Beatitude House | History - Ursuline Sisters Mission

Inspiration can take many forms and strike at any moment. For Ursuline Sister Margaret Scheetz, the inspiration to open Beatitude House came in the form of a film, God Bless the Child. This film, written by a Youngstown man, is the story of a mother and daughter caught in the cycles of poverty and homelessness. The mother must make the painful decision to give up her daughter in order for her to lead a better life, an opportunity she felt she couldn’t give her.

After seeing this film, Sister Margaret was moved to take action in the community and help women and children break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. With a firm belief that education is the best way out of poverty, Sister Margaret established Beatitude House. Beatitude House is a nonprofit corporation that operates a small emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and a food pantry.

Throughout the years, Beatitude House has benefited from the generosity of those in the community whether it is through their time, talents or monetary support. In 1990 the Masternick family gave the Ursuline Sisters a Tudor home on the city’s north side. That building was transformed into an apartment complex for transitional housing services, providing shelter for women and children. The first families moved into the building in 1991 and soon two complexes were added to the program.

Sadly, in January 2001 Sister Margaret passed away, but her legacy lives on in her ministry. Beatitude House continues her dream of breaking the cycles of poverty and homelessness while empowering and inspiring hope in each adult and child we serve.

After 30 years of service, Beatitude House continues to be focused on providing supportive housing services including 50 permanent supportive housing units in Mahoning County as well as a three-bedroom emergency shelter and 10 transitional sites in Ashtabula County. All housing programs provide a team to assist those we serve with case management and property management services.

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Sister Margaret Sheetz