“How Can I Not Do This Work?” This Home For Houseless Expectant Mothers Is A True Labor of Love.

What happens to Black expectant people who also happen to be houseless? Cleopatra Robinson, founder of A Home From Shana wants to address that. Robinson’s foundation plans to temporarily home several Black birthing people at a time while giving them access to doula support and other vital resources.

It matters. Black women and children in the city of Philadelphia are disproportionately affected by houselessness. Those who are pregnant and houseless are also less likely to receive prenatal care. Homelessness negatively affects health care and health outcomes, and A Home From Shana, led by Robinson, is trying to change that. “They reported that Black women make up, I think it was about 42 or 43% of birth, but we make up almost 75% of childbirth deaths.The math ain't mathing,” says Robinson. “For me, I feel like I have to do it.”

For Robinson, this fight is personal. Her best friend died due to childbirth complications. Robinson’s love for her friend spurns this work. “How can I not address Black maternal health?”

That love is felt in the home itself. The home, still in preparation for its first guests, is already an oasis. An enclosed porch greets visitors with comfy couches and vibrant plants. Blinds offer privacy to potential nursing mothers who may want a quiet respite from the rest of the action in the house. The living space pulls you in with more comfy seating and art featuring Black women lining the walls. A large dining room next to an impeccable kitchen with an island and more seating makes this space feel more like a family home. That is intentional.

In the finished basement is a station for the doulas and staff as well as an office that is currently holding donations. These donations are being prepped for several community giveaways.

The top floor of the home is where A Home From Shana truly shines. Upstairs are several bedrooms, each in various states of design, but all will eventually home an expectant or birthing person. The rooms, even the unfinished ones, feel warm and inviting, offering unhoused birthing people not just the utility of a place to lay their head, but the dignity and care they as human beings deserve. Once again, this is intentional.

With the help of community and the support of City Council, A Home From Shana is blossoming. Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson stopped by the home to show her support. “When we become more educated and learn more about all of this during the birthing process, like leading up to actually either being in the hospital or giving birth at home or however you want your birthing experience to be, we'll be in a much better place.” says Gilmore Richardson.

The councilwoman is more than invested. Under her leadership, A Home From Shana received a quarter million dollars in 2024. The councilwoman is helping to lead the charge for better health outcomes for Black birthing people in the city. “That’s why this work can never stop because we have to continue educating,” says Gilmore Richardson. “People are going to continue to get pregnant, people are going to continue to have babies, and it's going to be up to us to educate each one of them about everything they need to know about this process. So this work will never stop. Now, yes, we want to eliminate death in this experience, in this process, but more than that,we still have to educate. And so that's why we got to do this work. It’s a calling.”

A calling it is. Community efforts like these are reminders that our own communities are often the answers to the disparities we face. “I want to bring back the village,” says Robinson. “It'll take some time. It may have to start, who knows, with the home that's for pregnant women. But I would love to see that. And the storytelling that we do, unfortunately, even though we're still with trauma, I think that's the beginning.”