Dec 30

A Desire to Give to their Children

One of our great donors tells why it was important for her to participate in this year’s Holiday Wishes program, where individual, organizations, corporations or community groups adopted families at Doorways to provide for the holiday and critical needs:

Our intern, Ugie, checks out all the great donations as part of our Holiday Wishes program

In anticipation of the holiday season and as I reflected on the past year, I couldn’t help but to feel overcome with gratitude for the many blessings in my life – my family the biggest one of all.

A little over a year ago, my husband and I welcomed our first child, a baby girl, for whom our love continues to grow in ways beyond our wildest comprehension.  I thought to myself not only how lucky we are to have a place to call home and sound employment,  but also how fortunate it is that we are able to provide for our daughter – from ongoing daycare costs to the (very quickly) accruing costs that come with simply raising a child, let alone all of the “extras” that we often love to provide to our children, especially during the holidays.

At the core of each and every parent is a desire to give to their children, to provide for them and to ensure they are well-cared for.  Unfortunately, for too many mothers in our area even the most basic provisions – a safe and stable home, one that is free of violence – is out of reach.  No child should be without a home or fearful to come home each day.  That’s simply not right.  There are so many things that each of us can do to ensure that the needs of Arlington families do not go unmet (or unnoticed).  For our family, participating in Doorways’ Holiday Wishes program was just one of those ways and we hope that it made a small difference to the family with whom we were matched.

Katie Pahner

Dec 22

The Broader Effort to End Homelessness

By: Caroline Jones, Executive Director

With the year coming to a close, I pause to look back on all the great strides that our community took to end homelessness this year.  At Doorway for Women and Families, we saw people end the cycle of homelessness and domestic violence every day.  In October, Arlington showed its true power by bringing together non-profits, county agencies and 150 volunteers for the 100 Homes for 100 Arlingtonians Campaign.  Caring people walked our streets in the middle of the night to identify the most medically vulnerable people living on our streets.  But, unfortunately, we cannot look back for long because homelessness continues to affect a number of our neighbors.  As we come into the new year, I continue to believe that everyone deserves a safe and affordable home.  But, to achieve this we must engage in a broader effort to end homelessness.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 3

No Better Reason to Wake Up at 3am

There is not enough coffee in the world to make me a pleasant person at 3 am.  Yet, on Monday, October 17, I was filled with excitement as I walked into Arlington County’s Department of Human Services building at 3am.  What could possibly drag me out of a peaceful slumber at this ungodly hour?

I wanted to end homelessness in Arlington.

The 100 Homes Campaign is an initiative of the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Arlington, a county-wide effort to coordinate services and leverage community support to give everyone a safe and secure home in our county.  Doorways for Women and Families is a partner in the 10 Year Plan, helping provide a voice for the countless families experiencing homelessness in our community.  The goal for the week of October 17 was to identify the most vulnerable individuals on our streets and in our shelters, so that we could rapidly get them into housing.  The goal for the 100 Homes campaign is to get 100 vulnerable Arlingtonians into 100 homes by July 2013.  A tall order, but luckily we started early in the morning.

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Oct 26

My Breakfast with Virginia Legislators

Everyone has a role to play in not just raising awareness to domestic violence, but ensuring that there are steps taken to end it.  I was fortunate enough to help coordinate a Legislative Breakfast this past Wednesday as part of the Northern Virginia Taskforce of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.  Doorways for Women and Families and other NoVA providers invited legislators and political candidates from across Northern Virginia to share some breakfast with us as we discussed issues facing those experiencing domestic abuse.

The conversation was fascinating.

Questions ranged from how DV affects the military community to the state of domestic violence in the current economic crisis.  The legislators listened to service providers tell how domestic violence has impacted their community.  Marielle Filholm of Doorways told the story of one of our clients and the obstacles she overcame to achieve self-sufficiency.  Ultimately, all in attendance agreed on one thing: we need to make domestic violence issues a priority in Richmond and in our community.  Unfortunately, the entire Virginia General Assembly and the entire Arlington community could not fit in that room.

The conversation should not stop once the coffee runs out and the bagels are boxed up.  While Domestic Violence Awareness Month occurs for 31 days a year, engaging our community in a dialogue about domestic violence needs to be an ongoing event.

Next time you’re having your morning coffee with friends, engage them in this conversation.  It may take more than one breakfast to end domestic violence, but it’s a great place to start.

Join us for our last event of Domestic Violence Awareness Month this Saturday at our Howl-O-Ween Dog Walk for the Homeless.  Register here.

 

Wyatt Schroeder

Communication and Outreach Coordinator

Oct 13

Should I Just Go Back?

