Most Commonly Asked Questions

What is homelessness?
Pursuant to 24 CFR 91.5 [Title 24 Housing and Urban Development; the term Homeless Person means “a youth (17 years or younger) not accompanied by an adult (18 years or older) or an adult without children, who is homeless (not imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of Congress or a State law), including the following: (1) An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (2) An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:(i) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);(ii) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or(iii) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.”

What is Transitional Housing?
“A project that is designed to provide housing and appropriate supportive services to homeless persons to facilitate movement to independent living within 24 months, or a longer period approved by HUD. For purposes of the HOME program, there is no HUD-approved time period for moving to independent living.”

What is Domestic violence?
The Department of Justice defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. Domestic violence occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and can happen to intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating.

What is Human Trafficking?
The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.

The U.S. Government defines human trafficking as:

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.
• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

This modern slave trade is a threat to all nations. A grave human rights abuse, it promotes breakdown of families and communities, fuels organized crime, deprives countries of human capital, undermines public health, creates opportunities for extortion and subversion among government officials, and imposes large economic costs.

What is Trauma?
The word “trauma” is used to describe experiences or situations that are emotionally painful and distressing, and that overwhelm people’s ability to cope, leaving them powerless. Trauma has sometimes been defined in reference to circumstances that are outside the realm of normal human experience. Unfortunately, this definition doesn’t always hold true. For some groups of people, trauma can occur frequently and become part of the common human experience.

In addition to terrifying events such as violence and assault, we suggest that relatively more subtle and insidious forms of trauma—such as discrimination, racism, oppression, and poverty—are pervasive and, when experienced chronically, have a cumulative impact that can be fundamentally life-altering.

Particular forms of trauma, such as intentional violence and/or witnessing violence, sustained discrimination, poverty, and ensuing chaotic life conditions are directly related to chronic fear and anxiety, with serious long-term effects on health and other life outcomes.

What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is the act of pleading for or arguing in favor of something or actively supporting a cause or proposal. It can also refer to the work or profession of an advocate.

What is mentoring?
Mentoring denotes a relationship between a more experienced person—the mentor—and a less experienced person—the protégé. The mentor’s role is to guide, instruct, encourage, and correct the protégé.

What is the program and housing like?
This is shared living with 3 to 5 women in a residential home. The housing is inclusive of program fees that enable women to recover, re-stabilize, and learn concepts that they must demonstrate in the home. Housing includes continental breakfast, dinner on Sunday at the home meeting, internet, cable, and all utilities. The program is a mentoring program that provides weekly and in some cases bi-weekly instruction on parenting, relationships, trauma recovery, budgeting, and resiliency to prepare the women to transition to a more positive state of wellbeing. Ours is a 26 week program in preparation for resume building, job search and career development which is ongoing.

What is the cost for the program and housing?
The cost depends on the participant’s ability to secure some measure of funding through a sponsor or through personal income. The cost is comparable to the area and below the fair market value of the area in which the participant will live. Please contact us through the “Contact Us” tab on this website to discuss your needs and pricing restrictions.