Sojourner House adding legal counsel service for abuse victims

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) –The Sojourner House, an advocacy resource center for victims of domestic and sexual abuse, is one of just eight groups across the country to receive grant funding to provide legal programs for its clients.

For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, staff in Providence will be able to provide this service to victims in Rhode Island.

The Sojourner House received nearly $400K over two years to bring in an on-site attorney to cover everything from divorce, custody, housing, labor, and eviction law.

“Having legal services on-site, within the organization, is just going to create a more seamless experience for the client. And again, just keep in mind, we’re working with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking. They’ve experienced immense trauma.” says Sojurner House’s Executive Director, Vanessa Volz.

“It’s really difficult for them to navigate social systems, welfare systems and so the more barriers we can remove to help them access the help they really need, the better their healing process will be,” Volz continued.

The legal services aren’t available yet, however. Funds will be available starting October 1, and Volz said she’s hopeful to have someone working on-site by early 2024. 

“It’s really going to allow us to expand what we’re doing. And it’s just really a gap in services. And I really think it can be a launch pad to help us develop more comprehensive legal plans. It’s step one,” Volz explained.

Volz told ABC 6 News that there are options to extend the grant if they want after the two years.

While it’s too early to say for sure, Volz said she feels like this is a program the community will want to keep around moving forward.

“There was this turning point during the pandemic, both with the recognition of the need for more victim services and also just the recognition among the social service industry in general about the lifesaving work that a lot of social service agencies do.”  Volz said.

“How important housing is, how important healthcare is, how important access to basic needs are, that just became crystal clear during the pandemic,” Volz concluded.