Mission & Impact

Mission: We connect people to transformational housing, growth, and possibly—realized through their own design—in support of their journey of recovery. Vision: A trauma-informed organization that promotes healing and recovery through a full array of exemplary housing and services. Values: Embracing Humanity, Cultivating Community, Sparking Creativity, Inspiring Joy

Vision

Emma Norton Services is a trauma-informed organization that promotes healing and recovery through a full array of exemplary housing and services.

Mission

We connect people to transformational housing, growth, and possibility— realized through their own design— in support of their journey of recovery.

Values

  • Embracing Humanity
  • Cultivating Community
  • Sparking Creativity
  • Inspiring Joy

Goals

  • Provide safe, secure, affordable housing for women, individuals, and families in transition.
  • Provide support, advocacy and referrals to community services for individuals and families to stabilize their lives, build confidence and enable self-sufficiency.
  • Use our collective power to build collaborative communities and partnerships to achieve systemic change.
  • Raise awareness of our programs to better serve individuals and families in need.
  • Through radical compassion and radical acceptance, provide a comprehensive array of services that foster harmony, wholeness and completeness.
  • Create inclusive environments that support empowerment, diversity, innovation and adaptability to promote healing.
Theory of Change

Theory of Change

We take a trauma-informed, whole-culture approach to providing advocacy and supportive services that help hundreds of individuals and families reach their goals, restore their dignity, and heal from the inside out.

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Outcomes

The programs at Emma Norton have consistently successful outcomes. Every individual journey of recovery is unique, and across our organization we can measure the direct impacts we’ve had on moving those journeys toward wholeness. We know every little victory is a part of a success story worth celebrating.

Healing by the Numbers

Our programs have shown again and again that they are effective models to move our most vulnerable community members toward safe, stable housing, which provides a foundation for greater individual stability and wellbeing. In 2024, we served 363 individuals, with 50 percent identifying as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and all very low income. In our Family Housing, over 80 percent of individuals and children identify as BIPOC. See below for additional outcome measurements for 2024.

Overall 2024 outcomes included:

  • 87% of all clients maintained housing for one year or more.
  • On average, 80% of all clients complete one or more goals on their stability plans annually.

For Emma’s Place, 2024 outcomes included:

  • 100% of families maintained housing for 6 months or more or moved into permanent, affordable housing at exit.
  • 100% of adult heads of household engaged in services offered at Emma’s Place.
  • Over 90 youth (98%) participated in youth activities and programming.

For our Scattered-Site program, 2024 outcomes included:

  • 92% of tenants successfully completed their initial lease period upon moving into their own rental units.
  • 100% of households experiencing a crisis that potentially affected their housing stability received support to resolve it.
2021 Report
2021 Annual Report

Annual Report

Download and view our latest annual report.

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Sanctuary Model

The Sanctuary Model is a trauma-informed, evidence-supported approach to creating and sustaining nonviolent lives and organizations that work toward healing and wholeness for all of humanity. This model informs not just our services, but the culture of the staff, board, and community.

Using the principles of the Sanctuary Model empowers staff with the emotional and social skills needed to serve people effectively with radical compassion, and model healthy responses to stress for the individuals and families they work with.

Two girls smiling together.
  • Sanctuary Model

    Commitment to help

  • Nonviolence

    Build safety skills and a commitment to higher purpose

  • Social Responsibility

    Rebuild connection skills, establish healthy attachment styles, and sense of fair play & justice

  • Democracy

    Create civic skills of self-control & discipline, and administration of healthy authority

  • Growth & Change

    Work through loss and prepare for the future

  • Social Learning

    Build cognitive and social skills

  • Open Communication

    Learn conflict management, reduce acting out, enhance self-correction

  • Emotional Intelligence

    Teach and grow emotional management skills

Sanctuary Model

Commitment to help

Nonviolence

Build safety skills and a commitment to higher purpose

Social Responsibility

Rebuild connection skills, establish healthy attachment styles, and sense of fair play & justice

Democracy

Create civic skills of self-control & discipline, and administration of healthy authority

Growth & Change

Work through loss and prepare for the future

Social Learning

Build cognitive and social skills

Open Communication

Learn conflict management, reduce acting out, enhance self-correction

Emotional Intelligence

Teach and grow emotional management skills

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statements

Diversity is the recognition that there are differences between people, and that these differences must be intentionally valued as a part of the whole. These differences extend beyond what we can see physically, and include ways of being/knowing/living/working. We continuously work to achieve and maintain diversity in our staff and relationships, in alignment with the ways that the communities we serve change and evolve.

An organizational perspective that emphasizes collaborative processes; equity strives to center around the needs of those most impacted by organizational decisions, acknowledging autonomy, and facilitating different ways of being/knowing/living/working.

Establishing and maintaining a transparent environment that lays the foundation for policies and practices that are welcoming to all, community-directed, and support different ways of being/knowing/living/working.