Domestic Abuse Program staff display some of the items needed during the Safe Home Harvest Food and Supply Drive.  Because the Safe Home is operated 24/7, the need for food and supplies is constant.  The annual Harvest Food and Supply Drive is currently underway, click here for a Safe Home Needs List.

National Homelessness Awareness Week, November 10-18, 2012, is a time to increase awareness about this ongoing crisis affecting more than 636,000 people in the U.S. every day.  One way we can reduce our nation’s homelessness is to help end domestic violence.

Significant percentages of homeless women report domestic violence was the immediate cause of their homelessness.  Many survivors are in highly controlled relationships and lack resources to leave the home they share with an abuser.  Without access to money, transportation or a support system, they must choose between staying in an abusive relationship and living on the streets.  Homeless shelters are not a safe option for many domestic abuse survivors who are escaping a dangerous relationship.  Daily, in the U.S., 37,000 domestic abuse survivors and their children reside in a shelter or transitional housing program.  Locally, the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan (WRCNM) provides support, counseling and safe shelter to survivors at the Safe Home.  Last year, 664 survivors and their children utilized WRCNM domestic abuse services; 135 of whom sought safety at the agency’s Safe Home and 68 made use of transitional supportive housing.

If homelessness is considered an ignored epidemic, domestic violence is an invisible one.  It occurs in intimate relationships behind closed doors, leading us to think of it as a private matter.  Domestic violence is not a private matter, it is a crime.  It is a serious national problem that affects us all – in every community, work place and school.

You can help end domestic abuse!  Support, listen to and believe survivors, and speak out against domestic abuse.  Volunteer at the WRCNM’s Safe Home.  Help others become informed by inviting the WRCNM to speak to your organization, group, school or workplace.  Be a role model by practicing respectful, healthy, non-violent relationships.

Working together as a community, we can make a positive impact on ending domestic violence and homelessness.