Summary
The Making A House A Home project works with women who have left their former home to flee domestic abuse, providing them with One4all vouchers to help establish and furnish a new home.
Making A Difference
To learn about the genuine difference the Family Support project has made, read Karen’s story and the DAISY Project Case Study included below, which detail the hardship faced when fleeing domestic abuse, and how a little help can go a long way when making a new start.
Domestic abuse is the single biggest of cause of homelessness for women and children. Stories of women fleeing their home due to their experience of gender-based violence and being placed in temporary accommodation are all too common in the Glasgow area.
We know that women’s experiences of poverty have a tendency to last longer than men’s, and those affected by domestic abuse are frequently also subject to financial/economic abuse. In our efforts to tackle the issue of children and families in poverty within Glasgow City, it was also recognised that the Covid-19 pandemic had an elevated impact of on women, children, and young people, and will continue to place these vulnerable groups at greater risk.
To help tackle these issues, Making A House A Home (MAHAH) brings together front-line women’s organisations involved in the support of women with children who have experienced male violence.
In order for women experiencing domestic abuse and their children to be safe, they frequently need to leave the home they had with their former partner. Starting to build a home from scratch is challenging for anyone, and this challenge is further exacerbated when trying to set up a new home with traumatic experiences in your past.
MAHAH provides access to a non-recurring fund of £100,000 in the form of One4all Vouchers, which will allow women to apply for additional funds to furnish their home, and supplement any existing support from the Scottish Welfare Fund.
Women do not need to be in receipt of benefits to access the fund, as we recognise that those in work may also live in poverty, with little or no access to the additional resources needed to establish a new home.
Case Study 1 – GEWA
Karen and her 3 children were admitted to our refuge accommodation having fled from Inverness as a result of ongoing harm of a particularly high level of risk.
Her ex-partner is a known person within the police service and is recognised as an ongoing threat and endangerment to Karen. She fled her previous accommodation due to his threatening behaviours when he became aware of her location. This was a top floor flat within a close, and Karen was therefore trapped within the property. A lasting impact of her lived experience is that she now has a fear of not only entering closes but walking past them. Karen’s ex-partner has made several significant threats to her and we consider these threats to be serious as he has dominated her for a number of years.
Since then she has been working on the emotional, physical and psychological effect of the abuse which has resulted in significant daily challenges due to anxiety and hypervigilance.
Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, since then she has undergone an operation followed by oral chemotherapy medication. At Karen’s recent consultation she was told she was clear however she will be monitored over the next 5 years. This has added extra stress and mental anxiety to Karen as she has young children.
Karen has now moved into her new tenancy which she calls her ‘forever home’. She would like this to be a safe and secure environment for herself and her children, which is why she is requesting blinds for her windows, as she feels exposed because curtains don’t afford the coverage she requires. This would allow more privacy which would have a considerable effect on Karen’s mental well-being.
Items funded: Blinds and bathroom floor covering
Case Study 2 – DAISY Project
This case has a Visible High Risk, with the associated court case having been ongoing for over a year. The family fled in June ‘20 and had been in temporary homeless accommodation until last month.
The flat was damp and causing health problems for the children. Her daughter was hospitalised with seizures and as she was concerned the damp might be adding to her health problems Mum requested to be moved.
The family moved to a temporary hotel – but eventually moved back to the same damp flat as they were not coping in hotel accommodation which presented additional challenges for her son who has autism.
Due to the stress and the strain of the court case, homelessness, and additional health issues, Mum was diagnosed with depression and prescribed medication. She felt she had no option but to give up her job to focus on looking after the children.
Finally, the family received good news and they recently moved to their permanent Forever Home which is perfect in size and location – however there was so much work that needed to be done that the family have struggled to settle. She said it was so overwhelming that she could not enjoy it, and she couldn’t afford so much of the stuff she needed.
Since she has accessed the MAHAH fund she feels things have really turned around. She has even been able to organise a food pantry and get back to home cooking which she loves.
The children love their rooms and she said she feels life is finally turning around.
“It has been this funding and the support that has enabled me to keep going. It was really overwhelming. Being unwell was so hard and it all happened during lockdown. Thank you so much to DAISY and to the funders. I couldn’t have managed it alone.”
Items Funded: Blinds, TV, Wardrobe, Lamp, Chest of Drawers, Chest Freezer, Bedding, Storage boxes, Bedding for children
The Making a House a Home fund is available to women who contact the following services: Glasgow Women’s Aid, Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid, Glasgow East Womens Aid, Aberlour, Daisy Project, and Women’s Support Project: Rights & Choices. As the funding comes from Challenge Child Poverty, it is intended for families rather than single women. To receive funds through MAHAH, women must meet the eligibility and criteria below, and an application will be made on their behalf via the service they are engaging with.
Eligibility
- Women with children fleeing domestic abuse who have secured a Temporary Furnished Flat (expectation that goods are moved to permanent tenancy), and
- Women who have secured and are moving into permanent accommodation and are eligible to apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund for a Community Care Grant.
- Scottish Welfare Fund application will be further supported by the Family Support Project voucher allocation to provide essential home goods for families.
- The family will be identified by a support worker as not having the resources to secure these items independently.
Criteria
- The family must be resident in Glasgow and must secure and move to accommodation in Glasgow.
- Women must be living with, have shared custody or have access to their children.
- The family will be identified by our 3rd sector partners as fleeing domestic abuse or experiencing any other form of gendered based abuse as recognised in the definition of violence against women and girls by the Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership and in need of additional support to make their new house a home.
- The family will make an application to the Scottish Welfare Fund for the required white goods, beds and floor coverings etc. This fund does not preclude an application to the Scottish Welfare Fund.
- The support is available for women that have been refused Scottish Welfare Fund Community Care Grant support.
If any of the issues raised in this story are affecting you, or you wish to learn more about the support available to women experiencing domestic abuse, visit the Glasgow City Council website here.
