KHOH Updates

March 26, 2025

As we approach our fifth year helping women in Oswego County,
we wanted to share some exciting updates. Thank you for your continued support – we couldn’t do this without you.

Celebrating our Women

First off, we are ONE MONTH from our fundraising gala!
Join us on Saturday, April 26 to celebrate KHOH!

>>>>> Get your tickets here. <<<<<

Helping the Community

In 2024, we assisted 48 women, with our total to date at 204. 

This help included stability through temporary housing, companionship, and teaching our tenants the skills they need to succeed on their own once they physically leave Kristina’s House of Hope. 

As each woman prepares to leave KHOH and move into her own apartment, we help her by purchasing basic kitchen and bathroom items. Through our partnership with local charity organization Second Chances, our tenants can select furniture for their living room and bedroom free of charge, giving new life to gently used household items. And thanks to The Women’s Fund of Central New York for their donation, which our women used to purchase other necessities for their new apartments.

Our Renovated Cellar 

A special thanks to the below donors for helping make our new cellar possible:

– Richard S. Shineman Foundation
– The Million Dollar Round Table Foundation
– Private donors

Thanks to the renovations, we have a dry and secure space for our stored goods and clothing. We have maximized our storage capacity with the addition of shelving, enabling us to save money through bulk purchases. The service we provide our women has vastly improved, and we are grateful for the ease with which we can store and supply each woman with needed goods and clothing.

Our Backyard

I have been blessed with great friends, bosses, and coworkers. After Kristina died, Amy and Brian Warner of Warner Physical Therapy gave me a gift certificate to Ontario Orchards. They somehow understood the healing power of plants. When the time felt right, I picked a tree that reminded me of my incredible daughter. I chose a Japanese cherry blossom tree, which has been growing in my backyard for the past eight years. As the tree grew, it gave me hope and strength, and I know it will do the same for the women at Kristina’s House of Hope. I will be forever grateful to the Warners for their kindness.

We also planted two dappled Japanese willow trees at KHOH, which are not only beautiful but practical. These gorgeous trees help regulate the water level in our backyard. Thank you to the staff at Ontario Orchards for helping me find a good fit for our yard.

Celebrating Life

A few months back, we spent a weekend camping at Letchworth State Park. It was wonderful for the women to enjoy nature and one another’s company. We look forward to future events with our tenants.

Thank each and every one of you for helping us make KHOH a success.

We’ll see you at the gala! 

Shelly Spaziano, President and Founder, Kristina’s House of Hope

May 11, 2023

We recently passed the two and a half-year mark of opening our doors at Kristina’s House of Hope. Our growth and success would not be possible without your help, especially:

  • The Department of Social Services, who ensures we assist those who need it the most. The funding you provide is crucial to the care of each woman who comes to KHOH while we provide them with a safe, clean place to live and guide them as they rebuild their lives.
  • Oswego County Opportunities, for the variety of transitional living programs we use to ensure each woman who comes to KHOH becomes a stronger, more independent person and functional member of the Oswego community.
  • The local community of Oswego, particularly the case managers and support staff of Catholic Charities of Oswego County. We are proud to have a strong working relationship and your support.
  • The Richard S. Shineman Foundation and board for their contributions and for helping us show KHOH is a valuable asset to the community.
  • Burke’s Do It Best Home Center for providing us affordable insulation, siding, and other supplies that ensured the women living in the KHOH homes were warm this past winter.
  • Our donors, particularly the Fulton Elk’s Club, Oswego County Federal Credit Union, Fulton Savings Bank, Oswego Price Chopper, and a few individuals and groups. Thank you for your time, money, and efforts to raise awareness and support for KHOH. And thank you for the donations that have helped us furnish and maintain our homes.
  • Our landlords and handymen (and women!) who lend a helping hand anytime something breaks. Words cannot express our gratitude for the time you dedicate to KHOH.
  • All of YOU – everyone who believes in KHOH’s mission and vision and is dedicated to our success.
Decorative thank you image with flowers and butterflies in the background.

