A candid dialogue about the effort to end intimate partner violence and family homelessness
Arlington County Tennis Association Doubles Tournament
May 29th & 30th
Celebrate Memorial Day weekend and support Doorways at the same time! Arlington County Tennis Association invites you put your game face on and support Doorways by participating in their Charity Doubles Tournament.
As the HomeStart Program Director, I receive referrals and calls from families and individuals who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless weekly. I also sit on the committee that reviews applications each week for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).
It is extremely disheartening to hear story after story of all the need that is out there and the difficult situations that people are facing that are, for the most part, out of their control. I hear about a father who has been laid off from his job and struggles to find a new one; a single mother who was injured at work and her employer refuses to pay for her medical care and lost wages; a teen mother who recently aged out of foster care and is struggling to complete a training program while being a mom to two young children; a single father who decided to finish his high school degree, but as a result doesn’t earn enough to pay his rent and utilities; another single mother who did not have enough money to renew her work permit and lost her job, and the list goes on and on.
Through Doorways two programs (HomeStart and HPRP), we can assist some of these families with rental subsidies and supportive services, but not all. There never seems to be enough assistance to go around. And sometimes, it just does not make sense to place a family in housing because they may not have other resources in place to maintain that housing. We can help with rent payments, and sometimes even utilities, but that still leaves other unmet needs, such as food, transportation, childcare costs and medical expenses. The last thing we want to do is set a family up to fail by putting them in a situation that they do not have the means to support and maintain. For some families, preserving their housing or moving them into housing quickly makes sense, but for others, it would ultimately put them further behind in their process of stabilizing their housing and their lives.
Sometimes, there are just too many barriers in place that take time to work through, and time in our shelters, where a lot of their basic needs are met, is just what they need to strengthen their foundation. That way, they can start out in their own housing with a strong base, which increases their chances of long-term stability and success.
~Julie Faden, HomeStart Program Director
HUD, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, has issued a draft of changes to the current definition of homelessness contained in the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act. This definition affects who is eligible for various HUD-funded homeless assistance programs such as funds for shelters and transitional housing programs.
Read the new draft definition and proposed change.
This definition could impact families like the ones we serve at Doorways by expanding access to services and defining families who are “doubling up” or “couch surfing” as homeless, people who are currently not counted. However, now the question becomes, how will families in need be able to “prove” their status to be counted?
What do you think about the proposed changes? Should Doorways advocate for these changes? Read about the new definition and let us know what you think.
Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary
The Housing and Urban Development Secretary answered questions at a May 18 Christian Science Monitor Breakfast about his plan to reallocate up to $1 billion in additional funds to stabilize those neighborhoods that were the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.
Excerpt on Family Homelessness
On combating homelessness as part of HUD’s mission:
“Over the last four years we have seen roughly a 30 percent decrease in chronic homelessness…. We are making a lot of progress there. The issue in the economic crisis is family homelessness [and] is more of a challenge….. The Recovery Act invested a billion and a half dollars in the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program … to target relatively small amounts of money to families at risk of homelessness or who had just [become homeless]…. If it is $1,000 [to help a family] and you avoid tens of thousands of dollars of costs in emergency rooms or shelters, that is a smart investment…. That is an approach I am very excited about.”
Guests and Doorways staff in the Family Home play room during a tour.
Doorways Brighter Futures Tour Thursday, May 27, 1:00 pm
The Brighter Futures Tours illustrate the mission and services of Doorways, as well as showcase the Freddie Mac Foundation Family Home.
Learn more and register to attend here. Hope you can join us!
Telling Amy's Story Discussion Panel
“If you can’t feel safe in your own home, what good is it to live in a safe community?”—Det. Deirdri Fishel, State College (PA) Police Department
As a member of Doorways’ Development Team, I don’t interact with our clients on a regular basis. Every once in a while, I need to be reminded that what we do actually makes a difference. Last night was one of those times.
On Tuesday May 18, 2010, I attended the premiere of Telling Amy’s Story, a film created in partnership with the Verizon Foundation and Penn State Public Broadcasting. The documentary detailed the story of Amy, and the events that lead up to her murder by her abusive husband. Detectives meticulously pieced the timeline of abuse together and the film includes interviews with Amy’s family and co-workers, and the law enforcement and judicial officials that were involved in her case both before and after her death.
It’s a story that was difficult to watch. However, the message that resonated with me is that the community as a whole needs to work together to prevent and end domestic and intimate partner violence. Doorways can’t do it alone. We can provide the shelter, the food, the clothing, and even children’s services, court advocates and volunteers. But we, and our clients, need the help and competency of local social service agencies, judicial systems and police forces to act when violence as occurred. We need co-workers and families to be able to recognize the signs, and know how to help. We need everyone in our community to know what to do if they know someone in a situation like Amy’s. As this film pointed out, and as we know well, this situation could happen to anybody, anywhere.
As I continue my work with the local, regional and national businesses that support Doorways, I will take Amy’s story with me, and encourage all of our corporate partners to take advantage of Doorways’ “Domestic Violence In the Workplace” training. The more we can educate our community, the better chance we have of actually reaching our goal of ending domestic violence in Northern Virginia.
