For those fleeing violence, safe housing is a top concern.

Family comes to stay at YWCA Spokane's safe shelter for survivors of intimate partner violence.

Beyond emergency shelter, survivors of domestic violence and their families often face enormous challenges finding long-term, stable housing. With rising costs of living and ongoing budget cuts, vital community safety nets are shrinking or disappearing, putting even more strain on the dire housing crisis.

“Spokane is short on affordable housing and units often have high income requirements, making it challenging for those with a single income to find housing,” says Jennifer Haynes-Harter, YWCA Spokane Director of Housing.

Shelter and Domestic Violence

Survivors of domestic violence and their families are particularly vulnerable to housing instability and homelessness. They may face unique safety concerns that make staying at another local shelter unsafe or unfeasible. For instance, some shelters may only accommodate single women or men, or they may not allow pets. If the survivor’s former partner is also unhoused, they may be accessing the same services, creating potential safety risks.

Our trauma-informed staff deeply understand what survivors and their families may be experiencing. Advocates hold space for individuals to adjust, reflect, and figure out what is next. Once basic needs like safety, shelter, and food are met, survivors can begin rebuilding and start working toward long-term goals.

Reduced Avenues of Support

In 2024, YWCA Spokane provided over 5,000 nights of safety for almost 200 survivors and their children who were fleeing imminent violence from their partner. We also helped 1,000 families find safe and stable housing last year, preventing homelessness.

We support survivors with temporary housing through our downtown Safe Shelter, satellite apartment locations, and hotel rooms. While these programs are still operating, each is doing so at a reduced capacity due to funding losses and structural limitations.

• Our Safe Shelter, which welcomes survivors who identify as women, their children, and their pets, is housed in a building originally built in the early 1900s. After a fire code update, our largest room had to be closed for safety, reducing our capacity from 10 to 9 rooms.
• In Spokane Valley, our satellite apartments, which first opened in 2013, were reduced from 6 units to just 3 due to lost funding. These apartments have been vital for families who need more privacy, live or work in Spokane Valley, or include older family members or dads with children.
• Hotel rooms continue to be a critical overflow resource when our shelter is full or when accommodations are needed that our shelter cannot provide, often serving families for several days or even months at a time. On average, we spend around $2,500 per week on hotel rooms, about $10,000 a month. With reductions to normally reliable grants, we are facing a nearly 70% reduction in funding for hotel rooms.

Permanent Housing

YWCA Spokane has maintained a long-standing partnership with the Spokane Housing Authority (SHA), working together on several impactful housing initiatives, including the Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8 Vouchers.

These vouchers were a lifeline for survivors. They provided long-term financial support for housing. A family would pay 20-30% of the listed rent and the voucher would cover the rest. While demand was always high and qualifying rental properties were hard to find, we received a small but steady stream of vouchers to distribute.

In October, SHA issued an immediate pause on Section 8 Voucher distribution. Due to confirmed federal funding reductions, SHA has since suspended the program indefinitely, removing a critical avenue for long-term housing support for low-income families.

What’s Different

In response to this changing landscape, we are leaning into the relationships we’ve built with property owners and managers, collaborating more with other service providers, and continuing to explore creative solutions with survivors. Ultimately, the reduction in funding and space availability means more people are going to be referred to other agencies, shelters, and community resources, all of which are also facing funding cuts.

We have shifted our housing walk-ins on Mondays and Wednesdays to include the project coordinator for Verizon Skill Forward with Spokane Community College (SCC) to present different program and certificate options to help survivors increase their earning potential, so they can afford housing.

당신이 도울 수 있는 방법

At YWCA Spokane, we believe in supporting survivors through their housing crisis and beyond to safety and stability. We will continue to serve survivors the best we can with the resources we have now. If you are interested in getting involved, you can take action in three key ways:

• 오늘 기부하세요: Your support helps us adapt and continue this work despite funding cuts.
• 행동을 취하다: Advocate for policies and funding for housing-first programs for survivors.
• 더 알아보기: Educate yourself about domestic violence and show up for the survivors in your life and community.

Our advocates continue to answer the 24-hour helpline, offering trauma-informed support and shelter information around the clock for survivors and allies. We will continue to advocate for essential safety nets that keep families together and safely housed.