West End Neighborhood House opened another home for young people who have aged out of foster care or are experiencing homelessness.
The Life Lines South location in Harrington is West End’s first location in Sussex County and the only supportive housing program in the county for its intended age group.
The new location serves youth from 18 to 23 years old and doesn’t have a limit on how long residents can stay as long as they fall in the assigned age group. This is West End’s 14th house, with the first 13 in New Castle.
Life Lines program director Stacy Shamburger said she and the staff offer residents more than just a place to live.
“Anything from educational support, driving support, mental health and substance use – if that's the case – and more,” Shamburger said. “So we will make sure that we can provide whatever service it is that the youth need in order to gain their highest level of independence.”
The Life Lines South house has ten rooms, each with its own bathroom.
“Every bedroom should have its own bathroom,” Denise Eby Konan, whose family owned the house, said. “Every bedroom should have its own closet.”
Eby Konan said giving young people their own space is a matter of dignity.
Eby Konan’s family owned the building from the Great Depression era. The floors and wood staircase are original to the home and were made by her grandfather. She said it was always the plan to create a place that serviced its community.
"We're proud that the family legacy of service will be allowed to continue," Eby Konan said.
Sen. Chris Coons helped West End get federal funding to open this location. Coons said the new house will help young people that are often overlooked.
“Dozens and dozens of young Delawareans age out of foster care and have nowhere to go and no support, and they fall off a cliff and often end up in significant trouble and find themselves homeless or involved in unhealthy practices or taken advantage of,” Coons said.
Coons and Rep. Sarah McBride spoke at Life Lines South’s grand opening. McBride said the home will serve a great purpose – “to address and fulfill one of the most human hopes, to find a home.”
Coons and the Life Lines program director Stacy Shamburger agreed it’s important to bring this program to Sussex County so future residents can stay in the area they call home.
“We have a lot of youth that transfer from Sussex County up to New Castle County because that's where our original housing program is,” Shamburger said. “And they don't always fare well because they don't want to move from a more rural place like this directly into the heart of the city.”
Shamburger said she already has a few young people slated to move in and will be going through Life Line’s waitlist to fill the other rooms.