~Kerry Goldstein, Doorways Donor Relations Manager
Red Flag Poster about Emotional Abuse
I encourage you to listen to this compelling conversation on the Diane Rehm show, “Abusive Relationships Among Teens and Young Adults” with national experts on teen dating violence. This conversation confirms the greater need to conduct violence prevention programs like healthy dating education and the facilitation of positive peer to peer dialogues about dating violence. The facts of the UVA case and Yeardley Love’s death shows that her peers, and Mr. Huguely’s peers, knew there were signs and potential for violence in the relationship yet may not have had the tools to safely and effectively intervene.
The Red Flag campaign is aimed at that very type of intervention. The Red Flag Campaign is designed to raise awareness about the “red flags” or warning signs someone might see in a friend or family member’s unhealthy and violent relationship. The campaign’s posters give suggestions for how friends can, and should, step in to offer assistance. This is critical education when the CDC estimates that woman age 16-24 are the highest at-risk population to experience dating violence. This is the prime age bracket when the roots of intimate partner violence/dating violence take hold. It is paramount that high schools and colleges need to be doing more to educate and raise awareness. This is a public health issue and should be addressed at the same level we address other health issues such as alcohol and drug abuse.
Conversations like this one are a good place to start. Listen to the show now and join our conversation by commenting below.
Cherry Blossoms...a sign of springs renewal
Most of you are probably like me in finding yourself making annual renewals to our subscriptions to civic, faith or professional memberships, magazines, maintenance contracts, and the sort. We undertake these annual commitments because of the value or sensibility of continuity and dependable return of goods or services. Those entities receiving our annual commitment are then in a better position to carry out their service, deliver their product, and plan for the future. It makes good sense.
It’s along that same thinking that Doorways moved a couple years ago to establish it’s Spring Annual Fund Renewal Campaign. By giving our donors a yearly opportunity to renew their personal commitment to our humanitarian cause… in a membership like way… Doorways capacity to carry out its work is strengthened.
It’s an act of compassionate to renew one’s value’s to enhance the lives of persons less fortunate in your own community. I hope our supporters will integrate Doorways into their annual rituals of commitment through our Spring Annual Fund Renewal campaign. Help us depend on vital reliable funds to sustain our life giving work.
Doorways Television and Radio Interviews this Week
Monday, May 17: 12pm- Channel 8 “Let’s Talk Live”
Doorways Board Member and Former Client Jeanne and Development Director Scott Perkins will discuss the impact of domestic violence and the Doorways PAWS program.
Saturday, May 22: 10am – 1500 AM Federal News Radio, WTOPs sister radio station
Doorways Executive Director, Linda Dunphy, will be interviewed about the Doorways Financial Independence Track Program and the role financial health and wealth plays in the lives of homeless families and domestic violence survivors.
Listen: Federal News Radio 1500AM and 820AM and can also be heard on the internet.
Because we serve families at Doorways, the majority of our clients are children and youth under the age of 18. These children have lived in homes with violence and/or have experienced homelessness with their families. To honor Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, our guest blogger today is Diana Ortiz, Doorways Child Mental Health Specialist. Diana’s role is dedicated to serving youth at Doorways who need support around their psychological and emotional health and to support them in healing from trauma. I hope you enjoy her story. ~Linda
Allowing children to “tell” their story is a great start to a new chapter in their lives. After experiencing intense and difficult events, children need time to process and make sense of what has happened. That is what I do. I offer children at Doorways a place to heal, a place to make sense of the non-sense, to let go of the past, and to learn new skills.
My job is to provide a safe environment for children struggling with previous trauma to begin the healing process. I learn from them. I decipher their secret codes. I read their stories and I help them heal. Because a child’s world is constructed by playing, it only makes sense to find the path to heal in their games. But to do this I have to gain their trust.
Often, I’ll introduce myself to a new child by saying “Hi, I am Diana, I work for Doorways, and as your mommy or daddy have meetings, we can have meetings too. I can sit with you and we can make up stories, read books, paint, color, draw, play with puppets or play a game. While we play, we may talk about the ‘stuff’ that’s sometimes difficult to talk about, and we may also learn new things that will help you to feel better.”
I have ‘meetings’ with the children in my office, in their living room, in the back yard. Sometimes we meet just the two of us, sometimes with their mommy or daddy or with their siblings and sometimes we have groups. Every child is different, and I honor those differences. What may work with one, may not work with the other, so I listen to them, and follow their directions. It feels good when a child is able to sleep better, go to school, or stop getting into fights at school. All those are good signs that they are starting to make sense of their world again, and they are allowed to be kids again.
~Diana Ortiz, Doorways Child Mental Health Specialist
Caroline Jones
Executive Director
Hear about the challenges and rewards of leading a nonprofit and the personal journeys of those whose lives have been forever changed by Doorways
Since 1978, Doorways for Women and Families has provided a life saving continuum of care, hope and safety for thousands of women and families experiencing domestic violence and/or homelessness
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