October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and communities all over Illinois are hosting a variety of events to honor those that have lost their lives and to highlight efforts taking place to assist survivors and their dependents. What often gets missed in these events are acknowledgements of what is required after the emergency situation is addressed.
One of the most important needs for survivors of domestic violence and their families is safe, affordable housing. Housing is often the most critical need and sometimes the most difficult to find. We talk a lot about orders of protection and how this can help keep a victim of domestic violence in their home. However, this isn’t always the best option. A relentless, abusive partner may continue to harass and damage the property. An order of protection may be denied. Or perhaps the victim simply cannot afford to stay in the existing home.
When a person is being abused and decides that going into an emergency domestic violence shelter, they do so because staying where they are is not safe. Once they enter the shelter they have roughly 45 days to find another place to live. That new place must be first and foremost affordable. And it must be safe – in other words, good facilities, good locks, and not known by the abuser.
Moving into a new place often requires thousands of dollars as well as deposits for utilities. If there is a bad – or no – credit record, or the victim has no current employment or a criminal conviction history – renting is close to impossible.
Waiting lists for public housing are often years long. A number of communities have established local ordinances that require landlords to evict tenants who have interaction with law enforcement or face fines. This can result in victims of domestic violence and their families being evicted for calling law enforcement when they are being threatened or attacked.
All of these issues listed above can prohibit victims and their children from finding safe places to live. This can lead to homelessness or transitory lives that take years to regain stability.
Today I was reading an article about the projections for affordable housing and how they are going to get substantially more scarce over the next two decades. This trend has been escalating since the 2008 economic crisis and the incentives developed to try to help are set to expire. This will lead to even more difficulties for survivors of domestic violence in moving forward to a life free of violence.
Many local agencies that provide services to victims of domestic violence have established transitional housing as well. However, this is exactly what it says – this housing will only last up to two years. It is not permanent.
As our local communities and state and local governments work toward finding solutions for this local and national shortage of affordable housing, our domestic violence services agencies are also involved in helping to find solutions. I encourage you to work with your local housing authority or local domestic violence organization to help all our neighbors live in safe, affordable housing.
— Vickie Smith, Former ICADV President/CEO