Housing Focused Shelter

Housing Focused Shelter is one of FOF’s Three Uniques. 
Housing Focused Shelter (HFS) prioritizes getting 
survivors of violence out of unsafe living situations and 
into safe and stable housing of their own. FOF provides a 
low barrier shelter environment, in which survivors work 
with trained advocates to identify and work towards their 
overall housing goals throughout their shelter stay. 

When a survivor enters shelter, they are given a “Welcome” 
folder, containing all things housing focused. A list of 
the office hours and resources are provided to the guest, 
along with a list of resources in the county and a “housing 
self-assessment” page for the individual to work through 
prior to meeting with their housing advocate. 

Within the first 48 hours of their stay, shelter guests 
are greeted by a Housing Advocate and introduced to 
our shelter philosophy with a “housing focused shelter 
orientation”. In housing focused shelter orientation, 
survivors talk with a housing advocate about their 
housing goals; whether that be relocation, returning to 
their previous home or finding a new home. Other goals 
they work to accomplish to sustain their own housing 
include employment, income, transportation, childcare, 
and any other barriers that may be overwhelming during 
a housing search. This process is client-centered and 
strengths-based so that the survivor remains in control of 
the steps taken throughout the housing search phase. 

The goal of housing focused shelter is to get a survivor 
out of shelter and into their own safe and stable housing, 
whatever that may look like. FOF’s housing advocates 
meet with shelter guests daily to assist with SMART goals, 
and work towards obtaining them. Communal living 
environments are stressful and can often be traumatic 
for survivors of violence. The determinant of a successful 
stay at FOF’s Housing Focused Shelter is when a survivor 
is living in their own unit, and able to maintain that unit 
for the near future and begin the process of healing from 
their experience and growing in their success.