One terrifying night in August, Megan fled her abusive husband, dressed only in her pajamas. She grabbed her two young daughters and a small diaper bag and ran, and she never looked back. I had nothing, not even clothes to wear, she said.
Schuylkill Women in Crisis helped her put her life back together. They gave her food, clothes, a place to live, practical advice, a shoulder to cry on and, most of all, hope. I used to be afraid all the time, but now I feel such a sense of relief, she said.
I feel like I m finally able to live the life that I was meant to live. SWIC, however, has a crisis of its own. Due to a lack of space, in the past six months SWIC s staff had to turn away victims because its emergency shelter was filled to capacity.
From July to December 2006, SWIC provided shelter to 43 women and 45 children and had to place four women and six children on a waiting list when the shelter was filled, SWIC Executive Director Sarah Sally T. Casey said. SWIC is a private, nonprofit organization and the sole local provider in the county that provides comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence; its emergency shelter has 17 beds for women and their families.
Casey said a typical stay is 30 days. Casey said an expansion project of the shelter may be necessary, but no immediate plans have been developed, Casey said. We certainly don t want to turn people away, she said.
It s a major concern, something our board is exploring right now. I think there s a number of reasons it s happening. Every organization has its peaks of need.
And maybe there s a greater community awareness about domestic violence. But I think the lack of adequate and affordable housing in our community is also a huge problem, and a big reason why victims of domestic violence must stay in shelter longer. A report issued in late December 2006 by the U.
S. Department of Justice s Bureau of Justice Statistics found that intimate partner violence in the U.S.
declined from 1993 to 2004, following the trends for all violent crimes. The national report found that in 1993, there were 5.8 nonfatal intimate partner victimizations per 1,000 U.
S. residents age 12 and older. In 2004, there were 2.
6. In 2004, there were approximately 627,400 nonfatal intimate partner victimizations in the United States 475,900 against females and 151,500 against males. About one-third were serious violent crimes rapes, sexual assaults, robberies and aggravated assaults that involved serious injuries, weapons or sexual offenses.
However, 2006 statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice also indicate that at least 25 percent of women in the United States will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found an estimated 1.3 million women were assaulted by their intimate partners last year. From July to December 2006, SWIC administered services other than shelter to more than 600 victims, including more than 2,600 hours of counseling for abused women and children.
Individuals in immediate crisis situations and imminent danger are offered overnight lodging, but frequently, others had to relocate until a safe location could be found the next day. Others were relocated to shelters in neighboring counties or assisted in finding another safe option, Casey said. More than five years ago, Donna, a mother of three, came to the SWIC emergency shelter to escape an abusive relationship.
Counselors there helped her enroll in continuing education classes, provided counseling for her and her family, and provided her with a home in one of their transitional housing units, where she lived for two years until she was able to secure more permanent housing. They gave me more than a roof over my head; it was a place that was safe and secure, where we could get our lives back together, she said. I think many women stay in abusive relationships because they have nowhere else to go.
That was the case for me. Allison Randall. public policy director for the National Network to End Domestic Violence, said housing is one of the most critical issues that a victim of domestic violence faces when making the decision to flee an abusive environment.
Many victims leave with nothing, just the clothes on her back, with no money or access to other resources, Randall said. Most emergency shelters only let a woman stay 30 to 60 days. That s just not a realistic amount of time to find safe, adequate housing for themselves and their children.
Last month, SWIC announced plans to build four transitional housing units in Pottsville, which will provide long-term housing for women with children who are homeless as a result of domestic violence; the project is expected to cost an estimated $800,000 and will begin in the spring. Families will be able to reside in these units, which will provide them safe and affordable housing, for up to two years, said Schuylkill county Commissioner Mantura M. Gallagher.
Our first transitional housing units were so successful that HUD (Housing and Urban Development) agreed to sponsor the new project. Domestic violence really does affect the entire community, so this is a great benefit to our community to be able to provide victims the support and stability they need for themselves and their family while they rebuild their lives. SWIC has operated its four existing transitional housing facilities since 2001, Casey said.
Almost 90 percent of the funding for the recent project is being provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the state Department of Community and Economic Development, and County Act 137 funds, as well as private contributions including from the United Way and the Sam and May Weiss Fund, a local trust fund.
SWIC also recently launched a program which takes a two-faceted approach to serving victims of domestic violence a small business, which helps benefit both the agency and its clients. On Feb. 13, SWIC opened the doors of its new weaving business, The Grateful Thread, at 20 N.
Centre Street, Pottsville. SWIC clients and volunteers shred donated articles of clothing, curtains and any other unused fabric item and then weave the strips of cloth into saleable items. SWIC hopes to steer the financial independence of women by operating a weaving business where clients could acquire job skills while earning income and helping the agency, said Beth Shields, a volunteer supervisor.
A battered woman s involvement in The Grateful Thread also helps to break down the barrier of isolation that is often felt by victims. It provides them a sense of community, give them self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment. The business makes and sells purses, tote bags, scarves, rugs and other items.
Former shelter clients can also take home small portable lap looms and create items in their own home. The business accepts items for consignment from designers and artists for a small fee. SWIC plans to expand to online sales and to as many looms as space and means allow.
All proceeds benefit the agency, Shields said. SWIC s services include a 24-hour hotline, crisis counseling, legal assistance, the only emergency shelter in the county and children s services. The hotline numbers are 622-6220 and 1-800-282-0634.
SOURCE: The Family Violence Prevention Fund, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - Domestic violence has been identified as a major cause of homelessness in the U.S.; in a 2003 report by the U.
S. Conference of Mayors, 88 percent of the cities surveyed identified domestic violence as the primary cause of homelessness. -A 2003 study by the Wilder Research Center, Minnesota, found that of the 46 percent of approximately 2,200 homeless women reported staying in an abusive relationship because they had no where else to go.
- A study by the National Center on Poverty Law, found that victims and survivors of domestic violence have trouble finding apartments because of poor credit, rental, and employment histories as a result of their abuse. cities surveyed in 1999, according to a report by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. republicanherald.
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