Hagar's House

"I had seen the darkest side of mankind before we saw the light at Hagar's House. Every morning I wake up and see my children safe and happy, I hit my knees and thank God for this place," a former resident, Darkus, said. Since opening in 2007, over 100 women and children have found sanctuary, rest, community, and a home at Hagar's House.

Hagar's House began two years after Katrina, during a time when there were 12,000 people living in New Orleans without homes, and hundreds were living in a tent city in front of City Hall. Knowing this reality, a local homeless organization approached First Grace United Methodist Church- Hagar's House's founding support community- and asked the church to temporarily house people. Despite the fact that First Grace had not yet repainted its walls or fixed its floor since the hurricane, the church council unanimously said "of course" when four young AmeriCorps volunteers from Mississippi and Louisiana (who lived inside the church) proposed opening a women’s shelter in the building. Two weeks later, the volunteer area of the church became Hagar’s House, a home for women. We promised that while opening our doors and our lives to provide housing, we would do this while struggling to address the core issues behind why women and children were, and are still, without housing.

Now, four years later, we have fully rebuilt a new home, transitioned from an overnight emergency shelter to a 24/7 residential community, expanded our program to include both women and children, and implemented holistic health, social justice and resident savings programs. Hagar's House is now a community of fun, smart, and creative women and children who are working with and for each other to transition into permanent housing.