Our Routine:

  • KHOH welcomes women from all walks of life. Homelessness encompasses all sorts of situations, and we strive to make each woman feel welcomed and supported during her time at KHOH and beyond.
  • When we receive a new tenant, we work with her to develop a program tailored to her unique needs. Each woman is provided all hygiene products and toiletries, a few personal clothing items and outfits, and her wardrobe is supplemented with the bins of gently used clothing donated to KHOH. Our goal is to create a kind and caring atmosphere to welcome each woman and make her feel valued as a human being.
  • Our daily routine provides the women under our care with structure so they can develop their sense of responsibility and commitment. During their stay, the women work on establishing a routine balanced with responsibilities and positive, healthy extracurricular activities they enjoy.
  • Our day begins with a positive reading and group discussion, daily chores, and staff aiding in setting up medical appointments. The women are required to establish routine medical care to include a primary care physician, dentist, vision, and other specialists, as required.
  • Those in recovery are required to attend 12-step meetings and outpatient services.
  • Each woman works toward employment and/or continuing education, depending on her needs.
  • Our women enjoy community activities such as bowling, picnics at the beach and outdoor barbeques, visiting the lighthouse, going to the movies, and doing arts and crafts. We also planted a garden at KHOH, which has taught the women patience and appreciation. Each woman has the opportunity to attend mental health classes, trauma yoga therapy, Bible study, and church if desired.
  • The women ready to move on from KHOH are given assistance with applications for low-income apartments, paperwork for financial assistance to subsidize rent payments for an apartment, and one of our staff accompanies them when they look for an apartment within their price range that fits their needs.
  • Our women are taught about having a properly balanced diet, which we do through cooking lessons and by assisting with grocery shopping. We have dinner together at 5:30 p.m. to provide consistency and a family atmosphere to provide the women with love, kindness, and caring while also providing a gentle, balanced structure.
  • Our family-like structure works to enhance or begin a routine that she will take with her once she leaves KHOH for her own apartment, where she will begin life anew.
Shadow of a lady's profile from the right side with a pink mottled background. There are flowers and a butterfly toward the bottom of the image.

Our Success:

  • We’ve had women from a verity of circumstances. Approximately 75 percent have moved forward into apartments and new life’s.
  • We have an eight-bedroom house set up as the KHOH shelter to provide immediate assistance to displaced women, and the smaller house next door allows these women to rent a bedroom in a home with a shared common area as part of a graduated system to reintroduce them to society.
  • We foster a close-knit familial environment between the women, and the support they receive from the local community teaches them basic life skills underpinned with a code of morals and values.
  • The tools and education our women receive improve their mental health, self-esteem, and self-confidence while creating healthy boundaries. Once they leave our care, we ensure they are set up for success by assisting with apartment furnishings and providing a support system they can rely on at any point after departing KHOH. Moving into a home and knowing you have people to reach out to is vital to their success.
There is a woman laying on the bed reading a book, which she is holding above her head. Her hair is blonde and flowing over the side of the bed, which has white sheets. The book is a hard cover book.

Our Future:

  • We understand each woman is unique and has different needs. KHOH and the local community work together to build a specially tailored program to assist each woman with her individual needs. We all want to be loved and accepted, and it is our mission at KHOH to provide immediate assistance to displaced and/or homeless women who are struggling. We provide them with a safe, stable home to live in and the structure they need to be successful, functional members of society. With your continued support, I know we will find even more success in the coming years.
  • That leads me to our big fundraising event this year: we are hosting a gala in October! More details will follow soon, so keep an eye out!
Round peach-colored coin with a teal shadow. Inside is a cartoon profile of a woman in light purple Victorian dress and a black feather fan, shown from the left side.

With my most heartfelt thanks,

Shelly Spaziano, President and Founder, Kristina’s House of Hope