By Tara Shabazz, Executive Director, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
That’s why my agency, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, is so excited about a new program we’re launching with support from the Allstate Foundation: it’s called B.O.S.S., or “Building Opportunities for Survivors’ Success.” This groundbreaking new collaborative will help Sacramento-area service providers support survivors in achieving the financial stability they need to keep their families safe. Together with two local domestic violence agencies (My Sister’s House, WEAVE) and one homeless services agency (Women’s Empowerment) the Partnership will work to make Allstate Foundation’s Moving Ahead through Financial Management curriculum available to shelter residents and others affected by domestic violence.
Economic concerns are the most frequently cited reason survivors return to abusive relationships. If the choice is between going back to an abuser and becoming homeless, a victim may choose to return in order to keep a roof over their kids’ head or food on the table. Domestic violence advocates know that in order for survivors to build new, violence-free lives, they must have a solid financial foundation. Over the course of the coming year, the Partnership will use the Allstate Foundation’s grant to support the participating agencies in training their advocates to teach Allstate’s financial curriculum to their clients.
The Partnership is the statewide umbrella organization for California’s domestic violence service providers and allies, and so we’re uniquely positioned to support community programs in collaborative projects and resource sharing. The structure of the B.O.S.S. program is innovative, in that we’ve chosen as our collaborators one mainstream domestic violence agency (WEAVE) one culturally specific organization (My Sister’s House) and one homeless services provider (Women’s Empowerment). The Partnership strongly believes that by sharing expertise, advocates and allies can end domestic violence, because together we’re stronger.
The B.O.S.S. program is an amazing collaborative opportunity for community-based organizations to pool resources and share their strengths in addressing survivors’ financial literacy and stability. Our member advocates have told us that many survivors passing through their doors have questions about banking, credit ratings and how to begin to separate their financial lives from those of their abusers. In the coming year, the B.O.S.S. program will host a series of workshops on those topics; the workshops will take place at each of the participating agencies in turn, for maximum convenience for the survivor workshop participants. The Partnership will train advocates from the three local agencies to teach the workshop sessions and present supplemental materials in an engaging, accessible manner. We’ll also oversee the creation of a local resources list, and a consortium of Sacramento area community-based financial programs, community partners and other stakeholders to contribute to the sustainability of B.O.S.S. and other long-term strategies. We want Sacramento, and ultimately the whole of California, to be a place where victims can access services that will not only keep them safe in the short term, but will also help them build a long-term future that’s violence free and financially secure.