“Should I just go back?”

Rita came to Doorways looking for safety.  After coming to the conclusion that she needed to leave her abusive situation, Rita had to endure many challenges, including the risk of homelessness.  The financial abuse she suffered prevented her from both meaningful employment and the skills needed to manage her money.  Without anywhere left to turn, she bravely called Doorways and found a bed at our Safehouse.

Unfortunately, coming into our domestic violence shelter was only the first step in Rita’s pursuit to safety.  Rita’s journey will not be over until she can find long-term, stable housing.  While she has found temporary security in a shelter, affordable housing is the only cure to the cycle of abuse and homelessness that Rita seeks to end.  And in her struggle to find an affordable home, Rita was left to ponder, “Should I just go back?”  This is the part of the story often left untold.

Once women and families come into our shelters, our job is not finished until they can secure safe and stable housing.  That is getting harder to do in these economic times.  Last year, our Safehouse served a decreasing number of people – 20 households compared to 41 households the year before.  Difficulty in finding affordable and safe housing has caused longer stays in our shelters.  We have tried to address the issue by increasing our capacity to serve families in long-term housing – 85 households last year compared to 54 households the year before.  But, the issue remains.

What is it going to take, as a community, to help people get beyond harm’s way?  That is a question we need to ask of ourselves, our neighbors, and our community leaders.  During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, write a letter to the editor and talk to a neighbor about striving to end the cycle of abuse and homelessness that affects community members like Rita.

Join us for an awareness event as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Sep 19

In the News: September 19 – 23

Feature:

Local:

Homelessness:

Domestic Violence

Aug 29

In the News: August 22 – 26

The youth of Arlington have a tremendous resource to learn leadership, while Fairfax County wants to use its resources to end homelessness.  More adult children are moving in with their parents, while a supporter wants Congress to move on with reauthorizing the Violence Against Women’s Act.  This is just some of what’s in the news . . .

Local:

Homelessness:

Domestic Violence:


Aug 25

Homelessness Makes Me Sick

It is only a few weeks before the children of Doorways go back to school. Thanks to our wonderful donors who supported our Back to School Campaign, the children will be equipped with backpacks full of college-ruled paper, three-ringed binders and an umbrella for good measure. However, even with the generosity of our community, the odds are still stacked against these children. They are far more likely to miss school because homelessness and abuse make them sick.

Children experiencing homelessness struggle to succeed in school if they are too sick to fully participate. These children are four times more likely to get sick than most middle-class kids. With a high rate of sick days, over 87% of homeless children are enrolled in school, but only 77% are able to attend regularly, according to the Department of Education.

For children experiencing domestic violence, learning at school may be the furthest thing from their minds. The effects of coming from a violent home can be traumatic and long-lasting. Meaningful relationships, be they with one’s teacher or classmates, may be difficult to form, and focusing on one’s classwork may seem inconsequential compared to the stress of returning home.

The experiences that the children of Doorways experience day in and day out are an opportunity for us to teach the community about the effects of homelessness and abuse on children. There are children in the classrooms every single day trying to find a way to break the cycle of homelessness or abuse they have been experiencing, but they cannot do it alone. Education is a great way to help break that cycle, but the solution will include all of us in the community educating ourselves. As our children go back to school in a few weeks, remind them that the person next to them in class may not be as fortunate as they are.

To support our Back to School Campaign, please, send messages along on Facebook or visit our campaign website here.

Perspective and statistics inspired by The Campaign to End Child Homelessness

Aug 24

Back to School Campaign

The children in our programs are preparing to go Back to School and we want to give them the same resources that every child in Arlington should have.

Our good friend, Dawn, is here with a quick video to tell you about how you can get involved in the program:

(The Back to School program) helps children get supplies for their school year and allows them to experience Arlington County and all of its benefits.

Contribute just $10 and, if you could, forward that message to 10 of your friends, so that they could give $10; it would make such a difference this fall.”

~ Dawn, Arlington Mom and Doorways Supporter

Please help us raise $2,000 by the first day of school, Sept.6th.

Join the Campaign by donating $10 to support our Back to School program and spreading the word to 10 of your friends by finding us on Facebook or Twitter.

Aug 15

In the News: August 15 – August 19

Arlington County Public Schools are proposing a new sexual misconduct policy while Arlington takes on an initiative to fight 100 Homes for our most vulnerable.  Our area’s homeless are struggling to avoid the heat, while a new iPhone app teaches people what its like to struggle to avoid dating abuse.  And this is just some of what’s in the news . . .

Feature:

Local:

Homelessness:

Domestic Violence:

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