Imagine you’ve
just run from your home in fear, with your children at your side. You’ve moved
into a shelter, so you’re living with a bunch of strangers. You feel safe for
the first time in a long time, but then the reality sets in: “What am I going
to do for money?”
Your abusive partner
didn’t allow you to have a job, or handle the finances. At first, you thought
that was a dream come true. Now you realize it was all about controlling and
isolating you. You haven’t held a job in years, and have never paid bills.
This is a
typical scenario for Hope House clients. That’s why, with the support of The
Women’s Foundation, we offer a Self Sufficiency Program. The advocates that
lead the program work with our clients individually and in groups to help them
learn about how to handle their money, and increase their employability.
In a 2009 study examining issues of concern to women in the Kansas City area, women identified “employment and finance” as the second most important issue facing them today. Within that category, participants identified the importance of job training, access to long-term employment, financial education, and accessible transportation.
Survivors of
domestic violence face these same struggles in addition to living in constant
fear. The financial cost of leaving an abusive partner can be
overwhelming. Once a woman leaves her partner, she becomes solely responsible
for providing for her family.
In Hope
House’s most recently completed fiscal year, 10/1/10 – 9/30/11, the average
annual income for families sheltered at Hope House was only $4,447 without
financial support from the abuser; 93% were below poverty; 54% reported no
income at all.
With little or no income, it is impossible for many survivors to immediately be self-sufficient and provide for the basic needs of food, shelter, and adequate healthcare coverage for themselves and their children.
With little or no income, it is impossible for many survivors to immediately be self-sufficient and provide for the basic needs of food, shelter, and adequate healthcare coverage for themselves and their children.
Through the Self-Sufficiency
Program, Hope House offers survivors of domestic violence an opportunity to
gain both knowledge and skills in financial literacy and job readiness. With these
new skills available to her, a mom can now support her kids.
She doesn’t have to wonder if she should return to her abuser because she had no other way to pay the bills. She’s empowered to start a new life, free from abuse.
She doesn’t have to wonder if she should return to her abuser because she had no other way to pay the bills. She’s empowered to start a new life, free from abuse.
