Transitional Housing
Why Transitional Housing? One hundred clients were sheltered during 2004 at our facility. Increasing each year is the length of shelter stays for several clients with children because of the lack of housing available in Warren County. In recent years, the majority of clients were housed either for much longer periods of time due to the unavailability of independent housing, or for only a few days, returning to the batterers rather than risk homelessness for themselves and their children. We believe that facing homelessness was also a deterrent for many women with children to seek the safety of shelter in the first place. The Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Crisis Center’s shelter is a short-term facility that provides safety in an undisclosed area. As such, it is an opportunity for women to heal, receive supportive counseling, develop their safety plans, solidify goals and make initial contacts with social service agencies. It is intended however to be temporary housing and does not provide access to the long term needs of the clients that non-temporary housing in a community can provide. Clients that have been sheltered and have attempted independent, safe living for themselves and their children have met great difficulty in doing so. Upon leaving the shelter, many are unable to obtain adequate housing to bridge what can be up to a three-year waiting period for housing assistance. Of those who return to shelter many have expressed their frustration of having to impose on others rather than become independent. Another issue is the feeling of isolation in the community after leaving the supportive shelter living atmosphere. Although our agency offers group and individual counseling, the lack of transportation in Warren County renders these services unavailable to many clients. In general the clients lack the regular reinforcements to nurture their self-esteem and empower them in their independence. Our records indicate that the clients tried to maintain independent, safe housing for their families and had difficulties maintaining that independence and either returned to shelter or to an abusive relationship. The need for extended services can be partially attributed to the fact that shelter services are short term, whereas abuse is long term. Intervention, in short-term settings, has less time to impact. Many clients evolve and regress in a fierce and repetitive cycle between shelter and independent living. Clients have difficulty connecting with helping services after leaving shelter, for several reasons, no the least of which is Warren County’s rural setting in which services are rare, non-existent, or difficult to access. Transitional housing is a logical and well-proven way to address many of these pressing difficulties. The Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Crisis Center, with the opening of the Dorothy Blake House in October 2005, will be able to provide a transition from shelter living to independent living while maintaining important outreach support services. The Dorothy Blake House will be able to accommodate, depending on the size of the families, two to four family units with the length of stay being not longer than two years. While staying at the Dorothy Blake House our clients will have ready access to counseling, “in community” case management, referral services and advocacy for additional community based services and the support mechanisms to make these available in practice. Our clients will receive such support while being active members of the community, being employed, attending school and participating in community activities, all the while making a smooth transition to completely independent living in the future. |
