“For over 26 years, A Safe Haven has been a leader in not only providing housing, treatment, job training, employment opportunities to our most vulnerable populations but also in hiring, training, promoting people from the community.”
CHICAGO (PRWEB)
August 13, 2021
A Safe Haven, (ASH), an internationally acclaimed top Chicago-based 501©3 nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness, was one of 18 companies, nonprofits and business organizations which received the Daily Herald Business Ledger’s Diversity in Business Award. A virtual ceremony presenting the honorees was held on Thursday, Aug. 12.
The publication honored businesses who have shown exceptional commitment to promoting practices that advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace, in business leadership and who bolster equality across all areas of diversity; including age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race and religion.
Located in Chicago, ASH has been a pioneering architect and an anchor organization serving and meeting the needs of Chicago’s homeless since 1994. Bartlett residents Neli Vazquez Rowland and Brian Rowland serve as the nonprofit’s co-founders. ASH’s integrated network of behavioral healthcare, education, job training, social enterprises and phased housing programs is headquartered in one of Chicago’s most poverty-stricken communities known as the North Lawndale community. ASH houses and feeds three healthy nutritious meals to over 5,000 homeless people including adults, youth, families with children and military veterans, annually.
As a Latina entrepreneur, Vazquez Rowland, who is also ASH’s president, is humbled and honored that the publication recognized her nonprofit’s efforts to stem the tide of homelessness by providing meaningful and permanent solutions to the many minority residents and clients its serves.
“For over 26 years, A Safe Haven has been a leader in not only providing housing, treatment, job training, employment opportunities to our most vulnerable populations but also in hiring, training, promoting people from the community,” said Vazquez Rowland. “As a Latina, who grew up in an ‘at risk’ community, I understand firsthand the challenges people face in gaining access to the type of services and resources they need especially from people who may have been there too to realize their fullest potential. ASH has also been a pioneer in hiring and investing in people with barriers to employment and reentry populations including former clients to help elevate them into becoming an integral part of our staff and leadership teams.”
She added: “Today, A Safe Haven’s world-class team provides top-quality services and it is a true reflection of the communities we serve in almost every sense of the word. This recognition and award are humbling to me as it truly serves as validation to us and the rest of the world that it behooves all of us to see that talent comes from every block in our city, state and country, even if people were once homeless, addicted and incarcerated.”
About A Safe Haven:
A Safe Haven Foundation is a 501(c) 3 not for profit, social enterprise that helps people aspire, transform and sustain their lives as they transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency with pride and purpose.
A Safe Haven provides the tools for each individual to overcome the root causes of homelessness through a holistic and scalable model. A Safe Haven’s visible social and economic impact unites families, stabilizes neighborhoods, and creates vibrant, viable communities. For information,
visit http://www.asafehaven.org. ###
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