How Outreach Supports Domestic Violence Survivors

Written By Kati Daulton

“In Indiana, 1 in every 3 ‘Hoosiers’ experience or have experienced domestic violence.”

A group putting their hands together to signify unity and support.

Introduction

The statistic above, along with the rest, are provided by Domestic Violence Prevention Network, unless stated otherwise. Worldwide, 1 in 3 women report their experience with DV (domestic violence) and it’s estimated that about 50% of DV cases go unreported. This means that violence is prevalent in many people’s lives, affecting their well-being, including housing, stability, safety and trust.

Domestic violence is one of the main crises we see at Outreach. 38% of domestic violence victims will become homeless at some point in their life (Statistic provided by research done by Safe Alliance), and stepping in, supporting those who are dealing with the repercussions of active violence against them or their family is vital to protecting our community and those most vulnerable.

Below is a table of contents. ALL LINES ARE CLICKABLE, just hover over the section you want to visit and click it!

Domestic Violence Defined

There are a variety of categories that DV falls into: stalking, physical, psychological, verbal, financial, digital and reproductive coercion and/or birth control tampering. It isn’t just physical abuse between couples as portrayed by much of the media or history, it can be between family members, friends, strangers, and anyone you have a relationship with.

It could be threats of violence or withholding money, it could be sexual assault or slurs, the list is varied and many people are not aware they have dealt with abuse or currently deal with it because much the term “Domestic Violence” is typically portrayed as white, married couples.

It does, however, apply to anyone that is dealing with any of the above forms.


Housing Specific Challenges connected to Domestic Violence

Violence is such a disruption, not only of a person’s nervous system but their daily routine and life. It affects many things that are tied to keeping housing. Transportation can be tricky because sometimes the abuser refuses to let the survivor leave the house or go anywhere without being tracked or asking permission. Keeping a job is tough if someone is stalking you everywhere you go, interrupting your day at your workplace or threatening coworkers to be able to speak with you. Often the abuser will hold money over the survivor’s head, limiting their access to bank accounts, cash and basic needs.

Often these examples are the forgotten ones when discussing DV as they can appear in familial relationships, friendships, etc and not just between partners.

People with children who cannot support themselves often stay in abusive relationships much longer than they want to because they don’t want to risk losing a roof for their children or pulling them out of school.

Lastly, emotions factor into leaving abusive relationships. Many times the abuser has an important role in the survivor’s life. They feel attached to them, they may feel shame speaking to authorities or helping staff about the situations and some survivors feel like they are not ‘truly’ being abused or are ‘misinterpreting’ the situation.

All these scenarios make it incredibly difficult to look for housing options or seek help.


Outreach’s approach to Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors

  1. Trauma-Informed Care

    2. At Outreach, our staff is trained in and seeks to always grow to be more trauma-informed. We utilize practices that center around care and prioritize safety.

    An important piece of being trauma-informed is knowing WHEN NOT TO PUSH. We are not here to force services on to anyone. Often people are not ready to leave their relationship or situation just yet, as they may not even know they are not safe. But it isn’t for us to decide. We are supportive no matter where someone is in their journey. We conduct sensitive, private interviews to build trust and accurately assess housing needs, which brings me to the next thing we offer.

  2. Housing Assessments

    3. We provide high-quality, youth and young adult specific housing assessments. Our assessors are trained specifically to work with young people who are in crisis, and approach topics of violence with care, openness, and authenticity.

    Additionally, if you are seeking housing with an abuser and wish to have a separate assessment (without alerting your abuser) you can speak privately with our navigators and have that arranged.

    Our housing navigators also connect young people to COC-funded, Domestic Violence specific housing projects through the COC housing prioritization list.

  3. Connections to DV specific shelters & resources

    4. We try to align our support with each survivors’ unique situation, including emergency shelter. We can provide a list of Indianapolis, DV specific shelters and resources.

    This streamlines the referral process and we want to give support to our clients when calling shelters as it can be a daunting and vulnerable task.

  4. Individualized Care Plans & Therapy

    5. We have different staff, skilled in different areas. Something special that we are proud to offer is staff who can help with safety plans. We have housing navigators to help with safety plans. We also have a trusted, in-house, licensed therapist that clients can be connected to, to work through trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc. We also host a trusted partner therapist from our partner organizations Fountain Square Counseling.

  5. Group Programming Education

    6. Outreach hosts Domestic Violence Prevention Network for group presentations. These are fruitful discussions held in our program center, where young people learn more about DV, how to spot it in their own lives or the lives of loved ones, how to prevent it, and what types of impacts it has on our community.

    These programs are free and completely voluntary and we encourage anyone, staff, friends, volunteers, to join them and learn more!


    How Volunteers and Partner Organizations Can Help

    Supporting Outreach Efforts

    Become an informed advocate and connect survivors to Outreach. Get your friend to come in, offer to drive your coworker, cutting down access barriers is the first step.

    Assist with domestic violence resource distribution and awareness campaigns. Not just ours but partner organizations like Beacon of Hope, DVPN and Coburn Place! All are linked below, so check out their websites, too!

    Partnering for Long-Term Solutions

    Collaborative housing projects are always needed. There are only 5 housing projects (at the time of this writing) that are youth and young adult specific in Indianapolis. None of them are domestic violence specific, and the need for safe and sustainable housing is rising. Adding a youth and domestic violence specific housing project to the network would be tremendous in supporting our young people.

    But that isn’t the only option for a long-term solution. Outreach is always taking volunteers, looking to collaborate with people and organizations who have aligned values and missions and we are always interested in discussing better ways to support our young people. Reach out to one of our staff members (check out our staff page) and discuss today what the best step for you is.

    Lastly if you or someone else is in a crisis situation that is threatening your housing or safety, you can reach out to our triage hotline (317) 699-1994!


    Conclusion

    Safe housing, personalized care, and open access to domestic violence resources should be the standard, and yet often communities fall short. Mostly because they are uninformed or lack a strong system with integrity, to uphold their resource centers. But each person has a part to play in the community. The health of the community determines the health of the individual, and vice versa. It is imperative that we look out for each other and build enough trust with one another to be able to open up and be vulnerable enough to ask for help.

    We are always striving to do better at this and we invite you to come visit us and see how we are approaching community wellness, safe housing and relationship-based networking, as we support our young people.

Kati Daulton
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