HOMEAID JOINS FORT BEND WOMEN’S CENTER TO ADD HOUSING

HomeAid Houston and Fort Bend Women’s Center (FBWC), have teamed up to expand the FBWC campus with a 3225 sq. ft. one-bedroom four-plex that will be built as part of their Rio Bend community.   HomeAid is facilitating the construction by identifying and recruiting a Builder Captain to construct the four unit building at reduced cost. The four-plex will house four residents who are recovering from domestic violence or sexual assault.

Since 1980, FBWC, the primary Fort Bend County provider of free, integral support services for survivors, has helped almost 50,000 survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to heal from the trauma of their abuse and move forward to independent lives free of violence and fear.

Over the past ten years, the FBWC Center has been serving survivors with increasingly complex emotional, psychological and physical needs. Many have experienced abuse throughout their lives and have suffered Traumatic Brain Injury due to head trauma and/or strangulation. 97% are at or below the Federal Poverty Level and most have at least one child to support.

“When the opportunity to work with FBWC on this new construction came to fruition, we were excited to be a part of what they do,” said Carole Brady, executive director of HomeAid Houston.  “Most of the women they see, would end up homeless or worse, if it weren’t  for this agency.  We are in talks with a potential Builder Captain who understands the magnitude of domestic violence and its generational percussions and look forward to beginning the construction process.”

Fort Bend County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. In 2016, there were 3,265 reported incidents of family violence and 245 sexual assaults. In 2017, 136 women in Texas were killed by their intimate male partner.  When survivors access emergency shelter and are ready to move on to independence, they face barriers to securing affordable housing. A study of residents in domestic violence shelters nationwide found that 84 percent of survivors needed help finding affordable housing.

“We are very excited about working with HomeAid to make the Rio Bend dream a reality,” said Vita Goodell, executive director of FBWC. “Together, we’ll be building a place where domestic violence survivors and their kids can heal and thrive.”

FBWC offers 24 hour emergency shelter and a crisis hotline, as well as long term support services including: counseling, case management, legal advocacy, employment and education assistance, children’s services, rape crisis services, rental assistance and transportation. These free services help save lives every day.