Progress Pride Flag redesigned by Daniel Quasar to be more “inclusive and progressive” 

It goes without saying that Pride month this year looks very different. With COVID-19 social distancing guidelines and the continued momentum of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, it has been inspiring to see communities come together to demand justice for Black lives and celebrate Pride.  

Across the country and here in Kentucky, BLM protest and Pride parades have been combined with the deep understanding that protecting Black lives must be prioritized.

As we challenge the idea that this is not merely a moment and, actually, a movement, we are able to reflect on the harsh reality that until there is liberation for all people in this country there can be no pride.

Just over 50 years ago, the Pride Movement began with the Stonewall riots and protest against police brutality and LGBTQIA+ oppression in 1969. What we cannot forget, especially as we continue to oppose police brutality against Black lives, is women of color — including Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera, and Marsha “Pay It no Mind” Johnson — are the mothers of the trans and queer liberation movement. 

Our mission is to end intimate partner violence, and we mean that for all people regardless of sexual orientation or race. Both the Pride and the Black Lives Matter movement mean a lot to us and our vision that all people deserve the right to live a life free of violence.  

Under-reporting and barriers to services has been directly related to fear of police retaliation. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, “Transgender people were 7 times more likely to experience physical violence when interacting with the police compared to cisgender survivors and victims.” 

We must demand justice for all, and not settle for anything less. We owe this to our ancestors and the future generations to come.  

Everything we do here at GreenHouse17 is to support the healing, safety, and stability of survivors.

To the extent that we are able nurture lives harmed by intimate partner violence is dependent on community support. While there are many touchstones along the healing journey, one that is unlike any of the others is the moment when a survivor is ready to launch and transition into an independent life free of violence.  

Just like every healing journey, every launch or transition is also unique to the survivor.  

Last year nearly 60% of domestic violence victims and their dependent children exiting the emergency shelter operated by GreenHouse17 moved to temporary destinations, with the majority moving to shared housing with family and friends, a housing status considered “at-risk for homelessness”.   

There are all the typical moving challenges survivors face plus those that come with healing from financial abuse and other various traumas that come with intimate partner violence. Our job is to ensure that survivors feel supported every step of the way, including emotional and financial support.   

Since COVD-19 began we have had a total of 7 moves, and on average we support a minimum of 25 moves per year.  

When a survivor transitions out of our emergency shelter program, they often have only what they were able to take with them when leaving their abusive relationship. With the generous support of local moving companies and Habitat ReStore, we are able launch survivors into furnished independent living accommodations. For many, this is the beginning of a life free of violence.  

This article is dedicated to celebrating our community partners who make this life changing transition possible for survivors in our 17-county service area.  

Special thanks to Wildcat Moving, 2 Dudes Moving, College HUNKS Moving, and Habitat ReStore. 

Wildcat Moving has been our longest standing moving partner, and we so appreciate their commitment to supporting survivors and building strong community here in the Commonwealth!  

“The Dudes” at 2 Dudes Moving have been such a support when it comes to moves for survivors and large-scale donation pick-up and transport. So much gratitude for “The Dudes”!  

Our newest mover, College HUNKS Moving is a franchise that is female owned! We are so excited to partner with the HUNKS and for their commitment to supporting survivors.   

Then last but not least, our phenomenal community partner Habitat for Humanity ReStore. This wonderful organization provides furniture vouchers for each of our families who launch from our program. Thanks to them and other community partners who donate furniture, our survivors are able the settle into a home full of furniture and prepare for the next step in their healing journey.  

Congratulations to all of the courageous survivors in our community who are now able to live a life free of violence.  

We are so deeply grateful for our community and its longstanding commitment to showing survivors that they care and support ending intimate partner abuse.   

This post is part of our COVID-19 Response series to provide regular updates on services for survivors during the coronavirus public health crisis.

What this pandemic has allowed all of us to do is to really evaluate our relationships. Our relationship with our self, our work, and those around us. As an agency that prides itself on prioritizing relationships in order to establish safety, we continue to do so every day moving forward. For our staff this means allowing them the space to dream and envision what is necessary as we move forward. 

Typically, our days are filled with being out in the community. These days not as much, however survivors are still being supported regardless. This moment has allowed us as an agency to not only care for survivors, but also our advocates who support survivors every day. 

When transitioning staff to remote work, the unique opportunity surfaced to really reflect on both what services survivors need as well as what those who support them need in order to continue to be able to show up every day. 

What this has led us to is really grappling with the question of what does success look like for us. As we move forward, we’ve created internal special project teams looking into how to create services to better support survivors and staff.  

Projects we are currently working on is Virtual Support Groups, Alternative Models of Advocacy, Inclusion and Diversity, and a variety of others.  

“For us to be able to do the work that we do we must create a community and culture of feedback which requires trust so people can grow.” – Diane Fleet, Associate Director

Just as we are a greenhouse to protect survivors, we also see those who serve here as flowers in our garden. Maintaining relationships is the way we tend to our garden and build trust. This is how we ensure that we can continue to grow and be able to support survivors.

This post is part of our COVID-19 Response series to provide regular updates on services for survivors during the coronavirus public health crisis.

Some would say that we are in the business of contingency planning. Like most folks though, the severity of COVID-19 also caught us by surprise. When first responding to this crisis we did what we do with our clients every day, we safety planned.  

In the case of COVID-19, this means ensuring that our 35+ shelter residents, survivors in the community, and staff are as supported as they can be given the circumstances. 

Trusted friends and family are critical to safety plans for survivors, and our organization fulfilled this role as we created plans to assure staff health and safety during the coronavirus response.  

Rethinking our staffing to 5 days on and 10 days off is to ensure that if anyone in our community presents with COVID-19 symptoms we are able respond accordingly, ensuring the safety of everyone. This is achieved by also mandating that only essential staff be present at shelter. Our Administrative, Development/Communication, and Crisis Hotline Team have been transitioned to work remotely. We’ve also implemented temperature check-points for those entering and exiting shelter.  

Residents who were already residing at shelter who wanted to continue to come and go and not shelter in-place, arrangements were made with our wonderful community hotel partners to make sure that survivors still had shelter as well as access to resources such as dining and advocacy from our advocates who are available at their hotel.  

With the increase in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) since COVID-19, we’ve been sure act accordingly by increasing our efforts to support those for whom home is not a safe place. This has been accessible based on our relationship with local hotel partners. For those who meet the criterion for our program and wish to transition to shelter they’re provided temporary shelter at a hotel until being cleared for COVID-19 to guarantee safety for existing residents.  

Things are guaranteed to always change, that we know for sure. Our job is to maintain the relationships necessary to establish safety for those we serve. Relationships with survivors, the community, and our staff. This is how we grow together towards ending intimate partner abuse. 

#TeamKentucky is here to #SupportSurvivors  

“The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?” – Jack Kornfield