With an indefinite length of stay, House of Mercy Permanent Housing allows participants with significant substance-related/addictive disorder use histories and co-occurring mental health issues and/or disabilities more time to improve functioning while residing in an affordable, safe, clean, and therapeutically supportive environment. The program is designed to assist homeless individuals and families in living as independently as possible, in a permanent setting, along with other recovering women and their families. Chronically homeless within this subpopulation are prioritized for entry. Supportive services that promote residential stability, increased skill level and/or income, and greater self-determination are either provided on-site or coordinated by staff and provided by other public or private agencies. All program participants are asked to: continue working a positive recovery program including serving as a support to other women in the program; commit to developing a self-sufficiency program that has a full-time focus on either education, employment or a combination of the two; further develop critical life skills (e.g., personal finance management) that will enhance their ability to provide for themselves and family; achieve stability with respect to decision making, emotional health circumstances, and relationship choices. All participants are expected to sign a lease for a term of one year, renewable for terms that are a minimum of one month long and only terminable for cause.