Birikti Kahsai, Summer Intern with the Partnership for Strong Communities
On Friday, July 11th, the Partnership for Strong Communities hosted a webinar highlighting the intimate relationship between housing affordability and family safety. Bringing together partners from the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) to The Violence Institute, and Safe Futures on the virtual panel shed light on the intersectional crises of safety and housing affordability. Click here to watch a recording of this webinar.
The webinar began with an introduction from the Partnership’s Advocacy and Education Manager, Danielle Hubley. Emphasizing the Partnerships belief in housing as a fundamental human right, she also underscored that access to safe, stable homes is crucial to personal and family safety; citing the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Hubley pointed to housing as “one of the main needs identified by survivors” of violence and abuse who were living in temporary shelters. In doing so, Hubley set the stage for the two major themes of the conversation: the centrality of housing access to addressing domestic violence, and the nature of housing as a deeply intersectional issue.
Dr. Polly Marston, the founder of The Violence Institute and an employee of the Department of Children and Families, built on the connections between housing affordability and breaking cycles of abuse. She identified the challenges faced by survivors as a shortage of affordable units, a high cost burden, the disproportionate barriers experienced by low-income households, and a limited inventory of units. Challenging attendees to replace the language of affordable housing with safe housing, Marston detailed how the inaccessibility of affordable housing was a major stressor that contributed to spikes in violence and kept survivors from escaping violent situations.
Violence, Marston continued, is a “safety-seeking behavior,” with moments of strain leading to outbursts. The same phenomenon can be observed with the Gender Role Conflict. Describing the ways “in which socialized gender roles have negative consequences for the person or others,” the Gender Role Conflict has been connected to school and community shootings and often intersects with abuse experienced by the socialized in their personal or family life. With both Domestic Violence and the Gender Role Conflict, the outcome is deeply traumatic for the individuals directly affected and their broader community unit. Reducing stressors such as a lack of access to safe housing, decreases the likelihood of violence and enables survivors to leave at high rates.
Expanding on the crucial nature of accessible and safe housing, Yolanda Porter, Director of Housing Advocacy with the CCADV, spoke at length about the significance of Domestic Violence Rapid Rehousing. A crucial housing first intervention, its holistic approach and low barrier to entry often leads survivors to improved outcomes, from tangible increases in income to better emotional stability. Porter also touched on the essential nature of complementary legislative reform protecting survivors, from enabling them to break their lease early to preventing landlords from evicting tenants prematurely.
It was this holistic approach that Fenty Lee, Director of Residential Programs at Safe Futures, concluded with. Giving participants a broad overview of the range of services offered by Safe Future’s Safe Way program, she touched on some of the challenges faced by service providers. From a lack of funding to burnout, a lack of capacity and adequate resources remain significant hurdles.
Lee’s presentation underscored the urgency of this panel discussion: public awareness and increased partnerships are critical to ensuring survivor-centered services are fully funded, accessible, and holistic. This means not only addressing the root causes of violence, but also mitigating deeply intertwined issues such as the equally intersectional crisis of housing affordability.