home itself, while fundraising and maintaining awareness to the outside community. It’s the same for any non-profit, but I think it’s more challenging for a start-up because we don’t have a prominent name in Dallas, yet.
We have to always be doing things to remind people that we’re here and that we still need their support. As the primary fundraiser, I’ve had to pull myself away from the house in order become a financially stable organization. It’s difficult to balance, but necessary to be sustainable.
Please tell us about In My Shoes.
Our mission is to provide a safe, welcoming community for women who are pregnant and homeless or at risk of homelessness. We provide housing, but even further, we provide a supportive community from the outset.
This is what makes us different from other shelters for the homeless – intentional community and shelter that mirrors the dignity of a home. We are more than just a place to stay. We also provide counseling and classes that include everything from life skills to parenting.
We take a trauma-informed approach to all of our programmings, recognizing that there are many reasons that leave a woman pregnant and homeless, but that a common factor is often trauma at some point in their life.
We believe in first restoring a woman and helping to heal her from past wounds and then preparing her for a stable life with her child and family.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
This question is so hard to answer. Sometimes I think it would have been beneficial for us to open later than we did. But then I remember one of our first moms that we accepted who gave birth earlier than expected and moved in with her 6 days old. If we had waited, then we would not have been able to provide a safe place for that mom and baby.
Pricing:
- $50 provides bus passes for our moms for one month
- $100 provides groceries for one week
- $500 provides group counseling for one month
- $1000 provides needed utilities for one month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liveinmyshoes.org
- Phone: 469-857-3264
- Email: love@liveinmyshoes.org
- Instagram: live_inmyshoes
- Facebook: @Liveinmyshoes
- Twitter: @InMyShoesOrg
Image Credit:
Cookie Abamu, Lorraine Truty
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