Tri-County Transitional Housing Program for Victims of Domestic Violence to be Established in Ohio

Sandusky, OH, September 03, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter, Inc. has been awarded a Transitional Housing Assistance Grant by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women to establish Homeward Bound, a transitional housing project. This is the first time that these grant monies have been bestowed to any agency in the Firelands’ Area.

Grants made under this program support programs that provide assistance to individuals and their children who are in need of housing assistance as a result of fleeing a situation of domestic violence, and for whom emergency shelter services or other crisis intervention services are unavailable or insufficient.

Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter, Inc. joined with the Volunteers of America of Northwest Ohio, Inc., Zonta Club of Sandusky Area, Ottawa County Transitional Housing, Inc., and the Sandusky Area YMCA to form Homeward Bound. Additionally, local landlords, churches, the OSU Extension Office, and other service providers are key elements to the overall project’s success.

The purpose of this partnership is to create comprehensive, wrap-around services for victims of domestic violence, who are homeless or at risk of being homeless, who reside in Erie, Ottawa, or Huron counties in the state of Ohio. Homeward Bound represents the commitment of agencies and community members in the three counties to work together to streamline efforts, search for effective alternatives, and leverage existing resources in order to create holistic, victim-centered services that assist victims of domestic violence obtain safe, secure, and permanent housing.

“Homeward Bound will make a tremendous difference for women and their children in our community by filling a current gap for those who victimized by domestic violence” said Linda Mitchell, Executive Director of Safe Harbour. “For more than five years, I have dreamed of establishing a transitional housing program and I am thrilled about the opportunity that the Office on Violence Against Women has provided us” she further stated. Safe Harbour called upon Lauren Litton of I.S.P. Consulting, based in Norwalk, Ohio to assist in locating and securing funding for the project, as she has worked nationally on violence against women and child abuse related issues.

Ms. Litton indicated that “this project is built upon the belief that with the necessary time, support and opportunities, families will be able to live violence free and break the cycle of poverty and domestic violence.” Safe Harbour will work with its partners to offer clients intensive case management services. It is anticipated that clients will locate and obtain the housing of their choice, receive necessary subsidies, and increase their self-sufficiency skills in order to maintain their housing once the subsidies have ended. As of September 1, 2006 the project will enter into its planning phase with the goal of being operational by the end of the year.

For information about community collaboration and violence against women and children contact Lauren Litton at (419) 660-8000.

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