There are about 525,000 people in my immediate area, and

[SoCalDem]

I just found out there are only 2 battered women's shelters, and they are miles away...one is probably closer to Mexico than our area..and I didn't even combine the additional population of the cities closer to the shelters..

I have boxes and boxes of really nice clothes to donate, and did not want to donate to an outfit that would SELL the stuff.. I wanted to GIVE it to people who "left in their jammies" with nothing...

It even took me about 8 phone calls to find a person who had any information on how to donate the stuff.. The police department gave me a disconnected number..the social services department gave me a number that actually was a fire prevention number..

No wonder women have a hard time "leaving", if they get the same bad information.

These places cannot be listed, for obvious reasons, but now I find out that for the most part, they just don't exist..:(

I wonder how we can get a shelter right here?? Any suggestions about how one lonely person (me) could get the ball rolling?..

A young person I know, was told that there was a 3 year wait for "low income" housing, so apparently there is not an abundance of places for people who are not even 'in crisis' to live, and for the ones who are...where do they go??

There are two "group homes" in our neighborhood, but they are for mentally handicapped people, and I am sure that the caretakers are well paid..

Battered women have no money to pay, so where do they go??:(

I sure hope that there is an agency somewhere that provides real shelter for them..(and I just have not found out yet..)

I guess their children are part of the "left behind" ones...

Can we brainstorm a bit.. Anyone here who does this kind of thing?? How does one get the ball rolling?

[Karenina]

1. Back to One

:kick:

[Ariana Celeste]

2. I'm not sure, but I think

that it is great that you are so concerned and I really hope you get the help you need to figure something out. Has anything come up on a google search that may help you out?

Best of luck and I hope there's someone here with ideas!

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. You may be getting some intentional mis-direction

Abusive spouses can be pretty crafty & the "outing" of a specific location could be disastrous.

Try asking at the courthouse where restraining orders are issued, ask if you can just leave cloths there.

You may find it difficult to donate directly. You might see if Center for Disease Control has statistics on the number of shelters, I believe they keep statistics on the number of battered women. You think it would stand to reason.

In Oregon, the police usually leave a card with resources when they intervene in a domestic dispute but that's basically considered a referral by a qualified agency.

Don't give up, let us know what you find.