Life After Shelter

Picture by Jonathan D.Bloom at Flickr.com

I am often asked how we help people once they move out of our shelter.

That answer will depend on what level of involvement a client wants to have with us and what needs she has. We will continue to work with clients as long as they want to receive our support and services.

Any client leaving our shelter can access our outreach therapy services, both group and individual for both herself and her children. We are able to offer our Transitional Housing program to some of our clients, which is extremely helpful for those who are facing obstacles related to employment and housing.

If a client is struggling and needs temporary assistance with food, clothing or other necessities, we can help with that as well, and hopefully prevent a crisis from occurring.

We can assist clients leaving shelter with items that will help them set up their new homes. We are fortunate to have a caring community that blesses us with donations of furniture and household items.

We will work with clients on an individual basis and try to assist them with whatever their needs are. If we are not able to help them, we will work to find someone that can. We are known for being creative and figuring out solutions to the problems presented.

One of the most heart-warming things we can do for our clients is the Holiday Store. Moms and kids get to shop for holiday gifts for each other, and it’s free because our community has donated all the gifts.

The kids are thrilled when they get to choose something nice for their moms. And the moms are usually in tears, knowing that their kids might not have had a Christmas without the Holiday Store.

If you’d like to help us help our clients have a brighter holiday, please see our Holiday Store wish list. We are especially in need of gifts for teens and moms. Our store opens this weekend, so we’re ready to start stocking the shelves. 

Thank you for caring about these woman and children that you’ll never meet. Especially at the holidays, you make all the difference in their lives.

She's Leaving Shelter... Now What?

I am often asked how we help people once they leave shelter. That answer will depend on what level of involvement a client wants to have with us, and what needs she has. We will continue to work with clients as long as we can and they want to receive our support and services.

Any client leaving our shelter can access our group and individual outreach therapy services, for both herself and her children. We are able to offer our Transitional Housing program to some of our clients, which is extremely helpful for those who are facing obstacles related to employment and housing.

If a client is struggling and needs temporary assistance with food, clothing or other necessities, we can help with that, as well. Unfortunately, people sometimes encounter difficult times and just need a helping hand; we are fortunate to be able to assist our clients in those situations and hopefully prevent a crisis from occurring.

We can assist clients leaving shelter with items that will help them set up their homes. We are fortunate to have a caring community that blesses us with donations of furniture and household items. Those items can be passed on to our clients transitioning out of shelter, and those who are in our outreach program.

We will work with clients on an individual basis and try to assist them with whatever their needs are. If we are not able to help them, we will work to find someone that can. We are known for being creative and figuring out solutions to the problems presented.

What Is Abuse?

I am very aware of how differently that question can be answered depending on who is answering and their frame of reference. I want to spend time today talking about physical abuse. This seems to be what most people think about when they think about domestic violence although it is only one form of abuse that domestic violence victims suffer.

The definition of physical abuse in Wikipedia is: abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.

Most often when we think of physical abuse we think of some very obvious ways such as hitting, punching, slapping, pushing, and choking. However there are other less thought of forms of physical abuse such as biting, denying needed medical care, depriving a person of sleep, or forcing someone to use drugs or alcohol against their will as well as attempts to drown, exposure to heat and cold, and poison. Unfortunately, the ways that abusers physically abuse their partners makes a long list. The clients that we serve have experienced all of these types of abuse, and more.

What we know from our experience in this work is that the abuse often doesn’t start as physical; it often starts as emotional abuse and then over time progresses into the physical realm. Research also shows that as the relationship continues, the abuse will most likely become progressively worse and intensify in severity. What may start out as a push or slap will most likely progress to shoving, punching and worse.

Much of our work with clients focuses on education and safety planning. We want to put them in the best position to make the necessary decisions about their lives and their future. Understanding the abuse is the first step in moving toward a life free of abuse.