Gracious Hands Inc.

What Gracious Hands Inc. does

Gracious Hands Inc. (legal name: Gracious Hands Transitional Housing for Women & Children), operating as Gracious Hands Housing, is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based non-profit founded on February 28, 2015 by Dr. Sonja P. Chisolm, a former single mother of three who experienced homelessness. The organization provides transitional housing with a 12-month residency cap to homeless single mothers and their children in the Charlotte metropolitan area, paired with a wraparound suite of services: free daycare, mental health therapy (with one-year post-transition follow-up), life coaching, life skills and financial literacy training, credit repair support, and job readiness programming. The organization operates the Oneida House, its first owned housing property at 3131 Oneida Road (acquired December 2018), and an additional operational address at 3430 Fincher Road, with mailing handled via P.O. Box 680354, Charlotte, NC 28216.

The business model is donation- and grant-driven rather than commercial. Revenue streams include individual donations (the organization explicitly states it is not federally funded), named family sponsorships at approximately $400 per month per family, grants from institutional funders such as Bank of America (2021) and Pearl Pledge (2022), and proceeds from a recurring calendar of fundraising events including the Charity Gala, All White Fundraiser, Jazz Brunch & Bubbles, and Father Daughter Dance. An auxiliary clothing program, Jimmy's Lub Closet, was launched in August 2019 in partnership with the Jimmy Core Foundation to serve women and children fleeing domestic violence. Service delivery is volunteer-driven, with a 1–10 person core staff supplemented by volunteer life coaches, youth coaches, and therapists, and the technology footprint is limited to a Squarespace-hosted informational website with no proprietary platform, APIs, or AI/ML capabilities.

Go-to-market is community-led: families are enrolled through a direct web application with prerequisites (employed, COVID-19 vaccinated, at least one child under 18), and awareness is driven by earned media coverage (Spectrum News 1, WBTV, WCNC, Huami Magazine), word-of-mouth referrals, event-based marketing, and a growing social-media presence. Since inception, Gracious Hands reports having served 400+ women and achieving a 75% successful transition rate — graduates moving into their own homes, restoring their credit, and saving $5,000 — while operating continuously for over a decade.

Name

Gracious Hands Inc.

Legal name

Gracious Hands Transitional Housing for Women & Children

Website

https://gracioushandshousing.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gracious Hands Inc. is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based non-profit founded in 2015 that provides 12-month transitional housing and wraparound services — daycare, therapy, life skills training, and credit repair — for homeless single mothers and their children in the Charlotte metro area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transitional Housing Services

NAICS

Other Residential Care Facilities (6239), Other Residential Care Facilities (623990)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Transitional housing
• Supportive housing services
• Life skills training
• Social services nonprofit
• Childcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization is primarily funded through individual donations, both large and small. It explicitly states it is not federally funded. Donations cover shelter costs, operational expenses, and program services.
2. Grant Funding: Gracious Hands has received grant funding from Pearl Pledge (2022) and Bank of America (2021) as explicitly acknowledged grant recipients.
3. Family Sponsorship Program: Community members can sponsor families financially, contributing approximately $400 per month per family to cover boarding, phone, lights, water, internet, and training classes.
4. Fundraising Events: Annual and special events including the Jazz Brunch & Bubbles fundraiser, All White Fundraiser, Father Daughter Dance, and Charity Gala help raise money to purchase homes, create training programs, and expand services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Gracious Hands Inc. (DBA Gracious Hands Housing) operates a transitional housing program for homeless single mothers and their children in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area. The program provides shelter with a 12-month residency cap, integrated with life skills training, mental health therapy (including one-year post-transition follow-up), free daycare, life coaching, and clothing assistance through the Jimmy Lub Closet, designed to move families from homelessness to permanent self-sufficiency.

Product overview

Gracious Hands Housing operates as a holistic transitional housing program for homeless single mothers and children in Charlotte, NC. The core offering is transitional housing with an integrated suite of supportive services including life skills training, therapy, life coaching, and free daycare. Additional services include the Jimmy Lub Closet (clothing assistance) and the Oneida House facility. The organization is not a technology platform but a social services non-profit.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Transitional Housing

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% of women successfully transitioned into their own homes, restored their credit, and saved $5,000
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• The Executive ClubminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024The Executive Club presented the 2024 Gracious Hands Charity Gala, co-hosting the event to support the organization's fundraising efforts in Charlotte, NC.
• Jimmy Core FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Following Jimmy Lub's passing — he loved helping the homeless — his family formed the Jimmy Core Foundation and collaborated with Gracious Hands to open the Jimmy's Lub Closet in August 2019. The closet provides everyday clothing to women and children fleeing domestic violence at no charge.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Family Promise: National nonprofit network addressing family homelessness through shelter, prevention, and stabilization programs across the U.S. Comparable model of housing plus supportive services for families, but at a national scale with affiliate-network structure.
• Catholic Charities USA: National network of Catholic Charities agencies providing housing, family services, and emergency assistance across the U.S. Overlaps with Gracious Hands on faith-rooted transitional housing and family case management, but with a far broader service portfolio.
• YWCA USA: National federation of YWCA affiliates providing housing, domestic violence services, and economic empowerment programs for women and families. Overlaps with Gracious Hands on housing-plus-supportive-services for women, but at a much larger federated scale.
• The Salvation Army USA: Large national faith-based organization operating emergency shelters, transitional housing, and family services. Comparable on shelter-plus-rehab mission for homeless populations, but at vastly larger scale and with broader program scope.
• Covenant House: National nonprofit providing shelter and supportive services for young people and families experiencing homelessness. Comparable faith-rooted, housing-plus-services model, though focused more heavily on youth and young adults than single mothers specifically.
• Volunteers of America: National nonprofit providing affordable housing, veteran services, and family-focused supportive programs. Directly comparable on the housing-plus-services model for vulnerable families, but operating at national scale across many service lines.

Direct peers

• Charlotte Family Housing: A Charlotte-based nonprofit providing transitional and supportive housing for families experiencing homelessness, with wraparound services and a similar community-based model. Operates in the exact same metro and target population segment, making it the closest comparable.
• HomeSafe: Florida-based nonprofit providing transitional housing and supportive services for women and children fleeing domestic violence and homelessness. Directly comparable on the niche of transitional housing plus wraparound services for women/children, though in a different region.
• Roof Above: Charlotte-based nonprofit (formerly Urban Ministry Center) providing shelter, supportive housing, and services for people experiencing homelessness in the Charlotte metro. Directly comparable geography, mission, and beneficiary population.

Others

• Dress for Success: National nonprofit supporting women's economic empowerment through workforce development, professional attire, and career coaching. Adjacent rather than directly comparable, but aligned on serving low-income women on a path to self-sufficiency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gracioushandshousing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gracious Hands Inc.