Warmth, comfort, and love’: Sally’s Sanctuary to serve homeless women, children in crisis
A new chapter is beginning for women and children in crisis as City Mission prepares to open Sally’s Sanctuary, an $8.3 million shelter designed to provide safety, stability and dignity to homeless women.
The skies were cloudy, but rain held off until after Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new facility on South Franklin Street. The shelter, which is scheduled to open in October, will house up to 50 women.
“I’m deeply overwhelmed with gratitude to each of you who played a vital role in making this building a reality and helping us to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community,” City Mission Executive Director and CEO Diana Irey Vaughan told the more than 150 people who gathered outside of Sally’s Sanctuary. “I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the many donors, many of you who are here today, whose generosity made this project possible. Your sacrifice and commitment have turned a vision into a sanctuary of hope.”
The project took more than two years to complete, and was funded – 100% – through a mix of donations and grants from businesses, churches, the Washington County LSA, individuals, and others.
Irey Vaughan also raised funds for Sally’s Sanctuary by running half-marathons and marathons over the past few years.
Sally’s Sanctuary features three floors and includes multiple suites, an emergency shelter, laundry rooms, common areas, office space, and a large child care center.
Each room has been designed to make sure women feel emotionally and physically safe, and every bed in the shelter is covered by a quilt made by a group of volunteer quilters led by Canonsburg resident Wendy Hopwood.
Irey Vaughan called the quilts “gifts that will wrap each woman in warmth, comfort and love, and that’s what we hope for at Sally’s Sanctuary.”
The new shelter was named in honor of Dr. Sally Mounts, the mission’s former chief development officer who retired in 2024 and worked tirelessly to fundraise for the nonprofit.
Mounts said the city of Washington has stepped up to help the homeless community.
To launch a project like Sally’s Sanctuary, said Mounts, communities should “plant
your campaign smack dab in the middle of a region of people that have a proven history of charitable generosity.”
“Since 1941, churches, corporations, civic groups, local government, grant makers and literally tens of thousands of individuals have taken such good care of their homeless brothers and sisters, and a lot of you are sitting here today,” said Mounts. “Today, you can walk from Washington hospital on North Main Street all the way down to the end of Canonsburg and not see one homeless tent or cardboard box. In fact, if someone planted a homeless tent in front of the Trust Building, in the space of about half an hour, 50 people would stop, open the tent flap and say, ‘Get yourself down to City Mission,’ or even ‘Come on, I’ll walk you down.'”
“So few places in America take care of and reintegrate their homeless neighbors back into the community like Washington County does, and the evidence of the Mission’s success of transforming lives is everywhere in this county,” Mounts said.
Walt Turner, a City Mission board member and the campaign chair who spearheaded fundraising efforts for the facility, said Sally’s Sanctuary is “a much-needed resource for the local area.”
Nationwide, from 2023 to 2024, there was a 26% increase in sheltered homeless women, which contributed to record-high homelessness numbers across the United States.
City Mission has been tracking a rising need among women in the community over the past few years. A needs assessment study conducted in 2022 found that local business owners, human services employees, and public officials identified a new women’s shelter as one of the most pressing needs in the Washington area.
Sally’s Sanctuary is the Mission’s response to that need.
“Homelessness is a growing problem, and the only way to fight against it is for the whole community to stand together. With Sally’s Sanctuary, we saw businesses, foundations, churches, financial institutions, and individuals from all walks of life embrace this project for the good of the community,” said Turner. “This big, beautiful building is going to save lives.”
Former Executive Director and CEO Dean Gartland had long envisioned a women’s shelter, and laid the groundwork for Sally’s Sanctuary.
At the end of the ribbon cutting, pastors and faith leaders from Washington County laid hands on the building during a prayer dedication. Tours of Sally’s Sanctuary followed.
The City Mission has operated for more than 84 years, and the opening of Sally’s Sanctuary increases the Mission’s capacity to 209 beds in four shelters that house men, women, women with children, and veterans. City Mission’s programs address short-term needs including food and shelter, and long-term needs such as drug and alcohol counseling, mental health and medical treatment, legal aid, and employment training.