skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, April 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Three US Marshal task force officers killed in NC shootout; MA municipalities aim to lower the voting age for local elections; breaking barriers for health equity with nutritional strategies; "Product of USA" label for meat items could carry more weight under the new rule.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Big Pharma uses red meat rhetoric in a fight over drug costs. A school shooting mother opposes guns for teachers. Campus protests against the Gaza war continue, and activists decry the killing of reporters there.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

More rural working-age people are dying young compared to their urban counterparts, the internet was a lifesaver for rural students during the pandemic but the connection has been broken for many, and conservationists believe a new rule governing public lands will protect them for future generations.

OR Still Lags in Emergency Housing for Domestic-Violence Victims

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 15, 2013   

SALEM, Ore. – It's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and again this year there isn't enough emergency shelter for the numbers of people who need it in Oregon.

At the MidValley Women's Crisis Center in Salem, requests for emergency housing have doubled in the past four years. But state funding remains at the same level as in 2007, and the Legislature turned down a request for more money earlier this year.

Jayne Downing, MidValley's executive director, says state dollars are only part of a shelter's budget – but a very important part.

"I think it sends a critical message of saying, 'We understand that this is an issue in our community and we're going to address it, we're going to take it on – and make sure that there are the resources so no one has to live with violence,'" she says.

In some areas, affordable-housing developers have teamed up with emergency shelter providers to transition more families out of packed shelters and into more permanent housing.

In Corvallis, Jim Moorefield, executive director of Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services, says 10 percent of the housing his organization develops is set aside specifically for people who are homeless.

"The quality of the housing, the affordability of it, has everything to do with people's ability to get by, and to thrive – and to build new lives,” he says. “When you have someone who's homeless, who's a survivor of domestic violence, a lot of things have to come together to make that person and that family successful."

As many as six in 10 women who are homeless have been affected by domestic violence. Their advocates say Oregon's State Homeless Assistance Program and the Emergency Housing Account both have worked well, but are chronically under-funded. They plan to ask for an additional $2 million a year for the programs, in the coming legislative session.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
Some groups see disproportionately high rates of suicide, including veterans, racial and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ people. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Rates of suicide among young people have increased by about 36% in roughly the last two decades and the surge has caught the attention of federal poli…


play sound

Members of Nebraska's LGBTQ+ community and their supporters saw positive actions at both the state and federal level this month. At the state level…

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri residents are gaining new insights into the powerful role of food in health care as experts and organizations advocate for a shift toward foo…


New Mexico is the second sunniest state in the nation after Arizona, creating maximum opportunities for solar development. (KristinaBlokhin/AdobeStock)

Environment

play sound

New federal funding aims to revolutionize solar energy access within New Mexico's Native American communities and benefit the state overall. The …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Nevada health-care providers, patients and advocates are responding to the U.S. Supreme Court case that'll determine the future of the Emergency …

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is advocating for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expansion, currently awaiting House approval…

Environment

play sound

State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers. A new state-run website helps young …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021