Latest / Living Loud and Proud: Disability Conversations / Empowering Survivors: The Purple House Project Featuring Christine Joy Brunson
Transcript
- Phill Rosen Voice Over 00:00:00 This episode of The Living Loud and Proud Podcast contains discussions of domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE, that's 1-800-799-7233. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to the Living Loud and Proud Podcast, brought to you by Disability Pride Pennsylvania. If you need a link to the transcript for this episode, please visit our accessible website at www.disabilitypridepa.org/podcast. And now here is your host... Ellen Shimberg 00:00:58 Hi. I'm Ellen Shimberg. Welcome to the show. Today, we are thrilled to welcome Christine Joy Brunson, founder of The Purple House Project. But before we go any further, we want to thank today's sponsor, Highmark Wholecare, for whom this entire podcast would not be possible. Christine, hi! Welcome to the podcast. Christine Joy Brunson 00:01:20 Thank you for having me. Ellen, how are you today? Ellen Shimberg 00:01:23 Doing good. We are thrilled to bring you on. We want to talk about The Purple House Project. We're particularly interested, especially as we get close to voting and we know about women's rights, the things that are happening with women. But most importantly, let me tell you a little bit about The Purple House Project. And Christine, you jump in and stop me at any point in time. So The Purple House Project is on a mission to strengthen, empower and transition women who've been impacted by intimate partner violence via connections to essential resources that aid in the healing process. We also know from research that women who have disabilities are impacted at a rate 40% higher than their non-disabled peers. And so the work that you're doing, Christine, is incredibly important to women in general, but especially to the women of our community. Can you tell me a little bit about sort of what brought you to developing and creating this really necessary program for folks in our area? Christine Joy Brunson 00:02:15 So I tell people often that I started Purple House Project for several different reasons. One of the biggest reasons was when I was in college, we had to do what's called a genogram. And then the genogram basically, you write down all the different family members, and you look at trends that have happened in your family. And domestic violence was one of those trends that have happened in my family for generations, and I realized, although it had occurred several times, there weren't lots of resources that my family utilized, and so that was one of the reasons. And then also, while I was in graduate school, getting my master's in social work, my internship was at the Hospital University at Penn, where I did a research project with women impacted by intimate partner violence and problem drinking behaviors. And from there, along with, like, once I got into the professional social work, a couple of my first clients were women affected by intimate partner violence, domestic violence, I realized that we as a society do an okay job at providing like, emergency services, like, here's a here's like, a food voucher here, or here's a transportation, but what women really needed was empowerment services, they needed someone to walk along them and for them to get support with, like, building back up, because oftentimes people impacted by intimate partner violence, one of the tactics is to break people down physically and mentally. And so at Purple House Project, we knew that we didn't just want to provide emergency services, but like, empowerment services that women could take along with them, Ellen Shimberg 00:03:43 Right. I would, I would get it's sort of an emergency services helps, but doesn't necessarily, long term, allow the woman and potentially children, to really make strides, to break from the abuser and to develop their own lives and independence. And that's what Purple House Project sounds to me. Is like what you're working towards. It's not just an immediate you're in trouble. Now let us help you. Let us also provide you with the tools to be able to be independent and move forward and to and to change the trajectory of potentially generations of abuse. Christine Joy Brunson 00:04:10 Absolutely, because if all we do is provide emergency services and crisis work, it's not really sustainable. And so we would like to put things in place that will help sustain folks. Ellen Shimberg 00:04:20 Can you give me an idea that the numbers of women who've come through your program and the reach are you, you know, geographically? Christine Joy Brunson 00:04:27 So we service people in Philadelphia, Delaware County, mostly. And I would say, since so we're on our seventh year. We'll be eight years old in October, but since conception, I've said, I'd say, formally and informally, we've serviced over 300 folks, and that's through community events. That's through one on one case management services, and that's also through like telework as well. Throughout the pandemic, we were getting phone calls from folks from all over the country, accessing, needing support with accessing services. Ellen Shimberg 00:04:59 One of the things that I've been noticing from going on your website, one of that's really important is you provide education, and I think that's maybe one of the things that's missing. I think that it not only helps to build women up, but also to help them sort of internalize and look inside and lead though. You know, what are the what are the decisions that I'm making that have led me down to this path? And how can I break that cycle? And can you tell me a little bit about the education that you provide to the folks who come through your program. Christine Joy Brunson 00:05:24 Well, we educate folks on like, healthy relationships. We educate people on the importance of sharing their story. We educate people on like different social issues, such as like period poverty. We also educate folks on financial literacy through all of