The Chrysalis House

When I first designed the Community House Network it included in the foundational documents a women's recovery house, "The Chrysalis House".  My first steps towards formalizing the project involved a conversation with Peoria based SCORE. Now that I am more in the swing of things with this process, I should look more into what SCORE does in the community of small business entrepreneurialism.  Although they got me started and gave me some great ideas, they were limited in their ability to help me with the documents and other fine details I needed to understand about becoming a NFP.  

Through their guidance, I created an initial business plan.  It included all the spaces:  The Center for Creative Learning at 800 W. Thrush, The Art Garage (800 W. Thrush - Rear), The Community House (2223 N. Sheridan Rd), The Shop Co-Op (2225 N. Sheridan - Rear) AND The Chrysalis House (2225 N. Sheridan).  During our conversation around the plan, I had concerns about including the recovery home.  I still planned to do it, but I thought I would keep it separate from the NFP. The primary reasons for that was to keep it private, and also because I intended to charge women to stay there.  I was afraid the stream of revenue would cause problems for me. 

Well, now that I am in full swing, I see that the Chrysalis House needs to be brought back as a part of the picture.

Reasons for making the Chrysalis House part of the CHN:
1. Can collect donations to support activities for the house.
2. Can put the house itself in the name of the foundation.
3. Can allow women who are jobless more time to get on their feet, and stay without rent.
4. Can use some of our fundraising to make repairs in the Chrysalis House.

The women are already participating in the activities of the CHN.  I hope they will be big members of the network when they graduate!