Housing Stability & Outreach Advocacy

VEAW. Has been helping the East African community since 2012 to get access to Housing Stability for a home that is reliable, secure, and affordable and meets the needs of individuals and families. Helping women and children who are homeless or in domestic violence and helping them find affordable and stable housing impacts people’s lives because it provides a strong foundation that supports other aspects of their well-being. When families can afford and have a place to live, it benefits their physical and mental health because they are protected from environmental dangers and experience less stress. Stable homes also create an environment that supports educational opportunities and helps families or individuals have a stable home. It makes it easier for them to be healthier with their families and find a job. Helping East African women and their families find affordable and stable homes will help them end domestic violence, sexual violence, and homelessness, end difficulties, provide safety, and lead to more engagement in their communities.

Advocates at our Outreach Office provide victims and survivors with needed resource advocacy services. These services include assistance with financial advocacy when applying for and securing needed government-based programs such as Food Assistance and Cash Assistance, as well as childcare services. We assist victims and survivors in achieving their own goals, which usually include securing safe and affordable housing. Our advocates coordinate services with local housing agencies as well as assist in securing first-month rent and security deposit assistance for their apartments.

Along with housing and financial advocacy, we can assist victims and survivors with what is needed to go back to work or to work for the first time. We assist victims and survivors with ESL and educational training opportunities, which helps them with successful employment opportunities in the long term.

We assist many of those we work with in securing needed health services for prenatal care or mental health services as well. Many of the victims we work with are pregnant and have not seen a doctor for prenatal services. Our advocates are trained to assist those we serve in securing the needed healthcare services to make sure that their pregnancies and births are as healthy as possible. These services are crucial for the health and well-being of the victims that we serve.

Many of the victims and survivors we serve do not have access to safe and affordable transportation and do not drive on their own. We assist those we serve with transportation services to and from necessary appointments.

We can assist victims with securing clothing resources, religious and spiritual resources, housing needs within their homes when they transition, and culturally specific services such as building support systems within their cultural communities, which is crucial in achieving long-term safety and support.