Women's Shelter - Funding

Funding

Most funding for Women's Shelters in the United States come from the Federal Government, at about an average of forty to fifty percent in 2010. These grants are administered through the Office on Violence Against Women, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Health and Human Services. Many states have cut their funds for women's shelters. In 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger of California cut all state funding to domestic violence programs. In late 2011 Washington governor Christine Gregoire released a budget proposal stripping all state funding for domestic violence and women's shelters across Washington State. These types of budget cuts caused several women's shelters to close their doors, leaving women with no safe haven to escape violence. Local communities are now also taking it upon themselves to create a safe place for domestic violence refugees. In Grand Forks, British Columbia, a small community of less than 3,600, people organized the Boundary Women's Coalition, to support their local women's shelter.