EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The YWCA El Paso del Norte Region’s Sara McKnight Transitional Living Center helps women who are survivors of domestic, sexual and other forms of violence. The center also helps women who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.
Earlier this month, some of the shelters residents received a letter, letting them know that they had to move out by Sept. 13 because they didn’t qualify for their new program that started at the beginning of the month.
KTSM spoke with two women who have been residents of the shelter since April of this year. They are two of the residents who say they are being evicted. We are not identifying them for privacy reasons.
“I tried to ask the case manager that was assigned to me, ‘Why is it that I don’t qualify or what are the requirements?’ She told me that she doesn’t exactly know how the program works, which I didn’t understand. I was like, ‘OK, but it’s for domestic violence, correct?’ She said, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘OK, there’s other people that have had domestic violence years prior. Mine was a year and a half ago. How do I not qualify?'” the resident said.
These women say that the current program that they are in is supposed to offer six to 24 months of assistance. Both women say they are looking at other options and asking for help from other shelters before Friday.
“My family being so big, like all the emergency shelters, doesn’t have room for us. And then they do this right before my daughter’s homecoming. So her homecoming is that this fall, this Saturday, coming up and they expect me to be gone by this Friday,” another resident said.
KTSM reached out to the YWCA for comment. We have not heard back from them.
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