After years of feeling like an empty shell, Karen cried tears of relief when she first moved into her one-bedroom apartment in AWARE\u2019s transitional housing in Juneau.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea how overwhelming it would be because I hadn\u2019t had a place of my own in a long time. I\u2019m just learning to be independent again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
AWARE, which stands for Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies, has provided emergency shelter in Juneau for women for decades and broke ground on a new transitional housing facility two years ago. It opened to residents in November.<\/p>\n
[AWARE breaks ground on new, ‘long overdue’ transitional housing unit<\/a>.]<\/p>\n The new 12-unit building \u2014 called Kaasei after the Tlingit name for women\u2019s advocate Patti Bland who passed away in 2014 \u2014 is at full capacity. It\u2019s home to a live-in manager and 26 people \u00ad\u2014 11 women and their children trying to make a fresh start.<\/p>\n Karen and her child moved into Kaasei earlier this year. Karen is not the woman\u2019s real name. For the purpose of protecting her safety, the Empire is using a pseudonym instead. Details of her life are intentionally not being revealed to avoid giving away any identifying information.<\/p>\n Before moving into Kaasei, Karen spent years living in a verbally and emotionally abusive marriage. She said her ex-husband was an alcoholic, took pain pills and constantly berated her. Before he was arrested, he threatened her with weapons. She still lives with fear \u201cthat somehow he\u2019ll make it to Juneau because he\u2019s still angry at me.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen was living in another Southeast Alaska community when she met her ex-husband. He knew her family, so she felt there was already a trust there.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very charming, very sweet, said all the right things. Promised a lot of things. It felt like we had a connection,\u201d Karen said.<\/p>\n When they got married, things continued to go well, \u201cbut he would get angry from time to time,\u201d she said. \u201cAs the years went by, he got more and more angry at me. He would yell and scream at me and put me down.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen and her ex-husband eventually had a child. When the kid was born, \u201cI quit the partying and drinking. He continued on. It gradually got worse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though I knew the relationship wasn\u2019t really going well, my son was growing and getting bigger. I tried to make happy memories. I tried to keep my son stimulated, happy. We\u2019d go out and do things \u2014 go camping, fishing \u2014 just kept him busy a lot of the times. My husband just stayed home and drank, and then got mad at me at night,\u201d Karen said.<\/p>\n When her ex-husband threatened her with weapons and trapped her and their child in their home, Karen called 911. That happened several times.<\/p>\n One night, one of these incidents escalated significantly in front of their child, who was \u201cwhimpering and scared,\u201d Karen said. Her husband threatened to hurt several people. When he had his back turned, Karen and her child escaped.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just had a quick moment where we could slip out really quick without him noticing,\u201d she said. She went to family friend\u2019s house and called for help.<\/p>\n Her ex-husband was arrested.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would think it would just end once he\u2019s in jail, but it doesn\u2019t end. He got bailed out and kept contacting us,\u201d she said. \u201cSomehow he\u2019s got to keep showing me he\u2019s still around.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen moved to Juneau and went to the AWARE\u2019s emergency shelter. \u201cIt\u2019s the safest place I could think of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n All those years of her ex-husband\u2019s violent threats and mental and verbal abuse wore on Karen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt emotionally just beat me down,\u201d she said. \u201cI used to be confident, independent, not afraid. I don\u2019t feel that way anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, she\u2019s working on getting her identity and confidence back, and Kaasei is a big part of that. Karen said over and over how thankful she is for AWARE.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for them, I don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Like Karen, the majority of women who live or will live at Kaasei have stayed at AWARE\u2019s emergency shelter, which has 32 beds. They\u2019ve experienced communal living \u2014 shared bathrooms, shared kitchen, shared living space and kids room, lots of noise and people.<\/p>\n Kaasei offers something different, said Kaasei\u2019s AWARE advocate Meryl Chew.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the people who live here haven\u2019t ever, or in a very long time, had a chance or opportunity to live on their own in a space that is safe and clean and nice and with support in it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been really stabilizing for a lot of people, like their kids are regularly attending school again or they\u2019ve been able to gain employment again because they have a safe, grounded spot.\u201d<\/p>\n [Juneau celebrates new AWARE facility<\/a>.]<\/p>\n At the shelter, the women are usually working on establishing safety, child custody, navigating the criminal justice system \u00ad\u2014 \u201cputting out fires,\u201d as AWARE Deputy Director Mandy O\u2019Neal Cole characterized it.<\/p>\n At Kaasei, \u201cwe have the chance to figure out, \u2018Can you get a job? Do you need some kind of supportive employment? Ultimately, you\u2019re going to have to bring in some kind of money into your household. How is that going to happen?\u2019\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there\u2019s a huge emphasis on stabilizing in terms of financial success. That\u2019s a big difference from the shelter \u2014 we have room to work on financial independence where we never had that before,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Apartments range from $500 to $800 a month depending on number of bedrooms. There are rules to living at Kaasei, like no drinking, no drugs and no adult visitors except during allotted family nights. Residents are required to regularly check in with Chew. For their protection, 22 security cameras surround the building and you need a code to get in.<\/p>\n With support and without fear for safety, Kaasei residents can work on themselves. Besides a financial literacy class, AWARE also offers classes in healthy relationships, parenting and dealing with trauma.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve come so far since when I first showed up,\u201d Karen said. In the healthy relationships class, she\u2019s learned to treat herself.<\/p>\n \u201cCoffee is like my moment in the morning, and so I get special creamers and flavors and take my 10 minutes in the morning and just enjoy my coffee,\u201d Karen said.<\/p>\n She never used to do that sort of thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI have all these balls in the air, and for me to stop and say, \u2018I want this for myself\u2019 is hard,\u201d Karen said. \u201cIt\u2019s going from living with someone that\u2019s constantly beating you down to telling yourself you\u2019re worth it, you deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n Cole anticipates people living at Kaasei for up to two years. As residents leave, she hopes wherever they go, it\u2019s where they want to go.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re making a choice to go somewhere that fits what they need, rather than reacting all the time to just shortfall and crisis and scarcity and violence. They\u2019re making an intentional choice to go to a place, and it\u2019s not about where you have to be; it\u2019s where you want to be,\u201d Cole said. \u201cIf somebody gets that, I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Karen is currently unemployed and pays for her apartment with the help of tribal assistance. Her goal is to get a job, get off assistance completely and move into a permanent home.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Karen has been busy doing art projects, decorating her apartment and looking for a job. She said her child is happy \u201cbecause we\u2019re stable, not in a shelter. The apartment is ours. It\u2019s home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n Related stories:<\/p>\n ‘Still atrocious, still unacceptable: Survey shows 50 out of 100 Alaskan women statewide experience violence in 2016<\/a><\/p>\n Bill would protect animals in domestic violence situations<\/a><\/p>\n