DASH was featured in the National Housing Law Project’s (NHLP) March 2012 newsletter, which highlights a number of DASH’s programs as national best practices for addressing homelessness amongst domestic violence victims. The NHLP is a nonprofit national housing and legal advocacy center established in 1968 to advance housing justice for poor people. The newsletter includes a full page on DASH, featuring information on The Cornerstone Project, The Empowerment Project, Project PATH, and the Domestic Violence and Housing Taskforce. DASH is one of a handful of organizations in the country dedicated to increasing housing access for victims by developing housing programs and advocating for systemic change.
DASH has made great strides in addressing the housing needs of survivors of domestic violence. Since its inception, DASH has helped survivors have over 37,665 “safe nights” and provided safe housing to 218 individuals. In addition, through community outreach efforts, DASH trained more than 1,500 abuse survivors to exercise their housing rights so as to avoid eviction stemming from violence in their homes. DASH also has trained more than 60 housing providers seeking to improve their response to victims in their programs. Despite the economic downturn, DASH continues to work hard to ensure quality housing for survivors and their families. For more information about DASH, please visit www.dashdc.org.
The newsletter also featured information on the report released in February by the National Network on Domestic Violence – a National Census on Domestic Violence Services. It illustrated that, in total, 1,726 out of 1,944 domestic violence programs in the United States and its territories participated. The census has several findings regarding housing needs of domestic violence survivors. The census found that on September 15, 2011, 67,399 adults and children sought services from domestic violence programs. Of those individuals, more than 36,000 received emergency shelter or transitional housing from a domestic violence program. Of the victims served, 35% were living in emergency shelter and 19% were living in transitional housing. Of the domestic violence programs surveyed, 74% provided emergency shelter, and 35% provided transitional housing. Additionally, 82% of the programs provided advocacy for survivors related to housing or landlords.
DASH is honored to be in partnership with the National Housing Law Project. For information on their domestic violence and housing newsletter, please contact Meliah Schultzman at mschultzman@nhlp.org or 415-546-7000 x. 3116.
