History of Beach House Inc. dba Leading Families Home

Beach House Family Shelter began in 1921 when Mrs. Helen (Beach) Jones, wife of the former mayor Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones, recognized the need to establish a shelter for unprotected women and children. Prior to that time, homeless women were offered shelter in the Lagrange Street Jail. Women from several organizations assisted Mrs. Jones in establishing Beach House Family Shelter.



The first shelter was located at 547 Erie Street. The first floor of the shelter was for "wayward" girls and the second floor was the refuge for homeless women and children. The shelter was named in honor of the mother of Mrs. Jones, Harriet Beach, who was an advocate and ally of social justice. Beach House Family Shelter was managed and governed by a Board of Directors known as the "Women's Protective Association."

Beach House Family Shelter received tax-exempt status in 1942 and received a charter from the State of Ohio as a nonprofit corporation in 1963. The name, "Women's Protective Association" was changed to "Beach House, Inc."

In 1982, the program began to include emergency shelter and services for intact families, including fathers, and single-parent fathers with children. With the changing needs of our community, Beach House Family Shelter has expanded its role in providing housing and economic stability through trauma-informed behavioral health, education, employment, therapy, case management, substance use disorder (SUD) treatment resources, and aftercare services to the homeless in the greater Toledo area.

In 2016, Beach House Inc. merged with FOCUS to become Leading Families Home. In 2021 we absorbed community programs from the Providence Center including anger management, domestic violence survivors, batterers intervention program, women who use violence, and parenting classes.

June of 2023, we opened the overflow Emergency Family Shelter that is located on Ashland Ave. where our office is located! We serve approximately 300 more unhoused individuals each year!