Hubbard House, the domestic violence center serving Duval and Baker counties, is observing November as National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month.
The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in just a given year.
A person is considered homeless if they “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence” or if their primary night-time residency is: a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
In most cases, homelessness is a temporary circumstance – not a permanent condition. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, some major factors contributing to homelessness are poverty, eroding work opportunities, decline in public assistance, lack of affordable housing, and recently increases in foreclosures.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND HOMELESSNESS
Another factor that contributes to homelessness, especially in regards to women, is domestic violence. A national survey of homeless people, conducted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, found domestic violence was the second most frequently stated cause of homelessness for families, with 13 percent of homeless families saying that they had left their last place of residence because of abuse or violence in the household.
Often times when a woman decides to leave an abusive relationship she has nowhere to go; leaving her to decide between the abuse and homelessness. This is particularly true of women with few resources.
That is where domestic violence centers like Hubbard House come in. General homeless shelters do not function as a “safe house” whose location is kept confidential. Last year Hubbard House provided 25,997 days of shelter to 1,030 victims of domestic violence (549 women, 475 children, and 6 men). Sometimes, victims come into Hubbard House’s Emergency Shelter with nothing but the clothes on their backs. In addition to safe refuge, counseling, and case management, Hubbard House provides its shelter residents with food, clothing, linens, toiletry items and other daily necessities. Shelter, like all Hubbard House services for victims and children, is free.
If you would like to make a donation (monetary or in-kind) to Hubbard House to help cover the basic needs for victims and their children staying its Emergency Shelter please visit: www.hubbardhouse.org/help/donate/.
LOCAL RESOURCES
Domestic Violence
Hubbard House
- Domestic violence center providing emergency shelter, extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic childcare, batterers’ intervention programs and court advocacy.
- 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline 904-354-3114, 800-500-1119, www.hubbardhouse.org
Homelessness
City Rescue Mission
- The Clara White Mission offers more than meals for the hungry and transitional housing for the homeless.
- 613 West Ashley St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
- 904-354-4162, www.clarawhitemission.org
Family Promise of Jacksonville
- Helps homeless families with children.
- PO Box 40363, Jacksonville, FL 32203
- 904-354-1818, www.familypromisejax.org
Mission House
- Day facility helping the homeless from Mayport on the north to St. Johns County on the south. Provides meals, showers, clothing vouchers, medical care, case management and referrals.
- 800 Shetter Ave., Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
- 904-241-6767, www.missionhousejax.org
Salvation Army
- Shelter and needs assistance.
- 904-301-4875, http://www.uss.salvationarmy.org/uss/www_uss_nefloridaac.nsf
Sulzbacher Center
- Provides housing, healthcare and supportive services for homeless men, women and children.
- 611 W. Adams St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
- 904-394-1646, www.sulzbachercenter.org
Trinity Rescue Mission
- Homeless Shelter for men, women, and children.
- 622 W. Union St., Jacksonville, FL 32202
- 904-596-2420, www.trinityrescue.org
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship please call the Hubbard House 24-hour domestic violence hotline at (904) 354-3114 or (800) 500-1119. Hubbard House can help.
ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE
Founded as the first domestic violence shelter in Florida in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 6,000 women, children, and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic childcare, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.