A life line for domestic violence survivors is at risk

A victim fleeing an abusive couple can have only minutes to pack before slipping through the door. What comes next is often not clear: where they and their children will sleep, how rent will be allowed, whether they ever feel safe.

A program funded by the United States Housing and Urban Development Department has supported such Rhode Island families: A social worker can help ensure rent assistance, and a housing browser can help place families in a safe and confidential apartment, so that they can begin to rebuild.

Without HUD funds, this security promise may not exist. And for Thousands of survivors throughout the countryThat could mean the difference between stability and the lack of housing, between freeing itself and being forced to return to a dangerous situation.

For weeks, the The federal administration has indicated deep cuts to HUD -The department that provides safe and affordable homes to millions of low -income families through public homes, rental subsidies and coupon programs. While these cuts would be devastating for many, a vulnerable population remains largely ignored: survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Survivors often flee from abuse with nothing more than clothes on the back. No stable housingThey face impossible options: return to an abuser, live in a car with their children or wait months, and sometimes for years and affordable homes.

For more than a decade, Sojourner House has expanded its housing programs To meet this growing need. In addition to operating three emergency shelters, we provide a new application, permanent support housing, transition housing and rent assistance to ensure that survivors have a stable place to heal. Today, we support almost 150 rental units in 33 cities in Rhode Island, which allows survivors to remain in their communities while recovering independence.

But none of this happens without federal funds. Sojourner House receives, or subcontracts to receive, 21 HUD grants for a total of more than $ 5.1 million annually, almost half of the operational budget of our organization.

Programs throughout the country depend on HUD to keep abuse survivors housed and safe. Without it, the suppliers throughout the country will be forced to close housing programs, fire the staff and move the survivors, leaving them without any place to go.

If the Congress promulgates the drastic HUD cuts currently proposed, the consequences will be catastrophic for survivors:

• Domestic and sexual violence will increase. When survivors do not have access to safe homes, they are much more likely to remain with their abuser. Research shows that housing instability increases the probability of repeated abuse and even homicide.
• More survivors will be forced to remain in dangerous situations. The lack of affordable homes is already one of the main reasons why the victims remain with the abusers. Subsidized housing programs means that more survivors will have to choose between the lack of housing and continuous violence.
• Victim services providers will be forced to move away survivors. Housing and shelter programs are already thin. With fewer HUD resources, waiting lists will grow, shelters and housing programs will reach the fastest capacity, and survivors will run out of options.
• The survivors will suffer financially. Domestic violence is not only physical and emotionally devastating, but it is also economically paralyzed. Many survivors lose work due to injuries, judicial hearings or ongoing trauma, which leads to lost wages and financial instability. Without stable homes, its path to reconstruction becomes even more difficult.
• Emergency response systems will be overwhelmed. Police, hospitals and crisis teams will carry the worst part of these cuts, since housing survivors experience higher rates of repetition of victimization, medical emergencies and crisis related to trauma.

The need is undeniable. More than 40 percent of women and men in Rhode Island have experienced domestic violence. – Harassment, sexual violence or physical violence by an intimate couple – according to the centers for disease control and prevention. Nationally, the numbers are equally marked. The demand for safe and stable housing for survivors has never been greater.

HUD’s cuts are often framed as a budgetary decision, but the reality is clear: the reduction of housing programs will cost taxpayers more.

• Survivors without stable housing have a greater risk of repeating victimization, which requires the application of the law, medical intervention and crisis services.
• Many will be forced to emergency shelters and public assistance programs, increasing federal and state expenses.
• Children exposed to domestic violence suffer from long -term mental health and educational setbacks, further striving public systems.

Investing in homes reduces emergency response costs, breaks the cycles of abuse and help survivors to rebuild their lives with dignity and independence. Keeping people lodged is not only morally correct, it is fiscally responsible.

Sojourner House and organizations like ours have worked tirelessly to expand housing solutions that save lives. But without continuous federal support, our work, and the work of so many others will not be enough.

Communicate with its members of Congress and urge to protect HUD programs and staff. Each abuse survivor deserves an exit. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that they have a place where to go.

Vanessa Volz is the president and executive director of Sojourner House.