Activism
BY ELIZABETH NOLAN Photos by Jen MacLellan
Housing First IWAV looks at long-term needs to better fulfill mandate
Island Women Against Violence board and staff members with tools needed to get to work on creating safe, affordable housing for women and children.
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sland Women Against Violence (IWAV) is moving toward a more comprehensive strategy for aiding women and children whose lives have been affected by poverty, violence and abuse. They're doing that by putting the focus on one of the most basic human necessities: having a safe, healthy place to life. For nearly 25 years the Salt Springbased non-profit society has worked to provide crucial resources for women and their children throughout the Southern Gulf Islands. Successes have included a crisis hotline, counselling and outreach programs, a transition house for women leaving abusive relationships and second-stage housing. Most recently IWAV has added the operation of Croftonbrook, a 20-suite subsidized housing complex in Ganges for lower-income seniors and people with disabilities. Now the leadership is looking at how they can extend their wrap-around service. “While our continuum of services assists the women and children fleeing violence and abuse to seek safe haven and counselling supports to gain independence, the critical gap we see in our community is longer-term safe and affordable housing,” explains IWAV’s executive director Dana Peace. The lack of affordable housing is a significant concern for many islanders, she observes, but is particularly critical for more vulnerable segments of the population. Housing and violence have been shown to be key determinants of women’s health, while research suggests stable housing can mitigate the negative health consequences caused by violence. “Unfortunately, we see far too many women leave our transition house with no identified safe or affordable place to go, leaving many of the families to couch surf with family or friends, go on to cycle through other transition houses, tent camp or return to the abusive situation,” Peace says. “Given the serious shortage of safe and affordable rental units on Salt Spring, there is an increasing risk of homelessness and risks to safety for these vulnerable populations.” October/November 2016 – AQUA – Page 27