Permanent Housing Assistance Program for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence

Affordable housing and homelessness

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Women who are served by Jenesse have little or no access to money and very few friends or family members to rely on if she flees a violent relationship. Additionally, lack of employment and employable skills exacerbates the cycle of domestic violence by limiting viable options for self-sufficiency. Yet these women must raise their children on their own after leaving their batterers and they must maintain stable housing in Los Angeles, a city where the median home price is over $700,000 and rents are more than 40% higher than the national average. All these factors precipitate falling into homelessness. Jenesse believes the root or underlying cause of the homelessness epidemic is the lack of economic equity manifested in the unequal distribution of income and economic opportunities. Without a viable means of supporting herself and her family, a woman may opt to return to the abuser simply because she has nowhere else to go.

Jenesse prepares domestic violence (DV) survivors for independent living and helps the survivors who have completed the shelter programs obtain safe, permanent housing for themselves and their families. In addition, clients learn how to build their credit, landlord-tenant expectations, use housing apps, and sign a lease contract. This program helps clients in various ways to ensure a successful transition or stay in permanent housing. The program provides survivors of DV experiencing a housing crisis with a short-term financial bridge that leads to long-term solutions such as permanent housing and supports them in their accommodation to achieve stability and improve their quality of life. The assistance available for support includes move-in help, rental or relocation assistance, utility assistance, and household start-up assistance.
The Program staff continuously builds relationships with landlords and stakeholders to increase the availability of affordable housing units for our clients, negotiate with landlords, provide case management to promote housing retention, provide financial assistance, and link families with supportive services.
Jenesse is also establishing an annual conference focusing on homelessness and housing issues experienced by this population. Jenesse plans to bring together major stakeholders to network, brainstorm, and encourage policy change and educate the attendees about DV survivors' struggles and misconceptions about them as tenants.

For the majority of the clients, it is their first time on their own. They have never had to manage a budget or finances. Without proper help, they are vulnerable to re-homelessness. Jenesse equips them with good financial planning skills and a short-term financial bridge that leads to long-term solutions such as permanent housing and support them in their accommodation to achieve stability and improve their quality of life. All these services are critical to the clients and their family to achieve self-sufficiency and stay safe. In addition, many of the local landlords had bias and/or prejudices against victims of domestic violence. The main stigma is that the client would bring destruction and chaos to their property because they would have issues with their abuser. Jenesse does education and advocacy on this front by giving the landlords statistics, success stories, and overall, by relationship building. As a result of these efforts, landlords now come to Jenesse asking for tenants.

Jenesse helps the clients develop their skills and monitors their income changes to ensure they take the proper steps to become financially independent. If a client doesn't hit certain increases in their income and savings at certain benchmarks, staff ensure that they receive more support.
Our support extends beyond financial guidance. We conduct in-person visits to ensure our clients' homes are clean and safe, and they have the means to provide their children with proper nutrition. We also mentor them on being good neighbors and tenants. Our commitment and support to our clients is long-term, with a minimum contact period of twelve months. This comprehensive approach is reflected in our impressive 95% client retention rate.
We undergo several audits every year. Internal and external audits give us insight into the thoroughness and accuracy of our record-keeping. We use those experiences to adjust our operation accordingly and train the staff in any areas of opportunity.