HAMILTON, Ohio — As the need for housing help rises, a new homeless and domestic violence shelter is up and running.

What You Need To Know

  • The YWCA Hamilton recently opened a new multi-million dollar shelter 

  • The new shelter will have enough space for 15 families of domestic violence survivors, and 45 chronically homeless 

  • Organizers said the new shelter holds at least double the amount of space, but there are still challenges with the growing need for help.

For some survivors, the road to help wasn’t an easy one. 

A young mother, Moné, who declined to give her full name as she doesn’t want to be identified after what happened to her.  

“I thought he was gonna kill me,” said Moné. “I’ve cut myself, I’ve overdosed before. It was a lot dealing with him."

She said for three years straight, her ex-boyfriend and father of her kids abused her right in front of them. 

”They seen me get burned with cigarettes, they seen me get choked, bitten, objects thrown at me, it could be a pot, anything that’s close,” she said.

Left with nowhere else to turn, she got away on her own. 

“It’s just me and my kids are my family, so coming here, it really was like God, I was just shocked,” she said.

She’s not alone.

“Sometimes these families come to us and they have had nothing,” said Dawn Anderson Thurmond, YWCA Hamilton Domestic Violence Shelter Director.

“Just to find safe affordable houses for these families to transition has been a challenge, and that’s gonna continue to be a need here locally,” said Anderson Thurmond.

She says dozens of families are on a waiting list for housing help, but she says the new building changed everything. 

“We are able to house twice as many families, so that’s very much of a plus,” said Anderson Thurmond.

The multi-million dollar shelter has 45 rooms for the chronically homeless on one floor, and 15 secured apartments on the other for families trying to escape domestic violence. 

“I’m literally free, not just going to a friend's house and I’m gonna go back to it," said Moné. "I’m free."

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline (800-799-7233) You can also be connected to additional resources by reaching out to the YWCA.