PHILANTHROPICALLY FOCUSED: LOCAL COUPLE HELPS ‘BUILD’ SHELTER WITHOUT WALLS

Each October, the United States observes National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. An epidemic in the nation, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

• On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

• 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner-contact sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking.

• 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner.

• 1 in 10 women has been raped by an intimate partner.

To address the unmet needs of Maricopa County survivors of domestic violence and their children who are residing outside of a shelter setting, Jewish Family & Children’s Service founded Shelter Without Walls in 1998.

At the time, it was the first nonresidential domestic violence program in Maricopa County (and one of the first in the nation) to offer comprehensive services to victims who were not in a shelter setting.

“JFCS’ Shelter Without Walls program is focused on helping those domestic violence survivors who have yet to separate from the abusive partner but want to live independently and need assistance to do so safely,” says Linda Scott, vice president of Child & Family Solutions at JFCS.

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