Housing Stability

Housing Stability: Our Goal for All Shelter Participants

Leading Families Home • October 14, 2020

At Leading Families Home, we believe in creating stability for our Shelter Participants in order to help them maintain permanent housing once they’ve transitioned from homelessness.

We do this in a number of ways, including financial education, case management support, and housing.

Homeless

When our Participants first come to Beach House Family Shelter, it is because they lack an adequate nighttime residence – in other words, they have no home. Our goal at Beach House Family Shelter is to help them transition from homelessness to permanent housing.

We do this by first providing a safe, clean shelter for them. Once our Participants have a place to live, they can focus on other things. They don’t have to worry about having a safe place for their children to sleep – and this gives them the freedom to branch out and create a better life for themselves.

Once in Shelter, our Participants engage in programs to help them improve their lives. This includes education in health, finance, and parenting skills. Knowledge increases our Participants’ self-esteem and confidence, which helps them take risks like finding a job.

Each Participant at our Shelter also receives case management and support. This means that an individual employed by Leading Families Home is assigned to help the Participant. This individual is there for the Participant throughout his or her time at Beach House Family Shelter and beyond. The case manager is there to offer guidance, encouragement, and support.

The case manager also helps his or her Participants to transition to permanent housing. Although many of our Participants search for and find an appropriate place to live, the case manager is there to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Usually a Participant stays at our shelter for 30 days or less. At the end of this time, most Participants have found a housing unit and have signed a lease. Case managers stay in touch with Participants once they move into their new home. The case manager is there to ensure the lease is valid and fair. They help if any disputes with a landlord arise.

Our program works because it addresses the need for housing first. Once a Participant has housing, he or she can focus on creating a good life for themselves and their families.

Does it work? Yes, and we have proof.

Over the years, several former Participants have stayed in their unit for several years after they’ve exited our program at Leading Families Home. This means that they’re able to pay their entire rent on their own.

Many times, the landlord we’ve worked with to house our Participants tellls us how grateful they are for our program. Often, they even inquire about putting another Participant in the same unit.

Our agency feels that housing is the foundation for success, and this confirms that our former Participants were able to maintain their housing through creating enough income every month to pay rent, along with utilities and other regular expenses.

I don’t think this can be understated: our very goal is to help transition our Participants to stability in their lives, and these stories are confirmation of success.

You Can Change a Life

For our current and future Participants, the need for comprehensive services continues to grow. To meet that need, we have big plans. And big plans call for big dollars. We need your help. Will you partner with us to meet the needs of our community? You can give by PayPal , or by mailing a check to Leading Families Home, 2910 W. Central Avenue, Toledo, Ohio 43620

Thank you for always being faithful partners in our mission — helping families transition from homelessness to permanent housing. Together we’ve got this.

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Let’s Connect

Connect with us on social media to see the latest stories from our Participants, Board Members, Staff, and Volunteers!

You can support Leading Families Home by liking or following our accounts, liking and SHARING them on your social media accounts. Invite your contacts to like or follow us, too! Let’s spread the word, and end homelessness in Toledo!

Help Us Out

Leading Families Home is based in Toledo, Ohio. We are dedicated to fighting homelessness in our community – and we’d love your help! Please consider supporting our organization in one of the following ways:

Donate Online

Leading Families Home partners with PayPal for secure online payments. Click Donate Now to be taken to the secure donation page.

Mail a Check

To donate by check, please make the check out to Leading Families Home.

Mail your check to the following address:

Leading Families Home

2283 Ashland Ave.

Toledo, OH 43620

Other Ways to Donate

Shop with AmazonSmile

When you shop on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Learn more about AmazonSmile .

Use Kroger Community Rewards

It’s easy to donate with Kroger Community Rewards – just shop at Kroger, and swipe your Plus Card! Join Kroger Community Rewards .

Matching Gifts: Double Your Donation

Every year we have a Match Campaign – an exciting way for you to double your impact. During this campaign, our match partners will match your monetary donation to Leading Families Home.

Match partners also include corporate sponsors who match their employees’ donations. If you’d like to participate, find out if your employer matches employee donations to 501(c)(3) organizations and contact us .

Host a 3rd Party Fundraiser

Do you love to plan events? You can raise donations for LFH by hosting your own event! Have fun and make an impact on our community. Ask for donations instead of birthday gifts or baby shower presents.

Remember Us in Your Will

A Planned Gift allows you to donate in a very meaningful way. Contact your financial advisor or estate planner to learn more.