these are done through partnerships as well. So like, if we are not an expert in a certain topic, we'll partner with other organizations to help support the need. So we also educate folks about disability equity on our presentations. That we do often is I the intersection of IPV and disability. So, yeah, those are some of the things that we educate folks on. Ellen Shimberg 00:06:06 I actually want to take a second and actually talk about the intersectionality of disability and domestic partner violence. As I mentioned earlier, there's a, I think it's a 40% higher reported rate of women with disabilities versus their non disabled peers? Can you expand a little bit about sort of, maybe your thoughts, or what you've seen from folks coming through with disabilities, and what could be the reason for such a higher incidence? Christine Joy Brunson 00:06:31 So each year, we host what's called My Purple Path. It's an awareness walk slash resource fair. Last year, our awareness walk slash resource fair focused on women affected by intimate partner violence and who live with disabilities, and we had folks share their stories. This came out of about two or three years ago. I met a woman, we were both speaking at public comment about. She was speaking about domestic violence because she was a survivor of domestic violence. She actually became disabled due to her domestic violence, and her story shook me so hard, and like, I was like, I need to meet this woman. And after interacting with her, I started to do, like, do some research, and noticing that folks are at a greater risk when they live with a disability to experience intimate partner violence, and that's for several reasons, one because the vulnerability of the folks, like, oftentimes, folks who live with varying disabilities have like, a greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence because of their need to, their need, right? And so like, whether a client needs like, physical like things or like and whether a person has like a visible or invisible disability, they are at a greater risk. So for example, I work a lot with people who live with visual impairments, and often, some of them are completely blind, and they're going to rely on someone totally sometimes in order to navigate this world. And so often times when people are vulnerable, they are at a greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence, and then, like the tactics often look a lot different. My nine-to-five, I work with people who live with HIV and AIDS, and because there's such a because there's such a stigma around people who live with HIV and AIDS, when someone is in a relationship with someone, who is someone who is HIV positive, is in a relationship with someone who is HIV negative. Oftentimes there could be the risk, the risk of someone like, using their diagnosis against them in order to, like, stay or do what they want them to do. We find with people who live with disabilities, the tactics look a lot different too. Sometimes it's like withholding medication, sometimes it's withholding assistive devices. Sometimes it's making it really difficult for folks to utilize the accommodations that they need. And so, yeah. Ellen Shimberg 00:08:54 Would you say that in your experience and that, and I wouldn't hold you to this, but that it's in terms of you know, we know that how challenging is for people to leave an abusive relationship. It's easy for folks from the outside to looking and say, 'Well, why don't you just leave?' And we know that that's not that simple. In your experience, have you found in particular that it's folks with disabilities are even harder for them to leave, and I'm thinking about folks who need assistive technology, folks who are who are in wheelchairs, when you are dependent on someone else for your activities of daily living, I would assume, if that person also happens to be your abuser, then it becomes not just, 'I need to leave this relationship, but who's going to take care of me if I leave this relationship?' And are shelters set up to accommodate folks with disabilities? Do you think that might be part of the reason why some folks with disabilities stay in these relationships longer? Because these shelters are not set up to have folks in wheelchairs or with intellectual disabilities or with neurodivergence. Christine Joy Brunson 00:09:48 Absolutely, I think the shelter system, in and of itself, already for folks who are able bodied is difficult to navigate, let alone like someone who lives with a disability for all the reasons that you mentioned and all the reasons you didn't mention. And because it's so difficult to navigate already, because of the stigma, because of different policies that are put in place to unfortunately discriminate against folks who live with disabilities, I think that folks are at a greater risk of returning back to their abuser because of that. You know, no one wants to be out on the street and no one, and even more, no one wants to be out on the street and like, have a disability and like, because they're like, 'Well, at least while I'm home, I know, like, I know the beast that lives with me kind of thing, right?' Ellen Shimberg 00:10:32 Definitely (unintelligible, 10:33). Christine Joy Brunson 00:10:33 And so I think that, like, there are so many reasons why people struggle with leaving a abusive relationship. And we at Purple House Project educate our folks that unfortunately, the most dangerous time is when someone decides to leave. That's like statistics have shown that the lethal, lethality rates increase when folks are leaving an abusive relationship coupled with a disability, right? And so what does that look like this? Am I still going to get my medications? Am I still going to have all the assistive technology that I need. Even after I leave, what if my health insurance is in my partner's name, and now that I believe in a relationship, how am I going to get my life sustaining medications? How am I going to do X, Y, and Z? Ellen Shimberg 00:11:13 Are, from your knowledge, are there