By Deborah Collins-Gousby
It has been well documented that the pandemic — and its ensuing and persistent economic impacts — have had a devastating impact on low-income communities and particularly on communities of color. Loss of income, the reduced availability of affordable child care, and the looming threat of eviction have poked more holes in an already fragile safety net for our most vulnerable populations, especially for those experiencing domestic violence. This is particularly the case among survivors who are women of color, immigrants, and low income wage earners who cannot sever ties with their abuser without an alternative source of economic support.
According to the Institute of Women’s Policy Research’s “The Status of Black Women in the United States,” more than 40 percent of Black women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Sadly, for many of the survivors within Brookview House’s reach today, the abuse they face at home is often toward the bottom of their list of worries. Their primary concerns are driven by the health and wellbeing of their children, hunger and food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, and the end of the moratorium on evictions.
