LODESTAR
STTARS's Quarterly Housing Newsletter

March 2025 Edition

Reflections

In commemorating our fourth year as the Tribal Safe Housing Center funded by the Office of Family Violence Prevention, I would like to reflect on our early beginnings.

In September 2019, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence brought together experts across the country who work in the areas of domestic violence, sexual violence, dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking and the housing industry. They established the National Workgroup on Safe Housing for American Indian and Alaska Native Survivors of Gender-Based Violence.

The goal of the National Workgroup was to develop policy recommendations and to look at best practices in addressing the training and technical assistance needs of domestic violence programs in responding to the needs of survivors who are dealing with housing insecurity and homelessness.

The National Workgroup established a framework, built on safety and the belief that housing and shelter are basic human rights, to guide the work going forward. Other themes from this initial gathering were sovereignty and self-determination, culture and tradition, relationship to Earth Mother, the significance of place, prevention, spirituality, and healing, connections to our Ancestors, sustainability, autonomy, and generational impacts and youth-led movements. Some of the key policy recommendations:

• Create an Indigenous Safe Housing Center.
• Conduct Listening Sessions with Survivors.
• Establish a Youth Component.
• Work with the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC).
• Address the Training and Technical Assistance needs of domestic violence programs and shelters.
• Develop a Toolkit that focuses on the funding for housing and how it can be layered.
• Support DV Bonus Funding for housing survivors in tribal communities.
• Develop a Toolkit for Tribal Public Housing Agencies regarding permanent supportive housing for Tribes.
• Continue the work of the National Workgroup and bring new voices into the space.

For a complete list of all the policy recommendations and additional information about the National Workgroup, please check out the report.

A second convening was held in February 2020 in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a result of these convenings, FVPSA established funding for a Tribal safe housing center. NIWRC applied to the financing, and in FY22, STTARS was created. We are excited about the work we are doing, the organizations we work with, the collaborations we’ve built, the resources we’ve developed, and the training and technical assistance we have been able to provide since our humble beginnings. Thank you to everyone for your support and the important work you do in your communities to end the violence and create safe housing for all our relatives.

With Love and Respect,

Gwendolyn Packard (Ihanktonwan Dakota)

Director of STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center

Advocating in a Good Way:

Tribal Nations as Political Entities

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), StrongHearts, Minnesota Indigenous Woman Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC), and the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC) presented during the virtual FVPSA Training and Technical Assistance Resource Network Winter meeting on February 18-20. This presentation focused on Tribal sovereignty, Tribal Nations as political entities, and the importance of the use of language in these spaces while working in Indian Country. Information shared highlighted that cultural awareness and sensitivity are key in developing, building trust, and maintaining working relationships while advocating for Tribal Nations. Since all Tribal Nations have different practices, values, beliefs, customs, and languages, researching and learning about them in the areas being served is very important and can help prevent stereotypes.

Photo courtesy of Social Security

Social Security and Scam Awareness

A message from Social Security: Social Security imposter scams continue to be widespread across the United States. Scammers use tactics to deceive you into providing sensitive information or money. If you receive a suspicious letter, text, email, or call, do not respond. We will NEVER:

• Text or email images of an employee’s official government identification.
• Suspend your Social Security number.
• Threaten you with arrest or other legal action unless you immediately pay a fine or fee.
• Require payment by retail gift card, wire transfer, internet currency, or cash by mail.
• Promise a benefit increase or other assistance in exchange for payment.
• Mail or email “official” letters or reports containing your personal information.

We only send text messages in limited situations, including:

• When you have subscribed to receive updates and notifications by text.
• As part of our enhanced security when accessing your personal Social Security account.
• If you owe money to us, we will mail you a letter with payment options and appeal rights. Social Security employees do contact the public by telephone for business purposes. Ordinarily, the agency calls people who have recently applied for a Social Security benefit, are already receiving payments and require an update to their record, or have requested a phone call from the agency. If there is a problem with a person's Social Security number or record, Social Security will typically mail a letter.

