Helping Women Help Themselves
The YWCA Women In Transition (WIT) Program provides safe affordable housing with intensive support services to over 100 single women at risk of homelessness each year. Every woman’s needs are thoroughly assessed and she is helped to meet her individual goals with the support of her case manager.
Internet access and a computer resource library allow women to correspond with family and friends, design resumes and learn marketable skills for better employment. Every woman has a fitness center membership to help her maintain her optimum overall health. Workshops are conducted frequently using volunteers to teach budgeting, organization, spirituality, stress management and employment counseling.
YWCA Women in Transition serves as the only comprehensive, long-term transitional housing program for unaccompanied adult women in the greater Charlotte area.
Program Participants
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Most of the women in the program have an annual income of less than $16,000.
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50 percent have survived abuse by an intimate partner.
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45 percent have a mental health diagnosis.
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40 percent are recovering from substance abuse.
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10 percent are disabled
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20 percent are separated from minor children
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25 percent have previously attempted suicide
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Many have experienced the isolation of chronic poverty
Program Outcomes
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94 percent of women permanently housed maintain their housing one year later.
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78 percent maintained or increased their income during program participation, despite the struggling economy.
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88 percent of women exiting after four months participation are now permanently housed: 40 in unsubsidized rentals, 9 in subsidized housing, and 3 owning homes.
