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The founding
mothers
Expansion of
1869 to 2511/13 W. Vine
Expansion of
1869 to 2511/13 W. Vine
Connie and Linda cutting the ribbon
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Horizon House first opened its doors in 1971 as the first halfway house for
women offenders in Wisconsin; and one of the first in the
nation. Horizons House was founded by
a multi-faith, women's church group; Church Women United. During the late 1960's and early 1970's, a
group of women from this organization routinely visited jails around the Milwaukee area. These women volunteers quickly discovered
that many women in jail needed a place to stay when they were released. Focusing on this growing need, Grace
Abramson formed a community board composed of people throughout the community
who shared this common interest and had the experience to lift the project
off the ground.
President Lyndon B.
Johnson, in the 1960's, worked to expand and improve social welfare programs
in the United States.
The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy
worked to provide pressure on Congress to pass President Johnson's
"Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act." Among other things, the bill banned the
mail-order sale of handguns and established the Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration (LEAA), which began nationalizing law enforcement through
federal grants to state and local governments. (source: Oregon State
University Web Site)
LEAA provided the first
funding source for Horizon House. The
original grant was for 5-years. The
first year's funding jump-started the agency at $100,000. Funding each remaining year of the grant
period steadily decreased by 20%; the end goal being that the community would
step in and continue supporting the agency.
The Department of Corrections filled this void and soon began fully-sustaining
the agency. The original house,
located at the corner of 25th and West Vine streets, could house 11 women in
6 bedrooms. The house was purchased
from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who
also assisted in the renovation of the house from merely a boarding house to
a transitional living home.
The 1970's and 1980's also represented a surge in women's
activism. Women's issues in
corrections came to a forefront; highlighting the now accepted fact that
women have different needs than men in treatment and in corrections. Still, with only 5% of the offender
population being women, it did not appear to be cost effective to have
separate treatment and facilities for women. The 1980's also presented some
difficult challenges for Horizon House.
Even though Horizon House was the only half-way house for women
offenders in the Milwaukee area, the Department of Corrections did not see
the agency as a necessary part of the "system"; thus making it
difficult to get referrals to fill the beds.
Struggling to stay alive, staff and board members began advocating for
women offenders by contacting politicians, legislators, supporters and women
activists. All of these groups,
combined, put pressure on the Department of Corrections to keep Horizon House
open. At the same time, in Madison,
the Secretary of the Department of Corrections became aware of the low
occupancy rates at Horizon House. He
began pressuring agents to utilize the beds available at Horizon House. As soon as agents began referring women to
Horizon House, the number of women needing beds in the half-way house
exceeded the number of available beds.
Horizon House was originally conceived as a halfway house
for women, primarily those coming out of Taycheedah Correctional
Institution. In the beginning, the
half-way house was merely a place to stay.
All the women had the same curfew and they were only required to
attend 2 group therapy sessions per week.
Within a short time after its founding, the mission of Horizons
changed to serve more women on probation and parole. Horizon House became a licensed Alcohol and
Other Drug Addiction (AODA) treatment center and, soon after, began receiving
funding from Milwaukee County
to begin providing AODA services. This
launched a new phase for Horizons as the agency moved from merely
transitional housing to a more comprehensive treatment center.
Over the past 30 years, Horizons has evolved into one of
the state's cutting edge, community-based treatment facilities for women
offenders and their families. Horizons
has served well over 2,000 women offenders over the past 30 years. In the beginning, our residential setting
had the capacity to serve approximately 50 women per year. In the 1970's and early 1980's, about 60%
of the women served were white, about 70% had dependent children, and few had
serious problems with substance abuse, physical abuse and/or sexual
abuse. About 50% had finished the 11th
or 12th grade. In the early 1980's,
however, those characteristics began to shift dramatically.
Today, the population of women served is approximately 69%
African American, 13% Latina, 6%
Native American and 23% white. Over
90% have substance abuse histories, and nearly 100% have experienced physical,
sexual, and/or emotional abuse. Over
89% have dependent children. The
education level, in general, has dropped.
A majority of women have dropped out of school beginning in the 9th or
10th grade, with only a minority having finished high school. As we move into the 21st century, we are
proud to serve more than 120 women and 180 children in our residential
programming at Horizon House. Our
outpatient program, Community Connections, serves approximately 80 women, 25
partners, and 75 children each year.
Horizons' funding base, for residential and outpatient
services, has increased steadily from under $100,000 in 1971 to over
$1,000,000 today. The past 30 years
have seen many exciting changes! This
wonderful growth in Horizons' budget reflects our mission to provide a broad
continuum of services for women. Over
the years, we have listened to the women coming through our program and we
have worked hard to develop innovative programs that reflect the direct needs
of the consumer.
Timeline
1973: 60 Minutes highlighted Horizon House for
innovative programming
1980: Horizon House was the first treatment
facility for women offenders in Wisconsin to integrate an alcohol and drug
abuse component into its treatment program
1981: Horizon House was among the first
treatment agencies for women offenders to recognize that most women in the
correctional system have dependent children and that parenting issues need
direct attention during treatment.
Funding from United Way
launched the foundation for our Family Revitalization Program by providing
its residents with family counseling, a parent education and support group,
and weekend live-in visitation for children
1989: Horizons received the Benedict Center
Community Service award
1989-1990: Horizon House expanded their
current location to join the original property at 1869
N. 25th Street with adjacent
properties at 2511/13 W. Vine Street,
thus doubling the agency's floor space and increasing residential capacity.
1991: Horizons, Inc. received Agency of the
Year award from the National Black Alcoholism Council
1991: Horizons began incorporating the
principles of cognitive restructuring throughout its programming
1993: Property at 1863
N. 25th Street was purchased
1995: Horizon’s Children’s Program received
the Giraffe Certificate of Recognition from the Wisconsin Council on Children
and Families
1995: Horizons, Inc. began offering an HIV
Prevention Program
1996-1998: Horizon Day, a day treatment center
serving women offenders, was in operation
1999: Horizons, Inc. was awarded a “Best
Program” award by the Wisconsin Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Providers
July
1, 2001: Horizons continued expanding our mission by launching
our outpatient program, Community Connections
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