[R]UTLAND — Nearly a million dollars in state funding was spent on emergency housing through the motel voucher program in Rutland County last year, according to the Department for Children and Families. That’s an increase of more than $140,000 from the previous year.
And nearly a third of those seeking housing in the county were fleeing domestic violence, said Avaloy Lanning, executive director of the Rutland Women’s Network and Shelter.
Lanning said those figures point to the urgency of providing safe and secure housing to people fleeing violence. State officials have documented a statewide increase in the demand for shelter because of domestic violence.
Earlier this year the Women’s Network received a $222,000 grant from the state to administer the emergency housing program for victims of domestic violence. A similar grant was awarded to the Women’s Freedom Center in Brattleboro in January. Sean Brown, deputy commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, said the department is in negotiations with another provider in Bennington to do the same.
The move is part of a statewide effort to give community organizations, whether homeless shelters or service providers for victims of domestic violence, greater control over the emergency housing program.
Brown said the aim is to create stable long-term housing options. “Placing people in motels doesn’t get us closer to that goal,” he said.
Vickie Sterling, director of the Women’s Freedom Center, said the streamlining of the process has been a positive development. The center now has direct contact with victims of domestic violence seeking housing and can not only help them find shelter but also provide treatment and support. Sterling said the goal was not to simply take over the motel voucher pool for emergency housing but to provide alternatives.
“Motels are a necessary but not ideal option,” Sterling said. They can be difficult to live in for an extended period of time. There’s usually no place to cook or store belongings. And they can increase the sense of isolation that victims of domestic violence often experience, Sterling said.
The Women’s Freedom Center has been able to reduce the amount of time individuals and families spend in motels, said Sterling. Since the center now actively manages the cases of those who are seeking housing, which the state was unable to do, the Women’s Center can make sure they are moved into the shelter as soon as a room opens up.
The Women’s Network in Rutland will still have to rely primarily on motels — at least at first — but Lanning said it is hoping to improve access and expand the available options. Lanning said the goal is to have greater geographic diversity and to rely less on motels that are commonly known to provide emergency housing.
“We work with people who’ve experienced violence,” said Lanning. “Their abusers could be looking for them.”
According to data from fiscal 2015, of the 15 motels participating in the voucher program in Rutland County, 10 are in Rutland. Lanning said the Women’s Network would like to have more options in other towns so individuals or families can leave the city if they want to.
The shelter itself recently expanded its total number of rooms from five to nine and can house between 30 and 40 people at a time. The Women’s Freedom Center is also undergoing an expansion with state funding to double its capacity from six to 12 rooms.
Lanning said the shelter will maintain close contact with both clients and motel owners in an effort to improve conditions and oversight. She said motel owners have their own concerns — including whether participating in the voucher program will hurt their business; how to address safety and security issues that might arise; and whether there are rules and regulations they need to comply with. But Lanning said the response has been encouraging.
“We reached out to a lot of locally owned motels throughout the county who haven’t typically housed people for emergency housing, and we found them to be willing to do it and eager to do it,” Lanning said.
In the Women’s Network’s first week overseeing the program, Lanning said, it has already distributed vouchers. The first family it housed was a man and his children who were fleeing domestic violence.
Lanning said this was significant in light of the perception that victims of domestic violence are only women — and typically heterosexual women. “No matter how many times we say we work with men, it’s very difficult,” she said. In addition, Lanning said the organization doesn’t want to exclude members of the LGBTQ community.
According to Lanning, the organization is coming up with a new name for the shelter, which has been known as the Rutland Women’s Network and Shelter since 1979. “It will not say ‘women,’ and it will not say ‘shelter,’” Lanning said.
Those seeking emergency housing can contact the shelter directly at 802-775-6788 or any of its partner agencies, including the homeless prevention center, Rutland District Economic Services or 211, a hotline for social services information.
