How Sojourner House is Helping Survivors of Domestic & Sexual Violence During COVID-19: Volz LIVE

How Sojourner House is Helping Survivors of Domestic & Sexual Violence During COVID-19: Volz LIVE

Sojourner House Executive Director Vanessa Volz appeared on GoLocal LIVE where she talked about how the social service agency — which is committed to ending domestic and sexual violence — is aiding Rhode Islanders in need during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“For someone who is in an abusive relationship, this is not the safest time for them, and we are experiencing that at Sojourner House,” said Volz. “We’re a comprehensive domestic and sexual violence agency and we provide housing, shelter, and supportive services. Since the pandemic started we have seen a pretty large increase in requests for our assistance, so we’re really trying to do our best to meet that need.”

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“We’re getting more calls on our hotline, we’re getting more requests for shelter and housing, for counseling — a lot of people are in situations that are not safe and we’re trying to be there as a resource,” she added.

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“We have three separate emergency shelters for individuals that are in immediate crisis and need stabilization; we have a transitional housing program, a permanent supportive housing program and a rapid rehousing program. We have a hundred families in different apartments, so it really just kind of depends on what service the individual is reaching out, seeking help for,” said Volz. “Unfortunately, we have a waiting listing — we have more requests for services than we’re able to accommodate."

Volz spoke about online counseling services, and setting up a client emergency fund.

"The purpose of the fund is to raise money to meet the needs of our clients during this time — we’re getting more requests for rental assistance for our clients that are safely housed but they’ve lost income. We want to make sure they can stay in their apartment and not have to go back to their abuser.  We have more clients reaching out to us for basic needs — food, infant formula, diapers — so we’re trying to raise funds to meet the needs of those clients," she said. 

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