Deborah's Place

There are some things about homelessness—and women's homelessness in particular—that people just get so, so wrong. Not through any fault of their own, just because we get fed one story of what homelessness looks like, what causes it, and what it takes to find home again. Here's what I've learned through working at Deborah's Place with these women.

1️⃣ There are a LOT more people experiencing homelessness than you can see in your city.
In Chicago, the number of people experiencing homelessness is estimated to be as high as 58,000. Most of them are, essentially, invisible. In fact...

2️⃣ Women are especially likely to experience "hidden homelessness."
They're more likely to couch surf, or to hide away from public eye, where they might feel safer and less vulnerable to harm from others.

3️⃣The connection between Domestic Violence and homelessness? It's more complicated than you might think.
Yes, there are lots of cases of women becoming homelessness because of abuse at home. But becoming homeless (for any reason) also makes women more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

4️⃣ Supportive services + affordable housing (without arbitrary time limits) = healing and recovery.
Homelessness, even at the scale we see today, IS SOLVABLE. We know what works—we just need to be able to make these programs available to those that need them. That takes resources.

We need the support of our community now more than ever to help women end their homelessness and begin their next chapter. We're facing a ton of disinformation that does real harm to real people. You standing with Deborah's Place can help us push back and keep moving forward, toward a future where no one faces this on their own.