Friend,

Even as electricity is being restored for millions of Texans, many are still struggling with the effects of the unprecedented winter storms and unacceptable inaction by officials in government.

But perhaps the most heartbreaking are the families who’ve already escaped domestic violence and sought safety in women’s shelters—only to have to flee once again as shelters close due to extended power outages, burst pipes, and extensive water damage.

One such shelter is the Dallas-based Genesis Women's Shelter and Support, which had to shut down for the first time in their 35-year history after suffering extreme winter storm damage to their emergency shelter and transitional housing units. Now they’re in urgent need of funds.

Please donate now to help the Genesis Women's Shelter and Support in Texas with their critical, immediate needs—including relocating people in hotels, repairing the damage to their buildings, and providing their displaced clients with winter gear and other needed supplies and food.

After Rashida was moved by the below tweet, we decided to step in and donate directly to Genesis Women's Shelter and Support. But much more is needed, which is why we’re reaching out to you for additional fundraising help.

People’s lives are forever changed for the better by supportive groups like Genesis.

But after losing power last week, the shelter grew extremely cold, and its electromagnetic locks—meant to keep abusers out—stopped working. As the CEO Jan Langbein explained, “when we don’t have power, we don’t have security.”

And then the “pipes in the attic froze. So water flooded our entire campus. Our school is ruined. Our electrical room is ruined. And... our transitional housing apartments are ruined too. We’ve got insulation hanging out from the attic.”

Genesis has had to relocate residents into hotels and other safe places. People’s belongings were ruined by the water, so once again they had to leave with only their children and the clothes on their backs. Trauma on top of trauma.

Can you chip in now to help the women and children of the Genesis Women's Shelter and Support in Dallas, Texas?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence has spiked. The United Nations has been referring to this spike as a “shadow pandemic” around the world. For survivors, deciding to take the often-dangerous step of leaving their abusers is hard even when not in the midst of a pandemic.

As Marie Claire explained, “The majority of [Genesis’s] clients have been determined to be at ‘high risk of lethality’ from their abuser and are coming from a situation of extreme violence.”¹ The women who come to them—whether for housing or counseling or legal services—are already in a fight for their lives… before the devastating winter storms hit.

The assistant director of clinical and professional services at Genesis, Amber Nealy, said that “Coming to transitional housing is giving [women] a bit of safety and security in a time of pandemic and fleeing from super abusive partners. That was all ripped out from under them in a matter of days.”

Now it will take months to rebuild.

Please chip in what you can now to help rebuild Genesis Women's Shelter and Support and provide their clients with needed supplies and food.

Thank you for your help. And if you or people you know need support getting out of an abusive situation, you can call the national Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) or chat online at https://www.thehotline.org. Their services are anonymous and confidential.

If you’re in the Dallas area, the emergency hotline for Genesis is 214.946.HELP (4357).

In solidarity,

Team Rashida