Fox House, East Harlem

Msgr. Robert Fox Memorial Shelter (Fox House), a shelter for homeless women and children, was opened in 1989 by Sister Florence Speth, SC. Fox House provides a safe, secure and caring environment for hundreds of families referred by the N.Y.C. Department of Homeless Services. For more than thirty years, Fox House has provided a home for hundreds of pregnant women facing homelessness, providing them shelter, food, and loving care for them and their unborn child.

Families are homeless for reasons such as domestic violence, overcrowding in others’ apartments, evictions, recovery from substance abuse, loss of employment, aging out of foster care system, physical and mental disabilities, and our present economics. Whatever the reason, women suffer from the experience and usually enter the shelter as a last resort. It is truly the mission of Fox House staff to be a healing presence to the women and children and support them in reaching their potential.

The staff provides counseling and goal setting, job development, enrollment in school and job training programs, assistance in obtaining benefits and negotiating the complex public assistance system in New York City, prenatal care, parenting classes, and housing resources. Due to the lack of available low-income housing, it is a challenge for both residents and staff to find adequate housing that meets the needs of the family.

Fox House celebrated its 25th Anniversary on November 19, 2014. Click here to view photos of the celebration.