The blonde woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she’d “gotten dolled up for a walk.” She wore gladiator sandals, a floral blouse, rhinestone shorts, and was pushing her son in a convertible stroller with the top down.
“We’re going on a little stroll,” she said, adding it would be limited to the grounds of Sojourner Center campus, a domestic violence shelter in downtown Phoenix which houses women, children, and their pet companions.
While Sojourner’s Director of Philanthropy Gordon Sims talked and laughed behind his mask with the blonde woman, Aly Norine, who has worked with Sojourner residents since June 1, directed me toward the residential area, which resembles a small village of white plaster homes. Norine said all of the residences had been prepped for COVID; socially distant, but full to capacity.
The pandemic has created a crisis at the Sojourner Center. There’s limited space but increased demand for help and a sharp spike in the number of children moving in. To comply with CDC guidelines, the Sojourner Center has had to cut its occupancy from 96 to 72 people.
The Phoenix Police Department has reported a rise in domestic violence-related cases. Homicide and domestic violence incidents have risen 30% between January and June, according to the Phoenix Police Department’s uniform crime reporting statistics.
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One-in-four women are victims of sexual assault, Sims said, and the pandemic has forced them to stay at home where they can’t make phone calls to hotlines because their abusers are there with them.
As a result, Sims said, 60% of the residents of Sojourner Center are now children. At the Child Development Center, the children waved to Sims from inside a room supervised by a masked female teacher, but most were focused on the Chromebooks in their hands. Sims said that they were busy doing schoolwork.
“It has been a blessing that school started,” Sims said. “Because even though the kids are having to learn on their Chromebooks in the shelter, they’re actually enjoying going back to school. It’s directing their attention.”
Within the first few months of the pandemic, increased calls for family occupants created an issue when housing programs, designed for the transition of survivors leaving shelters, became overburdened by the need, according to Sims.
“The state only reimburses us up to 120 days,” said Sims. “Because those programs were overburdened, we were stuck housing our families beyond the limit, which we don’t mind, but it puts us in a tough financial strain.”
According to Norine, half of their guests also felt a financial strain. She said the most common problem has been women unable to get their state unemployment benefits.
“Half the time people are coming in and they don’t even have their basic benefits,” Norine said. Norine added that a recent occupant’s sudden address change, after leaving her home for Sojourner in September, created a hiccup for her unemployment account.
“It’s now to the point where she has no money because of that issue,” Norine said.
Sims said it’s important to remember that the women at Sojourner Center who’ve experienced trauma also have great resiliency.
For the women stuck at home, Sims and staff advise them to determine a safe word with their friends and family. It tells their loved ones that the abuse is getting worse and to call the police or a family advocacy center on their behalf.
“With the amount of people being abused right now, it’s really important that people still consider volunteering and supporting their local domestic violence shelters,” Sims said.
Sims also expects more residents in the next few months because of temporary moratoriums on residents unable to pay rent who will be removed from their homes.
“We just ask people to keep supporting us and stand behind us because it’s going to get harder for people to get resources in the next couple of months.”
Contact the reporter at allicripe@gmail.com.
