It is a time of great healing. While a woman is living at the house, she is also beginning to work on her own plans. If she needs economic assistance, Women's Advocates will help her apply for welfare assistance while she is still at the shelter. Legal counseling is often necessary, if in the end, divorce is the solution. Protection orders, exclusive occupancy of her home, custody and support remedies can be initiated, with or without the initiation of divorce proceedings.
Women also can choose to begin vocational counseling while residing at the shelter.
In addition to all this decision-making and stress, women face the challenge of finding affordable housing for themselves and their children. We help the women identify and secure affordable housing. Any woman who leaves a violent man and decides to stay away faces this struggle, especially if she has young children. There is so little available to support and bolster her individual effort. She has almost no money, inadequate housing, no transportation, very few faithful friends or relatives, almost no recognition or praise, and few opportunities for recreation or help with child care.