MOMMAS House is giving unhoused pregnant women, mothers and their children a place to call home
A playroom at Mommas House, a nonprofit that houses and supports young mothers, in Levittown on Monday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
On the site of a former convent for nuns in Levittown, young homeless mothers and their babies have found a home.
The chapel, which still has a large cross in it, is now a playroom with cribs, colorful toys and other items for young children. There is a food pantry and a large commercial kitchen. Pictures of mothers and their children line many of the walls. And in the bedrooms, mothers are within a few steps of their babies.
The living quarters are made available through MOMMAS House, a nonprofit that gives unhoused pregnant women, mothers and their children a place to reside. The women, who are between the ages of18 and their early 20s, can gain life, parenting and educational skills that may set them on the path to greater stability and permanent housing.
Recently, the organization received a $18,000 grant from health plan Fidelis Care to improve maternal health. More than 1,200 women in the nation died in 2021 of maternal causes, with many of the deaths being preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What we want to do is really have positive outcomes … to our moms here,” said Dr. Vincent Marchello, chief medical officer at Fidelis Care.
Improving maternal health outcomes, many experts say, starts with a holistic approach, which MOMMAS House emphasizes.
The women who enter a MOMMAS House site are often in a moment of distress. They lack housing; are pregnant or have a young child; are too old to be in foster care; and can't yet live independently, staff said.
Family and loved ones sometimes want to help out but can’t because their housing situation may be too cramped to allow for another occupant.
“They need a lot more support to get through this phase of their life and to become adults,” said Deirdre Trumpy, executive director of MOMMAS House.
The women can be placed in one of MOMMAS House’s residences in Levittown, Glen Cove or Massapequa.
From there, the women can get services during their stay, lasting up to two years. Some of the women are getting their GEDs, working to get jobs, and getting a driver’s license.
The grant funding allows the organization to enhance and formalize the services it already provides, rather than rely on volunteers.
The pregnant women in the housing are connected with assigned doulas, specialists who can help advocate and support expectant mothers during and after pregnancies.
The grant also will fund support group that is working to identify and assess perinatal mood disorders, staff say. Mental health conditions represent roughly 23% of the cause of pregnancy-related death, the CDC said, citing 2017-2019 data from 36 states.
The funding, which will last one year, will support transportation services for the women so they don't have to miss a school day for an appointment with a medical provider.
After the birth of her son, Lisset Crozier-Rothman faced a difficult circumstance: she was in the hospital with no place to go.
Crozier-Rothman, a 26-year-old mother of two, found respite in the Glen Cove housing, where she lives with her now 1-year-old son.
Crozier-Rothman, who has epilepsy, bonded with some of the women who lived there. Those she is close to will tell her to lie down when she is not feeling well or assist her.
Still, she’s concerned about what comes next. She can’t drive due to her medical condition; it is hard to find a job; and then there is the worry about having a seizure when nobody is around to assist her.
“But if I’m by myself, [or] I have him [and] it’s just me, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
By the end of her stay, she hopes to have found an apartment and greater stability, she said.
Even after their stay ends, the organization continues to connect women with appropriate services.
Dr. Dawnette Lewis, the director of Northwell Health’s Center for Maternal Health, said it was excellent any time community-based groups could help birthing parents, particularly those who have precarious housing or face food insecurity.
“They bridge needs that may not be readily available,” Lewis said.
Vanessa Farquharson is sure that coming to MOMMAS House has made her a better mother to her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.
Before she came to live in the Glen Cove location, she was pregnant with her youngest child, living in an unsuitable housing situation and considering adoption.
Farquharson, 25, eventually received a recommendation for MOMMAS House, and since then, her life has changed tremendously.
The living arrangement had given her a better routine. She’s now attending community college and is working to get a driver’s license. Through the program, she learned of her son’s autism, and got him into daycare and the treatments he needed.
All in all, she said the program allowed her to regroup and move toward her next goal: “to be financially stable [so] that I could take care of my kids on my own.”
On the site of a former convent for nuns in Levittown, young homeless mothers and their babies have found a home.
The chapel, which still has a large cross in it, is now a playroom with cribs, colorful toys and other items for young children. There is a food pantry and a large commercial kitchen. Pictures of mothers and their children line many of the walls. And in the bedrooms, mothers are within a few steps of their babies.
