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Transitional LivingA Safe Place has finally achieved its goal of creating the first transitional living program in Lake County, providing affordable housing for victims of domestic violence and their children. March 2006 marked the opening of One Safe Place: 20 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments in a newly constructed facility with on-site supportive services. Since 1980, A Safe Place has addressed the reality of domestic violence by providing services that offer safety and empowerment to battered women. Our services include individual, group and family counseling services in locations that serve victims in Lake, McHenry and northern Cook counties. We also offer immediate safety in our shelter. Year after year, affordable housing has been the greatest unmet need of the women leaving our shelter program. Our six-week program is often not enough time for women to find jobs and have enough savings to secure independent housing. The unfortunate truth is that 20% of the women leaving shelter report to us that they have returned to the home of their abuser, often out of economic necessity. In addition, we know that women and children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in America. Our new Transitional Living Program provides safe, affordable housing, counseling, and supportive services for women and children who have fled abusive relationships. Each family is able to stay for up to two years, pay below-market rent and benefit from comprehensive on-site supportive services and referrals to other community service providers. The 20-unit apartment building can accommodate a projected 49 women and children at any one time. Transitional living is designed to
Our goal for each woman or family in the Transitional Living Program is that within two years they will amass the resources and skills they need — education, employment, financial management, parenting, and personal development — to secure and maintain permanent housing and live independent, violence-free lives. While the new Transitional Living program advances A Safe Place’s mission to address the scourge of domestic violence in our communities, the problem continues to demonstrate its entrenchment: Domestic violence continues to be…1. The single largest cause of injury to women in the U.S. — more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined; 2. The single major cause of health care expense for Chicago-area women; 3. Responsible for more than one-third of all female murder victims; 4. Related to nearly one-third of all suicide attempts by women; and 5. An experience shared by one-fourth of all American families. A Safe Place is grateful to the many individuals, organizations and corporations who have supported and made donations to this project. We are still short of our goal, however, and we need the same community collaborative effort that has enabled our agency to address the needs of battered women and their children these past 27 years to help us reach our goal. A Safe Place seeks to raise an additional $1.4 million dollars to secure the future of affordable transitional housing for our clients. Please consider making a donation now. Your assistance will allow A Safe Place to continue serving battered women and the child witnesses of domestic violence who deserve to live without fear. We appreciate your interest in supporting A Safe Place and your community. For more information on how your donation will help A Safe Place, call 847-731-7165. Please help us to eliminate domestic violence and donate to A Safe Place today.
Copyright ©2001-2008 A Safe Place. All rights reserved. |
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