Our Women and Girl’s Chair, Ana Garcia partnered up with the Social Justice and Equity Commission (SJEC) to hold a donation drive-thru for the WISEPlace.
The WISEPlace is the only women’s shelter in Orange County. Through their organization, the WISEPlace provides women with safe shelter, counseling and mental health services, case management and addiction recovery, and employment assistance.
As of May 2022, the Orange County government counted 5,718 people experiencing homelessness, according to the 2022 Point in Time Count. 2,661 of those people were sheltered while 3,057 people were unsheltered.
Garcia wanted to highlight the large domestic violence problem that women face around the U.S. Oftentimes, women become homeless due to disproportionate experiences of gender-based violence such as domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, human trafficking, and sexual assault, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Women can also become homeless due to other factors, such as housing instability and higher rental cost burdens, which can be traced to unequal pay gaps between men and women. Women who are young, old, cisgender, or trangender face disproportionate homelessness. Additionally, women who identify as BIPOC or LGBTQ are disproportionately homeless.
The donation drive-thru began on Oct. 11 and lasted until Nov. 1. By the end date, Garcia said each woman at the WISEPlace received at least one item from the donation drive-thru.
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