Imagine, for a moment, a survivor with their children on the brink of making the hardest decision of their life, fleeing their home to escape violence and abuse. Add to this a pandemic, nowhere to go and the fate of being homeless. Each of these are stressful events on their own. Now imagine all occurring at the same time for abuse survivors over the holidays.
COVID-19 has caused economic devastation, emotional trauma, and disconnect from extended family, and community support systems. These conditions are contributing to violence in families where it didn’t exist before and making it worse in homes where violence has been a problem. Due to the increase in family hardships, we are seeing a disturbing level of abuse and family violence in our community.
One woman in our shelter wrote: “The staff at AARC are my angels. They have helped me so much. They helped me realize I am not alone and that I do have a voice that needs to be heard.”
Today marks the first day of our year-end holiday appeal. Your HELP is needed more than ever. These survivors and their children need hope, they need help, and they need YOU!
In 2019 it cost $72 a day to provide shelter, food and support for one survivor and their children. The average stay in our emergency shelter was 33 days and cost $2,376. Our transitional shelter average stay is 9 months to 1 year and costs up to $24,192.
Partner with us by sending a check in the enclosed envelope or become a monthly contributor on our gift giving plan by visiting our shelter donation page.