Halfway Housing |
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For women who find refuge in shelters for abused women, physical distance from their batterers is not the ultimate solution to their predicaments but rather, a first step towards a new life. Mostly lacking self-confidence and unaware of their basic rights, they often have limited education, few life-management skills, and little or no earning ability. Leaving the comparative security and welcome respite of a women’s shelter for independent living, without overcoming these hurdles, is a daunting challenge that can undo much of the progress toward independence made during the stay in a shelter. To address these difficulties and provide requisite follow-up and consistent maintenance in the transition to self-sufficiency, Woman to Woman operates a unique Halfway Housing program, intended for women after their stay in any one of Israel’s shelters for battered women. Woman to Woman pioneered the program over three decades ago with a single apartment; it now comprises two clusters of apartments in Jerusalem and the Coastal Plain, each year offering between 25-30 “graduates” of battered women’s shelters free housing for 6-12 months, group and individual counseling, tuition in life skills, vocational guidance, continued legal aid, and activities for children. In Jerusalem, a vibrant tutorial program also allows the children in Halfway Housing to enjoy individual homework help so that they can keep up with their school work despite the physical and emotional upheavals. Depending on availability and personal circumstances, accommodation can be provided to one or two families in each apartment. Scores of women have benefited from the program since its inception; most of them have not returned to abusive situations and have successfully integrated into communities all over Israel. The program has garnered well-earned public and institutional recognition and is partially supervised by and funded by the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services. On the basis of its Halfway Housing and Community Integration programs, in January 2009 Woman to Woman was awarded the prestigious Knesset Speaker’s Quality of Life Prize for its contribution to society and the community in combating domestic violence. |
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