We’re thrilled to announce that Lea Aromin, MSW, is the Coalition’s new Domestic Violence Housing Systems Coordinator! Lea comes to us from Bellevue member program, LifeWire, where most recently she was the Services Director. There, she oversaw all direct service programs, from legal to mental health to housing.
Fresh out of college in Arizona, Lea worked at a 126-bed communal DV housing shelter. There, she saw firsthand the advantages and disadvantages of this model, and as an early 20-something remembers thinking “there’s got to be something better than this.” And indeed, we think there is!
Now over a decade later, Lea has a Masters in Social Work and a depth and breadth of experience that is built upon deep relationships in the King County domestic violence service provider community. This experience will support Lea’s new role to ensure better housing access for survivors of gender-based violence. Over the last few years, Lea has participated in, and taken a leadership role in, our Coalition’s regular meetings to improve and coordinate domestic violence housing resources. Lea is passionate about finding solutions at the intersection of domestic violence and housing systems coordination.
“Sometimes, it seems like people don’t get why a gender-based violence coalition would be at a table of other housing, behavioral health, and human service coordinating efforts—like our topic is too niche. I used to be one of those people. But there’s so much overlap across all of our systems. In all of our coalitions, it’s not us vs. them. Your people are our people, and our people are your people.” Lea says.
In addition to working to develop a more coordinated and streamlined way for survivors to access DV housing programs, one of Lea’s main roles at the Coalition will be to work to link domestic violence service providers with the “Coordinated Entry for All” system, as well as with mainstream homeless / housing providers. “The whole city and county structure is changing—there’s a regional shift. And DV providers are wanting to make sure that survivors are considered as part of the equation. We need to make sure that the housing solutions that exist address the needs of survivors we’re working with, as well as the survivors we’re not working with.”
Now is a critical time in our region, as we continue to face an affordable housing crisis. It’s the perfect time for the Coalition to have added capacity to promote housing justice, and we’re so glad to have Lea on the team. Welcome Lea!