new muslims

Description

Amirah Foundation | www.amirahfoundation.org Amirah Foundation is setting up a Women's Centre in order to provide support services such as counselling and advice and also a Refuge for sisters affected by domestic violence and/or homelessness. Our Mission: Amirah Foundation is committed to strengthening families within the Muslim community. We work nationally to advance the needs, concerns and aspirations of Muslim women, children and families. Our primary area of work is with women and their children affected by homelessness and/or domestic violence. We provide safe shelter, financial assistance, emotional support, practical help such as food parcels, clothing, bedding and blankets, housing and benefit advice and religious guidance. Why we are here: The directors of Amirah Foundation, through personal and professional experiences, felt compelled to provide support to their sisters in Islam. The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said, "The believers, in their love, mutual kindness, and close ties, are like one body; when any part complains, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever." [Muslim] We are living in a society where homelessness is on the increase, only 15% of women needing a space in a refuge are able to access one because of a shortage of spaces, changes to the benefit system mean single women and single mothers are more at risk of homelessness than ever before, there is a lack of support for new muslims who often find themselves isolated, with no family or support networks, and facing financial difficulties. Description of what we do: Amirah Foundation supports sisters affected by domestic violence and/or homelessness and those who are going through some kind of difficulty in their lives. We offer emotional, practical, financial and spiritual support to sisters and their children and help them access safe housing. We also help them form support networks of sisters who can prevent their social isolation. Our aim is to provide safe shelter to homeless sisters and their children in crisis and to offer life-changing services promoting stability, dignity and reliance in Allah. Our current fundraising campaign is to raise money for a Women's Centre that will provide a full range of support services and much needed facilities such as women's only cafe, nursery, gym, that will enable our services to be self-sustaining inshAllah.