SAFE HARBOR FOR VULNERABLE WOMEN

I meet Natasha Guynes in the cluttered basement office of HER Resiliency Center, a nonprofit she founded to help vulnerable women aged 18-25. As we talk, Guynes gushes about women like Brittany, who struggled with homelessness and unemployment but now works at a local hardware store. And Dehkontee (pictured above), who was homeless and about to age out of foster care but soon attended college (and made the dean’s list). In 2018, she was hired full-time for HER Resiliency’s ever-growing street outreach team.

When Guynes formed the organization in 2016, she and her team worked with 52 women. Now it assists over 300 people annually (mostly women, but some men) who struggle with homelessness and drug abuse. Its vital services include mentoring, identifying