"If I didn’t come here, I would have been sleeping in my car," said 22-year-old Octavia Evans. "I wouldn’t have had my baby with me. Things could have gotten really tough."

Evans lives in Joseph’s House in Syracuse, a place she can finally call home. She’s stayed there for about two years with her son.

"I have my own room," said Evans. "There’s food here. So, it’s really good and they help me a lot with being independent."

The non-profit organization provides a safe space and services for mothers and their children facing homelessness. Executive Director Bronson Kopp says they’re preparing to enhance their experience. He’s participating in a one-year course on measuring and analyzing data, called the Performance Management Learning Community (PMLC).

"This grant allows us to do what we do, better," said Kopp. "To be able to more efficiently track our data so that we can really hone in on the needs and track the progress of our residents so we can really tell the story of where they were when they came to us and where they were when they left us."

The program is led by the Central New York Community Foundation. It accepted 11 nonprofits and distributed more than $128,000 in grants. Joseph's House will receive $20,000.

"It’s really hard for organizations to be able to prove what they’re doing is actually working," said Robyn Smith, the Foundation’s strategic initiatives director. "So, participating in the Performance Management Learning Community, they get a real sense of being able to report that back out, especially now in COVID, we see so many needs exaggerated by this issue."

Smith also says it will help organizations earn new funding, as they receive fewer dollars from the state.

"We know that with the support of the [CNY] Community Foundation, we can still continue to improve and do what we do best cause the need is going to be there and from what we’ve seen, the need is only going to get more."

Bronson hopes these new resources will help mothers like Evans get back on their feet.