Resonance - Twenty Years Of Impact - Report - Page 86
WORLD’S FIRST
Gender-lens impact property fund
APRIL-JUNE 2020 SAW A 65% INCREASE
IN CALLS TO THE NATIONAL DOMESTIC
ABUSE HELPLINE COMPARED TO JANUARYMARCH OF THAT SAME YEAR.35
JULY-SEP 2021, 6,310 HOUSEHOLDS WERE
REGISTERED AS HOMELESS DUE TO
DOMESTIC ABUSE. AN INCREASE OF 34%
FROM THE SAME PERIOD IN 2019.36
TRACY BLACKWEL
ELIZABETH CORRADO
REFUGE
IMPULSE IMPACT LTD
The potential of our partnership is exciting
Refuge has been working with Resonance on the
Women In Safe Homes Fund for a couple of years
now and we are excited about the potential of our
partnership. Social impact investing is hugely important
for a charity like ours. As the largest specialist provider of
domestic abuse support services in the country, Refuge
knows first-hand how the housing crisis and a shortage
of affordable, high-quality housing affects women and children fleeing domestic
abuse.
I first met Dan 10 years ago in 2012 as he led the
design and fund raising for the first of Resonance’s
pioneering property funds, the Real Lettings Property
Fund. I observed how his vision inspired and informed
the early development of the social property market. I
subsequently worked together with Dan and his team
to fund and support the design of a community asset
development fund focused on income-generating
assets which became Resonance Community Developers. I served as an
Investment Committee member of the City of London £20m social investment
fund which evaluated and invested in each of Resonance’s funds and I am now
delighted to work as a member of the all-women Senior Board of Advisers for the
Resonance Women In Safe Homes Fund.
Rising rents, unsafe housing and a lack of funding are some of Refuge’s
biggest concerns. Survivors of domestic abuse face many barriers when escaping
abuse and we know housing is one of the biggest issues. At Refuge, providing
emergency accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic abuse is one
of our most important principles, it is vital that this housing is safe, affordable and
high-quality.
Facing unprecedented demands
Resonance supported Refuge to source our first property during the pandemic.
This was the toughest time in Refuge’s fifty-year history, with unprecedented
demand on our frontline services. Calls and contacts to our National Domestic
Abuse Helpline – the gateway to domestic abuse services all over the country, rose
by over 60% during the first three months of lockdown in 2020. Never had the issue
of women’s safety and domestic abuse been more paramount. Even now as we
emerge into a “new-normal” post-pandemic, demand for our services continues to
be at an all-time high.
THE WOMEN
IN SAFE HOMES
FUND - THE
WORLD’S FIRST
GENDER-LENS
PROPERTY FUND
There is a shortage of appropriate high quality refuge buildings. Our partnership
with Resonance gives us control over what our buildings look like, ensuring our
emergency refuge accommodation is high quality, fit for purpose and designed with
survivors’ comfort and safety in mind. Resonance purchased our first building in
2021, with plans to renovate it to provide a refuge that can support seven families,
with staff located on site. We have worked closely with Resonance on the design and
specification, learning from each other along the way. Securing the right building in
the right area and having financial security to see out a longer term vision enables
us to work with commissioners to secure funds to provide specialist support to
women and children. And with the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 comes a statutory duty
for local authorities to provide safe accommodation. The Resonance social impact
investment model will be even more important in helping organisations such
as Refuge meet the growing demand for safe accommodation buildings. Thank
you Resonance for the journey so far and we look forward to continuing to work
with you.
Source:
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86
With the significant growth in social and impact property funds, Resonance has
a critical role to play in serving as an exemplar and setting the bar in terms of the
creation of additional and attributable positive social outcomes and long term
impact for residents and local communities.
RESONANCE KEY MILESTONES
FUNDS LAUNCHED
• The Women In Safe Homes Fund - believed to be the world’s first genderlens property fund - launches as a joint venture with Patron Capital. The
fund aims to purchase over 650 properties and provide safe housing for over
6,000 women over its lifetime
• The Women In Safe Homes Fund appoints an all-women Advisory Board
INVESTMENT
• The MacArthur Foundation and Lostand Foundation are seed investors
into the Women in Safe Homes fund - the first US investors in Resonance’s
property funds
36 The Guardian 2022
87