The Interfaith Housing Association of Westport and Weston, Inc. (IHA) was chartered as a charitable organization under Connecticut law in January 1984.  On August 29, 1984 IHA was granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS.  Since that time the agency continues to develop what makes up the organizations Continuum of Services. In July 2009 Interfaith Housing Association announced it will be doing business as Homes with Hope (HwH) but will retain its legal name.  The organization changed its name to Homes with Hope to better reflect the fullness of the mission.  We are the same organization, but believe the new name better communicates our focus on the permanent supportive housing goals of our mission and the hope that independent living can provide.

Early in 1984, Westport town officials made the Linxweiler House at 655 Post Road East available to HwH as a transitional housing site.  This facility was used as a men’s sober house until fall of 2008 when the program was discontinued due to the organization's success housing clients without the need of a half-way house. 

On December 24, 1984, HwH addressed another problem for the homeless, the need for safe emergency housing.  The agency opened a men’s shelter in the former Vigilant Firehouse at 6 Wilton Road in Westport.  The Community Kitchen opened shortly after, also at that location.

In April of 1989 HwH moved the men’s emergency shelter, renamed the Gillespie Center, and the Community Kitchen into a town owned building on Jesup Road in downtown Westport. 

On September 3, 1993 HwH opened the Bacharach Community in three small houses on Wassell Lane in Westport as an emergency shelter for mothers and their children. 

Later in 1993, the organization was able to address the needs of single homeless women with the opening of Hoskins’ Place, adjacent to the Gillespie Center.

The Women’s Interfaith Network (WIN), a program designed to support HwH clients and other women at risk who are struggling to create stable and self-sufficient lives, started in 1997. 

Saugatuck Apartments, formerly known as Homes With Hope, HwH's initial program providing permanent affordable supportive housing,opened in the fall of 1998.  HwH operates eight apartments in our model program.

In February of 1999, HwH launched PRIDE, an intensive job readiness program for men and women with significant barriers to employment, including mental illness, substance abuse or homelessness. 

HwH began construction of the Westport Rotary Centennial House in September 2008.  WRCH will provide 6 new units of permanent affordable supportive housing in Westport and was leased up in September, 2009.

In early 2009 the Linxweiler House, formerly used as a men’s sober house, had its kitchen and bathroom updated and is being used as an extension of the Bacharach Community.  Linxweiler can accommodate one or two homeless families headed by single women.

In the fall of 2010 HwH started placed five residents into permanent supportive housing within  a 57-unit affordable housing facility known as Fair Street Apartments located in Norwalk.  In this our first housing activity outside of Westpotr, tenants receive the same professional case management services that all of our supportive housing tenants experience.

In June of 2011, we expect to place the first four residents into permanent supportive housing units within the new Hale's Court development in Westport.