Friday, September 4, 2009

No place to go

This week, the Portland Mercury ran a story on the shelter reality for hundreds of domestic violence survivors each month -- there is often no where to go when a survivor makes the choice to leave an abusive home.

Many people assume that PWCL's call volume must be sky rocketing with the current economic climate. The truth is, we're getting the same number of calls -- about 2000 every month -- but there are less tools available to the advocates who are answering them. When physical violence is escalating at home, the survivor has no income, and there are no shelter beds, there is very little to offer in resources. When that's the case, the advocate has to get creative with safety planning while also working to provide hope and options to a caller... Not an easy job, by any means, and a job that's gotten harder as we've had to reduce the number of staff on the crisis line because of budget cuts.

PWCL has just launched its first annual campaign -- 700 at $7. We're asking our supporters to donate $7 each month; the cost of one call to the crisis line. We want 700 people to join the campaign and hope YOU will be one of them. And once you've signed up, consider asking five of your friends to do the same. Please call our business office, 503-232-9751 to learn more.

Thank you!

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