Snohomish County’s "Home For Good" Shelters Victims of Spousal Abuse

All too often, formally abused spouses who are recently divorced struggle with poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. At the same time, there are an untold number of Washington men and women who would divorce their abusive partners if they only had a safe place to go afterward.

Snohomish County has taken a step to help these struggling families thought their program, “Home For Good,” a special pilot program which helps those suffering financial hardship through no fault of their own, such as those who are struggling to find a home in the wake of a divorce involving abuse. The program, which involved Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, Project Phoenix, and the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, recently offered five three-bedroom homes in Marysville to struggling families at affordable rental prices. Eventually, the homes will turn into affordable ownership opportunities for those living in them. Each of the homes cost an average of $225,000 and were purchased with low-interest loans.

Marysville, Washington, has been hit hard by the recent recession and many formally middle-class families in the area are struggling on the edge of homelessness.