Urgent: Safe Housing Needed for Young Woman with Autism

We urgently need your help to protect a bright, loving 25-year-old woman with autism and intellectual disability who has experienced far too much instability, abuse, and abandonment.

In December, she was forced to flee for her safety in the middle of the night due to severe physical abuse. Since then, she has moved from place to place—each time taken in by people who claimed to care, only to exploit or endanger her again.

Despite repeated attempts, Adult Protective Services has failed to provide consistent protection. Her DDA waiver (Maryland’s developmental disability housing and services program) has been in process for over 90 days without resolution—and likely will not be finalized for several more months.

The only consistent source of care and advocacy she’s had is I-Matter Outpatient Mental Health Center, where we’ve been supporting her emotionally, medically, and logistically since December. We’ve been able to place her in a safe, local hotel room, where—for the first time in months—she’s finally stable and beginning to feel secure.

That placement ends August 1, and the state’s current solution is to send her to a shelter, where she would be at extreme risk due to her developmental disabilities.

She cannot be placed in a shelter.

We’re asking for your help to raise $1,860 to keep her safely housed for another 30 days, and ideally $5,000 to keep her stable through October while we await formal placement and housing support through the state.

Your donation helps this young woman stay out of danger and preserve the stability she’s only just begun to experience. Every dollar expands her village and gives her a real shot at healing.

If you cannot donate, please share this campaign and be part of keeping her safe.

Thank you from all of us at I-Matter Mental Health Center for helping us protect her.

#KeepHerSafe #DisabilityJustice #EmergencyHousing #ExpandTheVillage #WhenSHEmattersWEmatterTOGETHER