any shelters in the region that are set up to accommodate folks with disabilities in terms of access, accessible? You know, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, of course, primarily, initially, of folks with with physical disabilities that might need, you know, are there shelters that have wheelchair accessible spaces? What kind of accommodations are currently in place, to the best of your knowledge, in the region? In case there's anybody listening that has a disability and thinks, 'Where am I, is there any place that can take me if I do decide to leave?' Christine Joy Brunson 00:11:41 I think that's like across the board, like this, the basic standard, like making sure that things are wheelchair accessible. But I even now, as you're talking about, I'm reflecting on the shelters that I do work with, and none of them are wheelchair accessible. There's three women shelters that I work with that are phenomenal in the city, but none of them are wheelchair accessible. So that's a great question, and something I would need to look into, because I'm literally thinking about all of them. And even if they don't have a whole bunch of stuff, they at least have that one step in the interior. But I think, you know, I think there's a simple solution. And I don't know why more shelters and organizations like, I was on Amazon and I saw that they had, like, these portable ramps and like things like that, like, or like getting a ramp installed. I feel like it's not, not that expensive for folks, like, especially big organizations that can make a world of difference for folks accessing services, or even just like making things in larger print in order for folks to access the services, or offering stuff in alternative formats, like ASL and things like that, and so, yeah, that is a great question. I can't think of any. Ellen Shimberg 00:12:55 It was something you know, because I think about, you know, making the decision to leave is, is, is hard, and I think that it for folks who who haven't been in a situation like that to and I think we had just, you know, as I said earlier, it's easy to say, 'Why don't you just leave?' And I think that's there's so many reasons why it's not as simple as that. And I was wondering if you might be able to elaborate on why it's not as simple as, 'Okay, you hit me once I'm packing up and I'm out the door.' Christine Joy Brunson 00:13:21 Well, because it's a cycle too, right? And so often times, domestic violence happens in a cycle. First it's like the honeymoon stage, and it's a conflict building stage, and then it's the abuse that happens. And often times, when the abuse happens, sometimes people think it's like an isolated event. Folks think that. And then, like, often times, once the abuse happens, people go back to what's called the honeymoon phase. And so they're like, well, it was just one time. It won't happen again, or people will utilize different tactics, like either the isolation, so well if you leave where you're going to go, because while in abusive relationships, often times, perpetrators isolate folks from their loved ones, and so when they are ready to go, they don't have anywhere to go because they've been isolated, or some forms of abuses, like financial abuse that they have messed up their finances so bad, or made them rely so much on them financially that when they're ready to go, it's really difficult because they don't have the finances, or mentally, because they've been broken down so badly that they don't think that they have the tools within themselves in order to leave as well. Ellen Shimberg 00:14:24 You and we you'd mentioned earlier about storytelling. Can you tell me about how powerful and impactful that is for the folks who decide that that's how they want to share their experience, and what led you to Susan to realize how important it was for women to be able to share their stories. Christine Joy Brunson 00:14:39 I think that while I was in school and growing up, but while I was in school, we talked about restorying and how that's a form of therapeutic intervention to get a different result. Like the more you tell your story, oftentimes it takes away the power from the perpetrator and gives you back the power as well. I think it's important to share your story, because you're not the only one that went through it. And so oftentimes, you sharing your story can give hope to another woman, no or another person. No, it might not be the exact same story, but people can see themselves in stories, and they can be empowered like, 'Wow, if they got out of it, I can get out of it too.' If this I thought I was because I think it's really difficult when you think you're the only one, and so sharing stories help people realize that they're not the only one, and it helps break that shame. It helps break that stigma. I remember a couple, about a year or two ago, I was listening to a client share her story, and then she was sharing her story. It reminded me of a story I heard from another client, and I was able to connect the two of them, because I was just like, 'Your story sounds a lot like this person's story, and I think that you can partner with them to help navigate the resources that they had to navigate.' And so I think when people share their stories, resource sharing is able to happen as well. Ellen Shimberg 00:15:53 I do. I love that it is about being a community and supporting each other, and sort of each one teach one. And we, you know, we, once we got to the other side, I think you sort of extend your hand back to somebody behind you, say, 'Come on. I let me bring you along with me.' Once, folks, how do people find Purple House Project? How do folks who are looking to leave find Purple House Project in terms of getting sort of resources and support, and how long do you sort of stay, out of people who come to you, how long do they stay engaged with the organization? Christine Joy Brunson 00:16:24 So people can find us, usually on Instagram, Facebook. We often are like, we're, we're really nontraditional in our approach to serving folks. We meet the clients exactly where they are, and oftentimes folks, what we learn realize is that folks, and you probably realize that too, are posting on social media. 