After leaving her abusive partner, Brynn Butler also lost her home. The use of drugs is a normal reaction to emotional trauma caused by unhealthy relationships and she claimed that her methamphetamine addiction “spiraled.”
“It was a whirlwind of events that culminated into almost everything I had lost did you think? I was living in an abandoned home with my kids, who were 13 and 12 when I was there,” she said.
A man also promised her a home and stability in a different state so that she would be able to “get her life in order,” but she said that it turned out to be an violent situation. When he injured the socket of her eyes, Butler said she decided to alter her lifestyle.
“I was very nervous about going to the emergency room due to the fact that I had tracks all over my arms, and was a sore appearance,” she said. “I was looking in the mirror, and I was wondering, ‘Who’s that person?’ I figured out that I could not continue to use meth.”
Butler was admitted to her local Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living in Fairbanks and was put in transitional housing in which she was able to stay in the shelter’s women’s room for six months before beginning to get stabilized. Staff members noticed such a drastic transformation within Butler that they provided her with a job that helped her move toward a more independent lifestyle.
Victims of domestic violence frequently require help to secure and pay for housing since abusers are known to sabotage victims’ financial stability. This can lead to difficulty finding rental properties due to inadequate credit, rental and employment history. The assistance Butler obtained for housing helped give her the chance to get off addiction and get an employment. She is now Housing coordinator in the City of Fairbanks and is developing transitional services to the community.
Many survivors of domestic violence who have survived domestic violence in Fairbanks have said that housing helped save their lives. Affordable housing is an important element to regaining stability following domestic violence, however it’s difficult to find in Fairbanks and throughout Alaska. The advocates say this leads to shelters to become overcrowded, which could mean that more people returning to abusers or other dangerous situations.
“We do not have any housing to place them in”
Interior Center for Non-Violent Living is the sole low-barrier shelter in Fairbanks in the winter months, where temperatures regularly drop to 40 degrees below. Low barrier shelters have no prerequisites, like sobriety, for entry into. Shelters for emergencies aren’t an option for the long term however they can be a place to start for homeless individuals.
Kara Carlson, IAC’s interim director, told me that she has housing vouchers and an excess of rent assistance funds that can transfer people from shelter to independent living. However, she is unable to get victims of domestic violence into housing.
“We have plenty of funds that can help people get into housing. We don’t have the right housing for them to live in,” she said.
There are a variety of options to accommodate those who are leaving the violence of domestic abuse. Shelters are a form of crisis housing, and stays aren’t designed to last longer than 60 days. Transitional housing is typically affordable housing provided by nonprofits or shelters which are generally shared between the survivors as well as the organization. The next stage is independent living, often using vouchers for housing or permanent supportive housing for survivors who are unable to live independently. could be challenging due to an ongoing danger to their security. It may include security and an advocate.
in Fairbanks, Carlson said, the housing for people with low income has become less plentiful as landlords transform their properties into profitable short-term rentals. There are two military bases located in Fairbanks and she noted that the landlords are often more inclined to accommodate military families over tenants who are eligible for housing vouchers.
“Landlords are often afraid of renting to tenants who have evictions on the record or criminal records or any of these, especially when they can find an active military or person with a good credit score to pay more, and not cause any issues,” she said.
One of the signs that domestic violence can manifest is the abuse of money. Many women who leave abusers are not creditworthy or have poor credit, or have no employment or rental background if they were aided and housing by their abusive partners. They’re also often the primary caregivers of their children. Evictions and criminal records that can result from domestic violence incidents typically are not acceptable for landlords.
In response to the difficulties it is to provide housing for those who have been victims of violence domestically, IAC has 20 rooms of housing that are supportive. For those like S. who was a victim of domestic violence who was in various shelters for months before she was able to find permanent housing, this option is crucial.
“Saved my life,”” She said as she was taking a look around the tiny apartment.
S. found herself in danger when she landed at the shelter. There was a lot of danger when she arrived at the shelter. Alaska Beacon is not using her name due to safety concerns. The door to the building is locked, and there is security and she also has access to her door.
Walls of S.’s home are covered with art work that has been framed. A tiny bag of biscuits that was baked by a neighbor, was set on her counter and the plants flourished under a specific lighting. A blanket crocheted and stuffed animals were atop her bed. On her bookcase, were photos of workers from the case.
Shelters aren’t the most pleasant living spaces, particularly for those like S. who live with medical issues. She admitted that she was often contemplating the possibility of leaving. “I carried my backpack to my back, ready to take a cab to Anchorage and lounge around until I found an employment opportunity,” she said. The case manager of her convinced her to put off waiting.
“Housing can affect all aspects of a person’s existence”
Michelle Hicks, the center’s housing director, has said that managed housing is great for people who have suffered however, it’s difficult to manage and there has to have more. “You could possibly double what we have now, and it’d be still fully occupied,” she said.
Hicks stated that IAC was in housing industry for the past 35 years. The first building is named after Carmen Door, who was killed and shot by her abuser. It currently accommodates six families. A few more buildings followed however Hicks stated that she has to refuse housing applications.
