Everyone deserves a safe home.

“I think it is easy to take for granted having stability in life,” says IUPUI student leader Andrea Jacobson. She and the members of the student organization she founded are familiar faces at Coburn Place.

“Samantha” had been trying for more than 10 years to get her driver’s license. Teaming up with Denise Saxman was just what she needed. “There’s some pride in that I helped this woman achieve this goal,” she says. “It’s a personal accomplishment for me, but it’s huge for her to make that big stride.”

“I don’t set long-term goals. I set three-month goals. I had all my goals for three months accomplished within two weeks of moving here.”

“My first volunteer activity was to help set up an apartment for a newly arriving family. I remember thinking how impactful it must be for a family coming to this safe space from an abusive, unsettled household.”

“I know my value, period. I know who I am.” Survivor and small business owner Vikki Gladney once lived at Coburn Place. Now she’s at home on a bike.

“I was homeless for a year,” says Melissa. “It was hard and scary.” Now, she has safe housing and a job she loves.

Black and African American women experience violence at a rate 2.5 times more than white women. We look at why – and why they often suffer in silence.