Tackling domestic violence and homelessness in the Tri-Valley Tackling domestic violence and homelessness in the Tri-Valley (December 30, 2005)

Tri-Valley Haven makes real impact with help from the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund
by Rebecca Guyon

Homelessness and domestic violence are huge social issues, but that doesn't keep Tri-Valley Haven from addressing both. The organization offers services for survivors of sexual assault, battered women and their children living in the Tri-Valley, as well as a homeless shelter and food pantry. As if that wasn't enough, the Haven also links clients with the state's subsidized housing and employment readiness programs and does extensive community education and outreach.

"We provide services in the Valley that no one else does," said Vicki Thompson, associate director of the Haven. "We're the only homeless shelter and the only shelter for battered women in a confidential location with safety planning specific to domestic violence."

Like most years, 2005 was busy for the Haven. The shelter for battered women housed 224 women and their children, the homeless shelter housed 86 people, the crisis hotline answered more than 3,000 calls--averaging 300 calls a month--and the food pantry served 2,000 people every month, of which 708 were Pleasanton residents. The Haven's mobile pantry comes to Pleasanton twice a month to provide services to seniors and people with disabilities and the Homeless Outreach for People Empowerment (HOPE) Van, which provides free medical and mental health services, plans on serving more than 100 Pleasanton residents by the end of the year.

But more than sheer volume, the Haven also makes a real difference in people's lives. More than 75 percent of people who go through the homeless shelter later move into permanent or long-term transient housing, Thompson said. The battered women's shelter has also seen success with 95 percent of women who complete the full program staying out of abusive relationships.

Most of the Haven's funding comes from grants, which specify how the funding can be spent. However, the Haven has a huge operating cost associated with running its services, such as utility bills for the shelters and offices and phone bills that total up to $2,000 a month. Money donated through the Holiday Fund goes toward paying those costs, Thompson said.

"It's wonderful because it is unencumbered money we can use to pay the nuts and bolts," Thompson said. "It is difficult to get grant money to pay those costs, and we couldn't provide the services we do if we didn't have heat, light and computers."

The Haven also relies on a core of 75 regular volunteers who provide the daily direct services and has thousands of volunteers come out for special events.

"When the food pantry first opened about three years ago, I came to see what it was like and saw that there was a real need," said volunteer Arlene Lopez. "Volunteering here is a good way to spend my time."

Volunteers like Lopez can be sure they are really making an impact. Thompson recalled one Christmas when a young man came to the Haven's community building with a cash donation of $200.

"When he was 10, he and his mom had spent Christmas in the domestic violence shelter," she said. "He remembered as a child feeling safe and cared for at the shelter." To show his gratitude, the man took up a collection amongst his co-workers and then donated what was raised.

"The most important thing is to have peaceful, healthy families," Thompson said. "It would be a different world if everyone grew up in a home where differences were settled without violence."

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