The Blade: Leading Families Home celebrates acquisition of Family House

March 13, 2026

Deborah Nugent knows firsthand how important Family House and Leading Families Home are to the homeless in Toledo. While she was battling addiction, Ms. Nugent lived in the Family House shelter on Indiana Avenue, she said. She now works as a residential staff supervisor for Leading Families Home, which acquired the service organization in January. “Giving back is the greatest thing you can do,” she said. “These are our neighbors. ... You don’t want them to slip and fall, you want to help them.” Ms. Nugent was joined by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and other city leaders Thursday to celebrate Leading Families Home’s acquisition in January of Family House through a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Indiana Avenue shelter. “For many years, our organizations have operated side by side within the same space, working to help families,” said Jennifer Jacobs, executive director of Leading Families Home. “We are excited to say we are now operating together as one big family, united in our mission to serve families experiencing homelessness in our community.” Ms. Jacobs said merging the two shelters will allow Leading Families Home to serve more than 1,000 people a year. The acquisition was supported by $290,000 in funding from the city and a $20,000 Strategic Alliance Partnership Grant from the Greater Toledo Community Foundation. “We save lives by allowing families to live here and regroup so that they can go out and be productive citizens and live the dream [in] the city of Toledo,” said City Councilman Cerssandra McPherson. Leading Families Home began as Beach Family Shelter in 1921 and has served hundreds of families throughout its tenure. Family House started as the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance in 1985. Rosalyn Clemens, director of the department of neighborhoods for the city of Toledo, said she was visited by leaders of Family House in November, who told her, “We think that we can be more impactful if we combine forces.” She said it’s her job to help manage federal resources at a time in a country where those resources are dwindling. “Nonprofits tend to be territorial,” Ms. Clemens said. “They work in their silos and as we deal with this issue of dwindling resources, we have to address how we can become more efficient with the resources that we have. “When they came to me that day and asked for $290,000 for this transition, it was just a no-brainer for me to [go] before council … and ask for this money because it was such a visionary move on their behalf,” she continued. “It was such an impactful thing to combine forces to be able to serve more people.” The mayor shared the same sentiment. “It’s a difficult time in America right now for nonprofits, social service providers, frankly, like Family House,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. “It’s good if you’re Elon Musk and you need a tax break. It’s bad for everyone else. We have to have organizations step up to fill in the gap and that is what is happening here.” First Published March 12, 2026, 6:07 p.m.

WTOL: Leading Families Home and Family House Unit celebrate collaboration with ribbon-cutting

By Jessica Hover • March 13, 2026

https://www.wtol.com/video/news/local/leading-families-home-and-family-house-unit-celebrate-collaboration-with-ribbon-cutting/512-a04e21a5-6873-4eb3-9938-02305c319442

13abc: More local families in need of shelter

January 15, 2026

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Leading Families Home has been helping people achieve independence and economic stability for more than a century. Now, leaders say they are seeing a sharp increase in requests for emergency help. Leading Families Home has three different campuses around Toledo that can provide shelter for more than 200 people on any given night. But doing that is becoming more and more challenging. “We are an agency that helps families in crisis. We have three different properties that have shelters for emergency family shelters for homelessness and we have two housing programs, we offer behavioral health and substance abuse, so that we can help people full cycle,” Jennifer Jacobs, the executive director, said. But providing that support is becoming more difficult. “We’ve had probably 20 to 30% cuts amongst grants this entire year and so as the need grows, our financial support is decreasing at the same time and so that is leaving a large gap to make up,” Jacobs said. Jacobs loves what she does. In fact, her work goes home with her most nights. “It’s a lot of sleepless nights, it’s constantly on my mind, it’s constantly in my heart, I’m constantly thinking where do we go from here, what are the answers, where are some answers we haven’t thought of before, what else could we be doing?” Jacobs said. 13 Action News visited the Beach House Ashland, one of the organization’s emergency shelters. While the group helps hundreds of families at the three shelters every year, it is not enough. “Our numbers are higher than they have been; we have 146 families on a waitlist just waiting to get into shelter in Toledo,” Jacobs said. What keeps the staff going is the success stories and there are plenty of them. Lurnetta Brackette said her world was recently turned upside down. “I’m trying not to cry, because I’ve been through a lot,” Brackette said. She said her husband was the primary provider. He got sick and had to retire from his job, the two lost their home and are now at the shelter. “There is a better day coming, you just have to do the work, that’s what we did. I am thankful, truly thankful,” Brackette said. “We know that we are making a difference, with the help of the community, we’re definitely making a difference. It’s just sometimes, I just wish I could snap my fingers and help everybody all at the same time and end the problem,” Jacobs said. Brackette and her husband are looking at a new place to call home this week. Leading Families Home also runs Beach House on Erie Street, as well as Family House. There are a lot of ways you can help, you can donate things like canned goods, bedding, money and time. If you need the shelter, call 211. To learn more about Leading Families Home, click here. Source: https://www.13abc.com/2026/01/15/more-local-families-need-shelter/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPWE1dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFqWGhGbktMZ3RocHN1T2FXc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHsgMdiahWZCNRyRah7J5ijuTRajGokQO0Ep0dN-sUZsoSXSzG-37ixjudV7Y_aem_yrWN5Ev2ipukk-ya_20J2w