Women’s Advocates (WA) was founded in 1974 as the first shelter in the nation for victim-survivors of domestic violence (DV). Our mission is to walk with victim-survivors and our community to break the cycle of DV. In our nearly fifty years as a DV shelter we are serving primarily women of color and Indigenous/ Native women through the following programs:

Crisis Response and Emergency DV Shelter: Through our 24/7 crisis line, our advocates assist callers with shelter referrals and crisis interventions. At our emergency shelter located in St. Paul, WA has the capacity to provide emergency shelter and healing support to 125+ adult DV victim-survivors and children annually. For those families who stay with us in shelter, WA offers robust and individualized advocacy that spans the needs of people escaping DV, including mental health, legal, housing, childcare, employment, and transportation support.

Outreach & Prevention: We address violence in our communities by educating people about healthy relationships, safety resources available to community members, and how to identify violence and support victim-survivors. Last year, 4,941 people received live online DV prevention education and training, including victim-survivors and critical community supporters such as emergency responders, lawyers, landlords and property managers. We also expanded this body of work to include weekly pop-up advocacy services at the Rondo Public Library in Frogtown as well as online community support groups. Both of these new services are aimed at people who are experiencing DV in the community and need the same supportive services we offer in shelter.

Sustained Safety through Housing Stability: Our Housing Stability program supports individuals and families in obtaining stable housing, sustaining safety, and building connections and community after a shelter stay. This includes financial support for rent and emergency needs for up to one year after enrollment. Families needing the most support are now eligible for monthly rental assistance (declining over year of transition to independence), ongoing advocacy, and access to emergency funds. Financial support typically includes a security deposit, first and last month’s rent, monthly rent assistance, application holding fee, moving expenses, and other expenses that arise. Participants can continue to receive advocacy support for up to 24 months. In addition, we provide safety planning, assistance with employment, and ongoing advocacy and mental health support for up to two years for victim-survivors and children.

Two-generation healing: Addressing and healing intergenerational trauma is foundational to our work across the continuum of safety. The advocates in our Sheila Wellstone Children’s Program work with families throughout their stay in emergency shelter to build family well-being and begin the healing process by working with parents and families together. Recognizing the unique needs of children escaping DV, we expanded our children’s advocacy into the Housing Stability program after residents told us their children were struggling with the transition out of shelter and into a new community. We now apply our two-generation approach across programs, working with the whole family to transition from crisis to sustained safety.