Jane* first came to Shelter House in 2008 and utilized Outreach services. Her husband of two years was physically and emotionally abusive. When he went to prison, Jane stopped using our services. Two years later, she called the hotline looking to get out of another abusive relationship. This time, Jane entered our emergency shelter then continued with Outreach services.
Between her two abusers, Jane’s credit had been destroyed. Some of the apartment complexes where she had lived would not allow her to live there because of all the domestic violence disturbances that had happened in her home. These factors led Jane to live with roommates. In 2014, her roommate sexually assaulted her. Jane returned to shelter and eventually secured a spot in one of our Transitional Housing apartments.
That was nine months ago. In that time, Jane has worked to build a good rapport with the property managers so she can take over the lease in her own name once her time in the Transitional Program comes to an end. She has also used knowledge gained in Shelter House’s economic empowerment program to set goals for herself. She started budgeting and participated in the IDA program to work toward buying a car. She had been relying on her bike, coworkers and public transportation to get to work and back. This practice put her safety at risk once again.
Within five months of setting the goal and working the program, Jane bought her own car! She is enjoying her new found independence and the security of owning a car. Jane isn’t stopping there. Her next goal is to rebuild her credit and restart her own cleaning business.