Womens Advocates Inc

Shelter food and facilitiesfor 50 years, providing safe shelter for victim-survivors of domestic violence has been at the heart of women's advocates' mission. Emergency shelter provides victim-survivors of domestic violence and their children with up to 90 days of safe respite shelter with meals and supportive services. Our shelter space consists of 15 bedrooms, 7 resident bathrooms, and a commercial kitchen where three meals each day are prepared for our residents seeking shelter and safety from abusive situations. Residents have access to laundry facilities, personal computers, a living room, dining room, and secure children's playground. Our emergency shelter programs served 239 individuals in fy22023-2024, including 127 adults and 112 children with an 82-day average length of stay. Shelter food & facilities provides a secure, safe home for residents. Sheila wellstone children's program and lean on me youth intervention offers drop-in childcare services, after-school homework space, educational advocacy with schools, youth mentorship, recreational activities, and healing supports to help meet the socio-emotional needs of children who have witnessed domestic violence. Housing stability services are available to victim-survivors and their children exiting the shelter. Former residents receive support to continue navigating legal systems, housing challenges, employment searches, and targeted community support.

Housing stability services our housing stability program utilizes a broad array of government and private funding to provide housing navigation and eviction prevention services to residents of our shelter and victim-survivors in the community experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. Our housing stability advocates work with participants to remove barriers to housing, negotiate with landlords to find safe, stable rentals that participants can afford, and provide participants with flexible financial assistance for expenses for up to 60 months depending on funding source. In fy23-24, our housing stability program served 206 individuals in 94 households.

Outreach and youth engagement programmingthe outreach team provides community-based dv advocacy through pop-up advocacy events which held twice weekly in community settings such as the rondo community outreach library. In fy2023-2024, pop-up advocacy connected 2,073 community members with resources, dv education, and advocacy. Our youth engagement team also conducts street outreach to help reach young adults aged 18-24 who may be at risk for or experiencing commercial sexual exploitation/trafficking, while our lean on me program provides mentorship opportunities for older youth during their shelter stay. Women's advocates is committed to preventing domestic violence in our communities through virtual and in person education and training for community members and professionals such as teachers, healthcare providers, and others who serve victim-survivors and their families. In 2023-2024, our community education and training program trained 2,077 community members to recognize the warning signs, dynamics, and impact of abuse through 98 events.

Sheila wellstone children's program the children who arrive at our shelter accompanied by their caregivers have experienced trauma and often witnessed or been the victim of violent acts. The sheila wellstone children's program is committed to offering safety planning, school support, special activities, and drop-in childcare services catering to the special needs of survivors and their children. Children's program staff work with each child and their caregiver at the shelter to nurture each child's development. Staff also provide advocacy services for children in our housing stability program to ensure children and youth are enrolled in school and have all the resources they need to thrive after crisis. In fy2023-2024, the children's program provided services to 112 children staying in our emergency shelter and in the community through our housing stability program.

Mn pet foster coalitionthe mn pet foster coalition (mnpc) utilizes volunteer foster home placements to provide safe shelter for companion animals, addressing a major barrier for victim-survivors fleeing domestic violence. With 71% of victim-survivors in shelters reporting their abuser harmed or threatened their pet, safe foster options ensure that no survivor must choose between leaving an abusive situation and losing their pets. In 2023-2024, we responded to 40 pet foster care requests.