Downtown Women’s Center gets a new home, but its 71 apartments are already full
The Downtown Women's Center.
Shirley Farris, 68, struggled with homelessness off and on for years. Now, she is a proud new resident of the Downtown Women’s Center, a shelter and support network in the heart of L.A.’s Skid Row. The DWC prides itself on its holistic approach to serving L.A.'s homeless women, but with all of its beds currently filled and a waiting list more than double its current occupancy, its story is also that of a community whose growing needs are far outpacing the services available.
“I believe that you know where you’ve been but you don’t always know where you’re going,” Farris told AirTalk’s Larry Mantle. “And the last place in the world that I thought I would end up is in the Skid Row area.”
Farris is one of the lucky ones. Before the Downtown Women’s Center opened its new facility on San Pedro Street last December, they wouldn’t have been able to provide a home to Farris. There’s no telling where she’d be today.
The Downtown Women’s Center was founded in 1978 to serve the unique needs of homeless women in Los Angeles. They do this by providing permanent supportive housing to women – the fastest growing segment of the homeless population – and a safe, healthy environment intended to foster dignity and stability.
The DWC moved into their new, beautifully renovated facility about six months ago. It’s twice the size of their old location on Los Angeles Street and includes 71 permanent residences. But the center is already at capacity and there are 145 women on the waiting list. Fortunately, they are able to provide many other supportive services as well to women in need. There’s a Day Center, which provides meals, showers, beds and clothing to about 140 women daily, a full medical and mental health clinic, job training programs as well as a gift shop and café.
Last week, AirTalk traveled to the Downtown Women’s Center to talk about their approach to helping homeless women and to hear from the women themselves. Many of them share certain characteristics – mental illness, drug abuse, domestic violence, physical or emotional disabilities, circumstances of aging and poverty. There’s rarely an easy explanation for what leads to one becoming homeless and there’s much debate about the best way to help the people who do.
In listening to these women tell their stories one thing is clear – there are many different faces of homelessness.
Read some notable quotes from the guests AirTalk spoke with at the center. (Photos by Lara Coger)
Lisa Watson, Chief Executive Officer of the Downtown Women’s Center
Watson says the DWC’s model of helping homeless women by providing permanent housing works. "We've been doing this for 33 years," she said. "…and 98% of our women have maintained housing for a lifetime. So we know what success really is and success isn't only providing a roof over their head."
Faye Brown, Senior Day Center Manager, Downtown Women’s Center
"Miss Faye" rules the drop-in Day Center with firm grip and lots of warm hugs. She says everyone at DWC is family "and we're very supportive of each and every person who walks through Downtown Women's Center's doors."
Shirley Farris, Resident at the Downtown Women's Center
Farris moved into a permanent apartment at the DWC in March 2011. "Oh, I'm going out in a body bag, when I leave here."
Addy Martinez uses the Day Center and is on the waiting list for a permanent residence at the Downtown Women's Center
"I like myself enough to give myself a chance to make it. No matter how terrible things are," Martinez told AirTalk's Larry Mantle. "I don't only want to be worth something to myself. But also I want to be somebody who's valued by somebody else."
Sofia Russell, Resident at the Downtown Women's Center
"I just kind of got left behind in the market of jobs and when my income stopped, the house went into foreclosure and I became homeless.”
Dianna Pendergrass participates in the Set to Succeed program at the Downtown Women's Center
After years of addiction to prescription drugs, Pendergrass came to the DWC to "get clean." In May, she took a six year chip for sobriety. The folks at DWC "were my beacon," she said.
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