The living quarters are made available through MOMMAS House, a nonprofit that gives unhoused pregnant women, mothers and their children a place to reside. The women, who are between the ages of18 and their early 20s, can gain life, parenting and educational skills that may set them on the path to greater stability and permanent housing.
Recently, the organization received a $18,000 grant from health plan Fidelis Care to improve maternal health. More than 1,200 women in the nation died in 2021 of maternal causes, with many of the deaths being preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHAT TO KNOW
• MOMMAS House gives unhoused pregnant women, mothers and their children a place to live. The women, who are between 18 and their early 20s, can gain life, parenting and educational skills to set them on a path toward greater stability and permanent housing.
• The organization recently received a $18,000 grant from health plan Fidelis Care to improve maternal health.
• The holistic work of the organization comes as the nation deals with a maternal health crisis. More than 1,200 women in the nation died in 2021 of maternal causes, with many of the deaths being preventable, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“What we want to do is really have positive outcomes … to our moms here,” said Dr. Vincent Marchello, chief medical officer at Fidelis Care.
Improving maternal health outcomes, many experts say, starts with a holistic approach, which MOMMAS House emphasizes.
The women who enter a MOMMAS House site are often in a moment of distress. They lack housing; are pregnant or have a young child; are too old to be in foster care; and can't yet live independently, staff said.
Family and loved ones sometimes want to help out but can’t because their housing situation may be too cramped to allow for another occupant.
“They need a lot more support to get through this phase of their life and to become adults,” said Deirdre Trumpy, executive director of MOMMAS House.
MOMMAS House has 3 locations
The women can be placed in one of MOMMAS House’s residences in Levittown, Glen Cove or Massapequa.
From there, the women can get services during their stay, lasting up to two years. Some of the women are getting their GEDs, working to get jobs, and getting a driver’s license.
The women living at MOMMAS House in Levittown “need a lot more support to get through this phase of their life and to become adults,” said Deirdre Trumpy, executive director of MOMMAS House. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
The grant funding allows the organization to enhance and formalize the services it already provides, rather than rely on volunteers.
The pregnant women in the housing are connected with assigned doulas, specialists who can help advocate and support expectant mothers during and after pregnancies.
The grant also will fund support group that is working to identify and assess perinatal mood disorders, staff say. Mental health conditions represent roughly 23% of the cause of pregnancy-related death, the CDC said, citing 2017-2019 data from 36 states.
The funding, which will last one year, will support transportation services for the women so they don't have to miss a school day for an appointment with a medical provider.
After the birth of her son, Lisset Crozier-Rothman faced a difficult circumstance: she was in the hospital with no place to go.
Crozier-Rothman, a 26-year-old mother of two, found respite in the Glen Cove housing, where she lives with her now 1-year-old son.
Crozier-Rothman, who has epilepsy, bonded with some of the women who lived there. Those she is close to will tell her to lie down when she is not feeling well or assist her.
Concern over what's next
Still, she’s concerned about what comes next. She can’t drive due to her medical condition; it is hard to find a job; and then there is the worry about having a seizure when nobody is around to assist her.
“But if I’m by myself, [or] I have him [and] it’s just me, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
By the end of her stay, she hopes to have found an apartment and greater stability, she said.
Even after their stay ends, the organization continues to connect women with appropriate services.
Dr. Dawnette Lewis, the director of Northwell Health’s Center for Maternal Health, said it was excellent any time community-based groups could help birthing parents, particularly those who have precarious housing or face food insecurity.
“They bridge needs that may not be readily available,” Lewis said.
Vanessa Farquharson is sure that coming to MOMMAS House has made her a better mother to her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.
Before she came to live in the Glen Cove location, she was pregnant with her youngest child, living in an unsuitable housing situation and considering adoption.
Farquharson, 25, eventually received a recommendation for MOMMAS House, and since then, her life has changed tremendously.
The living arrangement had given her a better routine. She’s now attending community college and is working to get a driver’s license. Through the program, she learned of her son’s autism, and got him into daycare and the treatments he needed.
All in all, she said the program allowed her to regroup and move toward her next goal: “to be financially stable [so] that I could take care of my kids on my own.”
Education: Howard University
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.
Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.
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