A year after the Evanston Shelter for Battered Women and Children started its transitional housing program, shelter directors said the program has been an effective tool in the fight against domestic violence.
According to Illinois Commissioner Kaethe Morris Hoffer, there are an estimated 300,000 abused women in the state of Illinois. A total of 16,570 women and children were turned away from domestic violence shelters in 1997 because of lack of space.
Evanston’s 33-person short-term emergency shelter is run by the Young Women’s Christian Association and is one of several shelters in the Chicago area designed to give women and children temporary refuge from abuse.
In May 2000, the transitional housing program was started to offer women and their children a long-term option.
“The important thing is that women are getting the opportunity to stabilize and make important life changes,” said Pamela Henderson, director of the program.
The two-year program offers four Evanston-area women and their children a chance to move into apartments. The program provides them with counseling, financial planning and life-skills training to designed to effect life changes.
The program was started because residents can only stay at the shelter for 90 days, and there was a need for more long-term support for women dedicated to recovery, said Henderson.
“It allows them to get through the crisis,” said Christie Dailey, Evanston YWCA executive director. “The shelter does not give them time to change their permanent living patterns.”
The program recently added a fifth Evanston apartment, and will accept another woman into the program.
The program focuses not on quantity of women, but on ensuring that the program works for the women involved, Dailey said.
“We are not looking for high numbers,” she said. “We want women who are willing to recover and stabilize.”
Potential applicants are interviewed about future plans and goals in order to be eligible for transitional housing. Dailey said priority is given to families that demonstrate a good chance for success.
“We look for women who will take advantage of this opportunity,” Dailey said.
To qualify for the program, the women must spend a minimum of 30 days in the shelter, be drug- and alcohol-free and have a counselor’s recommendation.
Pamela Henderson said that during the two years in transitional housing, each woman must work toward stability by going to school or working.
“The women have jobs and some are working to obtain a GED or another educational certificate,” Henderson said.
The program also offers financial assistance to ensure that the families can meet their cost of living.
During the first year, women pay the program 25 percent of their income. The second year the program cost depends on their annual incomes, which range from $7,000 to $23,000, Henderson said.
She said she hopes the women meet their goals so they can continue living in their apartments after completing the program.
The program keeps the location of each woman’s apartment private and advises the women to do the same. This system of confidentiality, which is mandatory in the shelter, means the abuser is less likely to find the woman and her children.
Henderson said each apartment is safe and affordable. Although only one landlord gave the program a reduced rental rate, Henderson said the directors work at maintaining a positive relationship.
“The program has good relationships with landlords and this allows the program to be more successful,” she said.
The transitional housing program has greatly improved the shelter’s capacity to offer long-term support for battered women, Dailey said. After one year, she said, the program has already proven effective in helping women and their children.
