Taking Long-Term Stability to a New Level
Before the pandemic forced shifts in our work to provide domestic violence response and support, we at the Family Crisis Center were planning to add longer-term housing to our services mix. As the operator of Baltimore County’s only emergency shelter building for families fleeing violence, we know well the unmet need for stable housing after the immediate crisis has passed. And we wanted to expand support in the county for finding, paying for and furnishing apartments where families could safely begin to reclaim their daily lives and independence.
“As families approached the 90-day limit in emergency shelter, we supported their search for housing through referrals and application assistance, but we didn’t have actual housing units where we could send people. And we wanted to be able to extend that runway,” says Allie Post, Operations, Logistics & Facilities Coordinator at FCC.
COVID-19 accelerated demand for—and our urgency around—this housing effort. In early 2021, FCC received American CARES Act funds to provide rapid re-housing and connect families to permanent housing through tailored assistance that includes up to one year of rental assistance and 18 months of care coordination support…a critical and timely resource for our families that would not have been possible without the partnership and swift and able leadership of Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski and the staff at the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development and Department of Planning.
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“The impacts of COVID-19 exacerbated the already traumatic and disruptive impacts of domestic violence, with 80% of those staying in our emergency shelter requiring further assistance to recover from traumatic impacts, ensure safety and establish stability,” adds FCC Executive Director Amie Post. “The combined resources that rapid re-housing provides are key to disrupting and preventing cycles of violence.”
Since March 2021, FCC has housed 35 adults and 60 children through rapid re-housing. For Nevaeh, who came to FCC in fall 2020 with her children after fleeing her abuser, it truly has meant a second lease on life. For FCC, ensuring longer-term stability has minimized the number of families leaving shelter that return to an abusive environment and allowed for a big leap forward in ensuring every home is safe, every family thrives and every community is strong.
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Marquita’s Making Housing Happen
Marquita Temple is a housing specialist at FCC who's done a lot of smiling over the last year. "My favorite part of the job is seeing families move into their new home. I love the pictures of kids in their room, on their own bed.”
Marquita has been at FCC for 13 years, as shelter monitor, case manager, helpline program assistant and office manager. Today, she leads FCC’s new rapid re-housing program that launched a year ago this month. “I've worked in every part of the shelter and am coming at this as someone who has seen so many families trying to find a house they can afford and stay in, not just bounce around,” she says. “I knew this was a need many clients would benefit from, and I wanted to help make it happen for current and future families."
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Favorite colors: pink and black
Favorite hobby: scrapbooking
Other loves: time with friends, adventures with her kids
Life before FCC: college student and mom
Favorite rapid re-housing story: "A family that came in and had no clothes, no money, no transportation, just nothing. They got benefits, a job, child care and an apartment. She truly had nothing and would have had to go back to her abuser after, there's no question. You could see the fear and sadness in her eyes. It was a relief that she was able to find an apartment."
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Nevaeh: Survivor and Rockstar
After being brutally attacked by her partner, Nevaeh fled her home state with her two children and arrived at FCC in fall 2020. For weeks she didn’t leave her room, had trouble sleeping and was hyper vigilant. "I just didn't know what would happen,” she says. “I had a whole life before this. I sold everything, I left my friends and family, I had nothing. I felt like there was no way I could climb out of this hole."
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What Nevaeh did have was resolve. During her 90 days in emergency shelter, she worked a parttime job and focused on getting her financial footing. She set individual and family goals with her FCC care coordinator, Brandi, to find stable housing, continue her education and get a job, improve her physical and mental health symptoms and have fun. She wanted to enjoy her children without the ingrained and constant worries they had experienced in a threatening and unpredictable environment. Slowly Nevaeh started talking to other parents at the shelter and taking walks with her kids. And in March 2021, she connected with Marquita, FCC’s housing specialist, to apply for rapid re-housing and look for an apartment. “This is my second chance,” Nevaeh said at the time. “I am not letting go. I'm going to hold on tight and we're going to get through this."
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In Nevaeh’s words
For other FCC families: "Be aware of the red flags. Follow your instincts. My instincts were always right, I just let my heart make the decisions when I wanted to feel loved. It's ok to love, just don't be stupid."
For her children: "I want them to see me and the life they have and be proud to call me their mom. I want them to know that I never stopped—and will never stop—working to keep them safe and give them the healthy and stable life they deserve. They didn't deserve this, and I don't want this to define their life."
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Critical Support for Our Expanding Services
The continued build-out of our continuum of supports and, more specifically, the launch of our rapid re-housing program during the pandemic, has been critical for our families and has required incredible agility by all members of the FCC community..We are incredibly humbled and thankful for the gifts of time, talent and donations from so many in our community and would like to take this brief opportunity to thank one partner in particular whose support has been integral to our ability to meet the ever-growing demand for our services throughout the pandemic.
Last summer, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation awarded FCC a two-part grant totaling $100,000 for 2021 and 2022, which we are using to support general operating funds for salaries and program expenses. We are truly grateful.
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Managing Through the Chaos
“If you do a quick scan of headlines…consistently you see the themes that the pandemic has created a new level of chaos and challenge for families. Stressors are out the wazoo and everything is going to come crumbling down if we don’t respond to it differently right now…”
It sounds dire but doesn’t have to, FCC’s Executive Director Amie Post shared with viewers earlier this year as part of a virtual Bowen Center for the Study of the Family Professional Lecture Series. In her Jan. 24 lecture, When Chaos Comes to Town: Making Sense of Family Life in Challenging Times, Post takes the scary out of chaos and guides us not just on how to get through it, but come out stronger for it. “Chaos is just part of life,” she says, “and the more energy we put into being upset about the chaos, the less energy we have to put into how we negotiate it.”
Tune in to YouTube for tips from and thoughtful discussion with Post and her viewers. You’ll come away breathing a little easier, and with a sense of possibility that’s a little bigger. |
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Help Spread the Word…
As a featured nonprofit with Target Circle during the first quarter of 2022, FCC will earn funding from Target based on the number of votes we receive from supporters like you. Please take a moment to place your vote for FCC through the Target app before the March 31 deadline. |
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In the Community
The Dundalk Renaissance Corporation’s Housing Resource Fair will take place Sunday, May 15. FCC will have a table and we’d love to see all our Dundalk friends and neighbors—with all your friends and neighbors! Visit www.dundalkusa.org for details. We look forward to seeing you there. |
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Baltimore County Domestic Violence Hotline
410-828-6390
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