Women Against Abuse (WAA) is the leading domestic violence service provider in Philadelphia, serving 15,000 people each year through emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing, legal aid, hotline counseling, trauma-informed behavioral health care, and community education and advocacy. In 2012, WAA’s Executive Director, Jeannine Lisitski, reached out to Mission First to discuss the shortage of safe housing resources for victims of domestic violence in Philadelphia. Philadelphia had only 100 domestic violence shelter beds compared to cities of comparable size and poverty level which provided about 250 beds. The Philadelphia Domestic Violence Hotline was forced to turn away nearly 9,000 requests for safety last year due to limited capacity.

Since that time, Mission First has been working collaboratively with WAA to provide safe, affordable, permanent housing for victims of domestic violence enabling them to get back on their feet, get the supports they need and transition to independence.

Due to years of advocating around the need for more emergency shelter beds, the City allocated funding to establish a second 100-bed safe haven, which we will be opening in June.