'I need help with X, Y and Z, before...' you know what I mean. And so we utilize those different groups on Facebook or like people sharing what they need on Facebook. So social media is one way people can get in contact with us, @purplehouseprojectpa, our website, for sure, but we also get referrals from community organizations, from other like we've also got referrals from social serv-, like hospitals as well, other social service agencies in our community. And then we do a lot of community events, like yours, and so sometimes we get referrals from community events as well. I would say clients, 'Once a client, always a client.' We do what's called a What's Important Now Form with our clients, and that's a WINS Form. And I was just talking to my intern about her earlier. She was asking me, 'How long do clients stay with us?' And I was just like, it depends. I have some clients who their only an immediate need was like getting their vital documents so they can start the next chapter of their life. And so we were able to do that, and they were done accessing services. But if they ever needed to come back, they could. And then there are other clients that I've been dealing with for, like, two or three years. It just depends on the need and how, like, extensive the need is. Ellen Shimberg 00:17:53 And are you? You are folks who've been through program, day service, sort of mentors for the others coming behind them? Is there a network of women who sort of stay in touch with each other having gone through your program? Or... Christine Joy Brunson 00:18:08 Yeah, so far, so like, in December, we have what's called, like a self-care day for the ladies. And a couple of the ladies who attended, like, got to get each other's phone number, and they, like, still kind of connect to this day and check in. But definitely, we want to formalize it and create, like a formal support group for the ladies. Because, you know, I am privileged in to sit with women at some of their most vulnerable times in here it, and I think that it would be really powerful if they feel comfortable to share with others as well, because it is truly like life changing with some of the stories and the successes that I hear from women. Ellen Shimberg 00:18:46 I want to talk about the the financial literacy deal. We know that, statistically, a lot of women won't leave abusive relationships because of finances. They feel that they don't have the financial wherewithal to support themselves with their with children, if they're if they're taking children with them. So I know that you guys provide financial literacy workshops. Can you tell me a little bit about what that looks like and the impact that it has on the community? Christine Joy Brunson 00:19:08 So we partner with the organization called Moore 4 More in order to do the financial literacy workshops. And so right now, the goal is we started to receive relocation funds. And so our goal is, and we're still piloting it is, whenever a client comes to access the relocation funds, they're also required to like, meet with the financial literacy person through Moore 4 More. And so that's still piloting, so we haven't formally done that yet, but we have had clients speak one off to like Moore 4 More about questions regarding finances, credit and saving high yield savings account and things like that. Ellen Shimberg 00:19:45 The and then I also know that you work with support animal assessments to you know, I would imagine that studies have shown that people who are survivors of domestic abuse and sort of emotional support animals is a terrific fit. Christine Joy Brunson 00:19:58 Yeah. Ellen Shimberg 00:19:59 Can you tell me a. Bit about what that looks like, because it's an emotional support animal is not the same as a service pet, and...right. Christine Joy Brunson 00:20:04 Correct, correct, so oftentimes, and like you said, there's been more and more studies and research going out there, folks, and that's another reason why people don't access shelter services, because they're not able to use bring their emotional support animal. And I've had clients like this cat or this dog has been with me since before the partner. And you know what I mean, like, I've had a person say, 'Like, I've had this cat for the last 13 years. I'm I would rather sleep on the street before, like, I give up my pet," kind of thing. And so we partner with the organization called Transitions4Life, and for all of our clients who access our services, they'll do a free emotional support animal assessment for all of our clients, because they notice, they realize how great the need is, and they don't want that to be a barrier for clients who are trying to seek housing, permanent housing, and so they'll do an assessment for our clients who need to get the assessment done in order to secure housing. Ellen Shimberg 00:20:55 Let me come back to something you said that I wasn't aware of, was that we know that, obviously the shelters have have to allow in the service dogs, but I was not aware that emotional support animals may present a barrier. Are there shelters that are do shelters typically not accept emotional support animals? Christine Joy Brunson 00:21:13 I would say the Philly shelters that I've been around, I've never seen an emotional support animal there, Ellen Shimberg 00:21:19 Which could be a barrier to somebody leaving, if that pet is sort of a lifeline. Christine Joy Brunson 00:21:23 Yes. Ellen Shimberg 00:21:25 Given the sort of the fact that there's research is showing the impact of emotional support animals, and how other things, you know, airplanes and hotels and other organizations are much more open now to not just service dogs, but also to emotional support. Do you see the shelters making any headway in beginning to accommodate folks who do have emotional support animals? Christine Joy Brunson 00:21:44 I've seen some