NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A group that helps women in need doesn't have much itself. One of the houses that 21 women shared was so rundown that it had to be torn down.

The grant money they were expecting didn't come through, and now these women who have had enough hard luck have really fallen on hard times.

"I came here for structure, you know, because my life was so torn up," said Debra Smith.

In the home, the women are full of stories paralleled by struggles with prostitution and drugs.

"Selling anything and everything that I could to get another one," said Gladys Gasaway.

Now, they're all off the streets and living in what's know as Magdalene House, where they get counseling, medical help, tutoring to get a GED and even a job. In many ways, they depend on one another.

"I done have the desire to pick up and use, you know, no more," said Gasaway, who has almost completed the two-year program.

But the three Magdalene Homes in Nashville have become overcrowded because earlier this year, a fourth home on Arthur Avenue was torn down because it was structurally unsafe, meaning the 21 women currently in the program have been divided among just three houses. Eighty other women are on a waiting list.

"We got women all the time that's coming out of jail that are continuing to be on the streets that we cannot service," said program director Donna Grayer.

The plan all along was to build a new home in place of the old one, but for an organization that relies solely on donations and grants, leaders with Magdalene House said the economy has put the plans on hold.

More than $15,000 is needed to start construction.

"It's so many other women that need help like we do, you know, because I didn't have a clue what I was going to do when I got here, and, you know, they gave me some hope," said Gasaway.

"If we don't provide the resources to get these women in, we're going to pay for it in the long run," Grayer said.

According to the founder of Magdalene House, 70 percent of the women who complete the two-year program remain clean. Since opening in 1997, more than 100 women have received help from Magdalene House.

To donate, call 615-322-4798 or write to Magdalene, Box 6330-B, Nashville, TN 37235.