We encourage you to report suspected Social Security imposter scams—and other Social Security fraud—to the OIG’s website at oig.ssa.gov/report. You can find more information about scams at www.ssa.gov/scam. Please share this information with your friends, family, and colleagues to help spread awareness about Social Security imposter scams.

Alaska Safe Housing Assessment Report From Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center

This assessment provides action steps and innovative solutions to the housing needs of Alaska Native survivors of domestic violence in both rural and urban Alaska communities.

Rewatch Webinar

Working at the Intersection of Housing Insecurity/Homelessness and Human Trafficking

Access to safe housing for individuals experiencing gender-based violence is challenging on multiple levels. For individuals experiencing human trafficking, access to immediate emergency shelter, transitional, and long-term housing is almost non-existent. This webinar will highlight the work of the Pathfinder Center which is located in Central South Dakota. Pathfinder Center is a project of Wiconi Wawokiya, a 501c3 non-profit, community-based refuge for victims of human trafficking. Pathfinder will present the housing needs of survivors, what works, how their work is different from domestic and/or sexual violence shelters, and why it is different. Pathfinder will also provide advocacy and policy recommendations to build or strengthen your program's capacity to respond to the urgent needs of survivors of human trafficking.

Melissa is a member of the STTARS National Workgroup on Safe Housing for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) Survivors, where she brings her voice and lived experience into the space to develop policy and create concrete recommendations for technical assistance, resources and other supports for the to increase the availability of safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable housing for AI/AN/NH survivors. She has been working with the unhoused and addicted adults and youth on the streets of Minneapolis for six years. “I plan to keep networking, opening shelters, housing programs, and resources for our relatives,” said Melissa. “I plan to make changes in the systems for the ones who cannot speak for themselves. I also patrol my neighborhood of south Minneapolis around the clock day and night, watching over all our relatives with guidance.”

Please join us in celebrating the work of Melissa Brings Them! lililililili

Announcements 

March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month:

Ohio Domestic Violence Network has upcoming trainings regarding traumatic brain injuries in survivors and how it affects them in the long term.

"Invisible Injuries: Strangulation, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Domestic Violence" sponsored by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

March 5 and 6 from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST - Register Now!

"Understanding Strangulation and Traumatic Brain Injury Across the Lifespan to Enhance the Medical Forensic Exam" sponsored by the International Association of Forensic Nurses.

March 11 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. EST - Register Now!

"Felonious Strangulation" from ODVN’s Training Academy

Hear from a survivor, fellow advocates, ODVN staff, and a lawyer about Ohio’s strangulation statute and strategies for advocating with survivors of strangulation and brain injury. The training is free for ODVN members and $25 for non-ODVN members. March 20 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST - Register Now!

Last year, STTARS hosted a webinar, "Hidden in Plain Sight: The Intersection of Brain Injury, Strangulation, Gender-Based Violence, Housing Insecurity and Homelessness” using CARE (Connect, Acknowledge, Respond, Evaluate) Ohio’s evidence-based framework developed by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and The Ohio State University. CARE is a brain-injury-aware, trauma-informed approach that focuses on accessibility and accommodations. It offers practical, hands-on, free tools, strategies, and resources to support your work. Brain injuries can cause physical, emotional, and cognitive consequences that can impact every area of a survivor’s life.

Other News 

• ICE Courthouse and Sensitive Locations Update: Safety Planning and Guidance for Gender-Based Violence Organizations
• Billionaire-Backed Think Tank That Pushed Homeless Crackdowns Elsewhere Hires Veteran NM Lobbyists
• ICE Raid Guidance for Homeless Service Providers: What to do Before, During, and After a Raid

Request Housing Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) from STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center. STTARS provides culturally rooted training and technical assistance, policy development, and Indigenous-centered resource materials to support Tribes, Tribal housing authorities, and Tribal domestic violence programs and shelters to address the intersection of gender-based violence and housing insecurity and homelessness and create safe housing options for survivors.

To request T/TA, please fill out the form located on our website at niwrc.org/housing/contact with as much detail as possible, and we will be in touch!

STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center is funded by grant #90EV0537 from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family, and Youth Services Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this newsletter are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.