“We observed an aspect of one of the most significant obstacles women faced when trying to escape abusers and, in particular females, was having safe living arrangements,” she said from her tiny, paper-laden office in a neighborhood that is located in the downtown area of Fairbanks. The wall that is above her desk is adorned with drawings and glittering “thank to you” cards from tenants. “I believe there would be less deaths and more fewer traumas that are complex when the housing demand is able to be satisfied.”
Hicks is able to balance Alaska state law, Federal Fair Housing Act, health privacy laws as well as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, and The Violence Against Women Act to provide shelter to a difficult-to-house population. Her nails are perfectly manicured and is a night and weekend worker.
“Housing influences all aspects of a person’s existence,” is written in purple ink on the lower left of business cards. Filing cabinets and binders packed with papers line the walls. “It’s the most important thing that you can do,” she told me.
The shelter’s annual meeting She cried as she spoke about an applicant who was planning to leave managed housing and into her own home. Her voice shook when she said those words “buy her own house.”
Hicks was emotional as she understood what the tenant was up against. For people who have suffered abuse at home, obstacles to obtaining housing include coping with their grief; and convincing landlords to accept a risk in the event that they don’t have a financial stability, a good rental history and a clean background and an extremely difficult housing market.
She claimed that month-to-month leases have become more popular in towns and she believes that landlords use this to avoid housing tenants who are using vouchers for housing, which are for leases of 12 months.
“You will be difficult to find a year-long lease any more here,” Hicks said. “You’re not judging anyone if their leasing is monthly.”
Secure, private space
A. must have waited for two years before she could get her housing allowance, but now she lives in one IAC’s housing units for supportive housing with her two sons. The walls are covered with artwork and a cat flits into and out of the space. The woman said it may have helped save her life.
“I would have walked back to him only to be beaten or even killed,” she said.
To ensure safety For security reasons, for security reasons, the Alaska Beacon generally does not name victims of abuse by name except for individuals similar to Butler who have made public statements about their experiences, and have were willing to be identified. The Beacon has identified A. with her initial and her consent.
A. attempted to have her marriage last, despite her abuse. After she left and returned to him several times, she claimed her family abandoned her.
“They weren’t a fan of the guy. They weren’t happy with what he was being to me. I was always going back to him, and playing with him and I was looking for the family to be together,” she explained. “I am not regretting the time we spent together because I have a child, however I would have preferred not to stay for so long. You’re never late to leave, however, it’s hard to decide when it’s time to go.”
She was in a state of limbo for two weeks until she sought help at the shelter. After that, she had to wait two years to get the voucher to let her move into an apartment run by Hicks. “Here I received the voucher and now I have my own residence. Every other time I was there at his home, it was his. He was able to kick me off,” the woman said. “This is my property. Nobody can kick me out.”
Today, A. is employed and is able to focus on reestablishing the relationship she has with herself. “For 12 years, I put in my best and then I completely fell away,” A. said. “I was unsure of who I was, or what I was like, and I don’t know,” she said. Her entire life was built around her ex-husband’s approval that she’s finding out what she wants to do and even the food she enjoys.
For A. the most appealing feature of the home is the security: There’s a key code that allows you to enter into the building, as well as the door is secured with a lock. Then, she explained she feels “free but not totally free” as her ex-boyfriend is in town after a few months in jail.
“It was very nice since I didn’t have to watch my back,” she said. “We’re doing great currently, but I do not think about when things will change.”
She claimed that she is aware that she is a target in the meantime, even if she is aware that he has new relationships and his behavior isn’t changing -the same way “He’s been able to get another girl expecting,” she said. “That girl isn’t sure what she’s doing.”
Building a safer future
In her bright office, which is shared in an office full of Fairbanks, Butler is working to increase the accessibility of low-barrier shelters within this Golden Heart City. Butler said that having access to shelter and housing can stop women who are who are in abusive relationships from returning to their abusive partners.
“It is different when it’s below 40,” she said. “If individuals aren’t guaranteed an opportunity to stay in shelters, they’ll go back to the abuser, rather than staying on the streets.”
She is coordinating an approach to housing which connects people living in poverty and dependent on substances, as she was, with emergency shelter and other services that can solve the bigger-picture problems associated with the housing market and addiction. In 2026, she hopes for cities to possess a comprehensive system to help people transition out of the cycle of homelessness.
Additionally, she mentioned that other companies are forming, too. Fairbanks Help Link is a new shelter for emergency situations that can be accessed overnight. It’s not a place to stay it’s an opportunity to get warm so that people don’t get cold.
But ultimately she argued that the city must have housing that residents are able to afford. She’s experienced what it’s like to be forced to choose between a volatile housing market or an abusive relationship “I’ve been there been there, done that, and got the t-shirt as well as the tracks to show that,” she said.
Housing was a key factor in her success in overcoming her addiction, as well as the stabilization of her family. Her children saw her abusive relationships however, they’ve also seen her improvement. She describes her husband as an honest, nice man. She also claimed that their relationship is stablewhich her daughters are aware of the same thing.
“These aspects are crucial to help heal the emotional traumas,” she said. “And to ensure that it doesn’t pass onto generations to come.”
The article was created in the context of the HTML2USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism 2023 Domestic Violence Impact Fund.
A complete listing of Alaska shelters and victim’s service providers is available here. .
