Long displaced as family vacation destinations, motels now house an uneasy confluence of drug addicts, registered sex offenders, and criminals. Due to the lack of affordable housing and transitional housing and stymied by high rents throughout the region-these motels have also become de-facto vouchered housing for homeless families. Many families living in the motel have full-time jobs and provide for at least 2-3 children. Being able to afford and save the first and last months’ rent, as well as a security deposit on a family-friendly apartment is often a prohibitive upfront expense to families trying to get out of the motels.

The Welcome Home program remedies motel living by raising funds to provide families with the push they need to get out of the motel and into an apartment or condo. Caterina’s Club partners with Mercy House and Illumination Foundation to identify these families, provide necessary case managing, financial advising, and eventually the first/last months’ rent and deposit due at move-in. In addition to covering the move-in cost, Caterina’s Club collects donated furniture, appliances, and other home goods to jump-start these families’ new lives.

To date, Caterina’s Club has successfully relocated 240 families.