research, not in Philadelphia, though, but in other states, where they're actually trying to have like shelters that encompass both like the shelter system and a place for the pets to go as well on site, but I haven't seen in any of the Philadelphia shelters yet. Ellen Shimberg 00:22:02 And the other thing I'm interested in is the advocacy work that you're doing in the community for women who've been impacted by intimate partner violence. Christine Joy Brunson 00:22:09 Yep. So we do advocacy a couple different ways. So we partner with the organization, a national organization called Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, which is a awesome organization that we get to do visits to Harrisburg once a year, we meet with elected officials about different bills that impact the women we serve. One of the bills that we've been advocating on is HB 1441 which is like a housing protection for folks impacted by violence. We also partner with Prevention Meets Fashion to do some advocacy work as well around like issues such as period poverty. In the past, we've done like advocacy work around like bras and making sure people have what they need in order to be successful with bras as well as menstrual products. We've also done advocacy work via like letter writing campaigns as well. Ellen Shimberg 00:23:02 What is the one message you would like folks listening today to take away from our conversation? Christine Joy Brunson 00:23:08 Oh, that's such a good question.... Ellen Shimberg 00:23:09 You could have two. It doesn't have to be just one. Christine Joy Brunson 00:23:14 That I heard this quote a long time ago, and I feel like it's so powerful that 'Shame says that I am a bad thing, not that I did a bad thing.' And so, like, just getting rid of the shame. Because, like, when you when you share, like the best, the best remedy for shame is to share your story, right? So when you share your story, you already knocked shame out the door, because then you realize that you're not the only one. And so like it's nothing to be ashamed about. Unfortunately, one in four women are impacted by intimate partner violence. There are resources that are available, to remember that it takes the average woman seven times before she successfully use a intimate partner violence relationship. And so if this is your fourth or fifth time, there's nothing to be ashamed about. And unfortunately, systematic oppression is real. And so because of systematic oppression and barriers, it's really difficult to leave. And so whenever you're ready, we at Purple House Project, are here to support. Ellen Shimberg 00:24:15 Christine, one of the quotes I love off of your your website is the, 'I got you, Sis!' Christine Joy Brunson 00:24:21 Yes! Ellen Shimberg 00:24:21 Can you tell me a little bit about sort of the background of that, and then we can I love that too. I think that, you know, but I'd love to hear your sort of story behind it. Christine Joy Brunson 00:24:31 So oftentimes, like in my person-, my personal life parallels my professional life, like I've I'm a very personable person by nature, wanting to support, wanting to connect to resources. And so at the oftentimes anecdotally, we would say, like, 'I got you Sis!' Like, when we're like, 'Oh, can I, can you help me with this? Or can help me with that?' And that would be the response. And so when I was in the car with our president, Ebony Gardner, we were talking about a shirt idea, and she's like, 'I think you should say I got you Sis!' Like, and, and that's what we call our case management services too. And oftentimes after I'm like, hanging up the phone with the client, I'm like, 'I got you Sis!' like, whatever you need, kind of thing. And I think it's, it's, it's heartwarming to know that someone is there to support you wherever you are in your journey. And it's just our way of embracing that, like we're here to support. Ellen Shimberg 00:25:18 Yeah, I love it because it's, it's it to me, it's a really welcoming term, you know I mean, and I love the you know that you can say things, 'We support you. We're here for you,' but 'I got you, Sis!' is so to me, so much more personal and so much more approachable. And so I love that. That's sort of your tagline. Christine, I want to thank you for your time today, for talking to our listeners about what your organization, the Purple House Project, does for women in our community, for any woman who is listening, what do you want to tell them, any woman who's experiencing partner violence who's listening, what would you like to them to hear from you. Christine Joy Brunson 00:25:53 That to share your story and to ask for help. There's help out there, and don't feel defeated, because oftentimes it's you feel defeated when you finally leave and then you have to access some of these social services. So many social services are not the nicest to navigate, but know that like you have to be persistent, and you don't have to go through it alone. There's someone here to help. Ellen Shimberg 00:26:14 Fantastic. I would like to thank my guest today, Christine Brunson from the Purple House Project, for any woman who is indeed listening, who is currently experiencing intimate partner violence. Christine, do you want to give the your website so folks know where to go or the best way to get in touch? Christine Joy Brunson 00:26:30 Yes! Our website is purplehouseprojectpa.org, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. There'll be all kinds of resources out there in October as well. But anytime you need, if you have any questions or you need help with accessing resources on our website, we have a plethora of resources that you can go through yep. Ellen Shimberg 00:26:51 Well, thank you very much to Christine Brunson, the Purple House Project, and to everybody listening. We appreciate your time today. Thanks so much. Phill Rosen Voice Over 00:27:02 Please visit our accessible website at www.disabilitypridepa.org. You can find us on social media @DisabilityPridePA on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.