Affordable housing is not easy to come by, and the possibility of being evicted and becoming homeless may be enough for a domestic violence victim to feel trapped.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced, at the end of October 2010, an advancement in its Violence against Women Act that will help protect domestic abuse victims from being evicted from their affordable housing units.  The advancement, seen here, makes it so that housing managers and owners must exhaust all possibilities of protecting victims before evicting them.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan stated that, “[t]his rule recognizes the need to protect victims of domestic abuse from being evicted just because they were victimized.”

The announcement dropped at a perfect time being at the end of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and advocates were thrilled to hear this because it is not every day that you see a direct effect of raising awareness.   Hearing a victory for advocacy is always a bright side because it gives hope to all organizations and all causes – if people work hard enough for something, then it is possible to see change!

Advocacy for homeless prevention and domestic abuse is seen everyday through HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies, Healthy Families, and Homeless Initiative Programs.  You, too, can be an advocate simply by learning more or donating.  Even a generous $25 to any of these programs will open many doors.