Transition Houses and Second Stage Housing

Transition houses are safe confidential homes for abused women and their children. Women in abusive or controlling relationships often struggle with the idea of leaving their partner, it can be overwhelming to think of all the decisions they have to make. When women come to transition house they are offered  support, information, resources and safe shelter. Women are often unsure if they want to leave the relationship permanently, or if they just need some time to sort through their options and feelings.Transition houses offer the time and space for women to make their own decisions with support and understanding.

Transition houses provide a home like setting, women and their children share a bedroom and single women share two to a room, the rest of the house is communal with a living room, quiet room, playroom, kitchen, living room and bathrooms. Food and basic personal necessities are provided for the residents, and there is no cost to stay. Women cook and clean for their selves and their children, and the mom's make the decisions regarding children's activities and bedtimes.

Transition house staff  can provide support, information and transportation to various appointments such as income assistance, legal aid, courts, lawyers, housing and various other appointments. Childcare is also provided for these appointments.The average stay is thirty days, some women return home, some move into their own places and some move into second stage housing.


Second Stage housing is available for women and their children, after leaving transition house. The average stay for second stage housing is one to two years. Second stage housing allows women and children ongoing support, as they begin life on their own. The rental cost are the same as income assistance to allow for affordable safe shelter during the families adjustment period. Ongoing support allows for follow up with ongoing issues such as, legal process, income assistance and single parenting. After the second stage time limits women are then expected to find their own housing in their community.


www.bcsth.ca

Citation Image

BCSTH Logo. 2010. B.C. society of Transiton houses, Vancouver. Web. 6 Jan 2013. <www.bcsth.ca>. 

Community Resources

The community of Abbotsford  B.C. has a abundance of resources for the residents. There are resources that are Federally funded, provincially funded, regionally funded, organised through religious groups, special interest groups and supported through community business donation and partnerships.

Abbotsford Community Services is a large organisation that has resources assisted by all of the above funders, they have programs such as addiction services, legal aid, victim services, babies best chance and English as a second language programs.

Peardonville house is a provincially funded licensed treatment centre, that is available to women or women and their children under 5 years old. It is the only provincially funded treatment centre where women can take their young children. Molly's place is based at Peardonville house and is a stabilization centre for women wanting to go into drug and alcohol treatment but needing to emotionally stabilize before taking on the task of dealing with their issues surrounding their substance addictions.

Police Victim assistance is a provincially funded program with a paid coordinator and volunteers, who work with the police to assist victims of violence and trauma. They attend trauma sites to support people and follow up with support, resources and court accompaniment.

Salvation Army is a faith based organisation working with the most marginalizwww.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com/ed members of our community. Salvation Army has a meal centre, homeless shelter, cold whether shelter, long term recovery clean housing for men. Salvation Army also assist with free clothing, furniture and rental subsidy for those who can not afford to pay.

Abbotsford Women's Support Services work with women leaving or already left abusive relationships. The outreach workers can assist with income assistance. court accompaniment, community information and resources. The Stopping the Violence counsellors provide one on one and group counselling to women. The Children Who Witness Abuse Program provides counselling  groups for children who have witnessed abuse.

Abbotsford Food Bank Assists families and single people with subsidized food from community donations. There is a strict criteria for qualifying for the food bank. The food bank volunteers require rent receipt, proof of income and I.D. so they can determine if you are eligible for the donation.

There are many more resources that can be accessed in Abbotsford the key is to ask questions when connecting up with resources so they can not only assist you but also refer you to other resources.

www.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com

/www.abbotsfordfoodbank.com

www.careandshare.ca/

www.peardonvillehouse.ca/


Cite of image

Abbotsford community services. 2013. abbotsford community services, Abbotsford. Web. 6 Jan 2013. <www.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com>. 

Diversity Mural. 2012. Flckr from Yahoo, Abbotsford. Web. 6 Jan 2013. <www.flckr.com/photos/ufv/7461722810>. 

Income Assistance

The Ministry of Housing and Social Development is the provincial government body that assists British Colombians with financial and medical resources, when a person or family is unable to provide financially for themselves and their children. It is easier to refer to this Ministry as," Income Assistance". There is strict criteria for being eligible for financial services.

The application for income assistance is now on line, people can use their own personal computer, if they have the Internet, if they do not they can go into the local income assistance office and use the computers there. If a translator is required, to assist a person applying and for any required appointments, the ministry can  arrange and pay the costs for a translator. Applying for income assistance is a long process and the application takes about 45 minutes to a hour to complete. There is a three week waiting period once you apply,  the ministry guidelines state," that a person must look for work during this waiting period." There are exceptions to the three week waiting period, a doctors note stating you are not able to work, a eviction notice if you do not pay your rent, homelessness, fleeing violence, entering a rehabilitation program and a few other exemptions. If you are unsure if you are eligible to waive the three week work search it is important to ask the income assistant workers.

Once the application has been completed, and it has been determined whether or not the three week work search needs to be satisfied or waived , you wait. The legislation says you should receive a call within five business days, this may or may not happen within this time frame. The initial call can be anytime within a day to three weeks. If you miss this call you may get a call back within a day or two. If you have not heard from a income assistance worker within a week, you should follow up with a call, just to confirm that you have not missed the initial call. The first call is to set up the appointment for a telephone intake interview call.

The intake interview call is when the income assistance worker will go over all the information that you filled out in the initial  online application. The worker will give you a list of papers to collect and bring to Income assistance such as, I.D., bank account information, bank profile forms, rent receipt,income tax papers, and car insurance papers. You must bring the required paperwork to your nearest Income assistance office, within five days, of the telephone interview. The income assistance worker then has five days to review all your paperwork and determine if you are eligible or whether more information is required from you to determine eligibility.

If you are denied income assistance there is a appeal procedure available to any person who applies. The appeal process has very strict time lines. It is best to find a community support worker or legal advocate to assist you with the appeal process.

www.eia.gov.bc.ca/bcea.htm
www.lss.bc.ca


Citation of Image

Banner. 2011. ministry of social developement, british columbia. Web. 5 Jan 2013. <www.eia.govbc.ca/wordmark/index.htm.>.