Our Mission

Through shelter and lifelong connection, Elizabeth House empowers pregnant and parenting women in need.

Since our beginning in 1993, we’ve been committed to meeting needs in our community among the most vulnerable. California is the epicenter of homelessness in our country, and many of the families affected by this are headed by single women. For three decades, Elizabeth House has been the only Residential Program in the entire San Gabriel Valley that embraces pregnant mothers and their children (up to age five). We see our role as essential to standing in the gap for these families so that they can create a new, promising future. While we started out as a residential program, we have grown to include life-long Alumni Services and, in 2020, launched a Community-Based Program through our Center for Mother & Child Wellbeing. Alumni Services allows us to see our former residents through for the long haul, and our Community-Based Program enables us to provide services to pregnant and parenting women who do not need shelter but do need support.

We take a trauma-informed approach that addresses physical, emotional, spiritual, and economic needs in both women and their children. Often, we become family to these women who long for a safe and supportive place to belong. Without exception, the women and children who seek our services do so because of difficult life experiences inclusive of poverty, domestic violence, generational family trauma, foster care, substance dependence, and more. We understand the devastating impact of trauma and we believe in the power of Christ to heal and transform all lives. For this reason, we provide holistic support, taking the time necessary to get to root causes in order to build afresh.

We are in it as long as it takes with the women and children in our programs and create a personalized experience and plan for each one. And we’re connected and involved not only when they need help, but for the rest of their lives. Elizabeth House is committed to life-long service to all our women and children. Year after year, we are proud of how much they accomplish in reclaiming their lives and building successful futures. 

We envision a world where cycles of trauma are broken and all women and children have the opportunity to thrive.

At Elizabeth House, we value grace, hope, safety, love, and respect.

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What Our Clients Say

“For me Elizabeth House has been rewarding. I have learned a lot, such as managing my money. The staff is like family to me and I love them all. Being at EH has motivated me to help others in need and to get my degree in social work.”

— Elizabeth House Alumni

What We Do

We can accommodate 12-15 expectant mothers per year and their children under age 5 in our Residential Program. Residential clients stay through the duration of their pregnancies and for up to four months after their babies are born, living in a supportive, home-like setting, and receiving a full range of care. This includes case management, intensive professional counseling, access to healthcare, parent education, job training, mother-to-mother mentoring, scholarship support, baby supplies, and more.

We also serve the alumni women and children who have gone through our program and provide ongoing training, support, and services on a regular basis. To read more about our programs, visit our Programs page.

We strive to meet the following outcomes through our programs:

  • Improve children’s and mother’s health

  • Facilitate healthy early childhood development

  • Support mother’s mental health

  • Empower mothers for self-sufficiency

  • Create lasting connections to a healthy and resourced community

Debbie Unruh, Founder

Debbie Unruh is the Founder of Elizabeth House. It was her passion and desire to work with a team of community volunteers to establish at a grass-roots level, a faith-based shelter program specifically for pregnant women and their children. Her prior experience working in the foster care system, first in the area of program development and then in Fundraising and Development, lent itself to the strong leadership it took to get this program up and running. Debbie transitioned into retirement in 2023, welcoming new leadership under Executive Director, Jill Hammer.