DETROIT, MI — When vulnerable women arrive to Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, they know that Dr. Chad Audi is fighting to ensure their right to single-sex spaces. 

In a new profile, Independent Women’s Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism division of Independent Women, tells the story of Dr. Chad Audi, president and CEO of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, and his mission in showing how shelters can accommodate vulnerable people without forcing them to share intimate spaces.

Many of the women who arrive at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries are escaping violence and abuse, and Audi is working to keep the women at their shelter safe from further harm by providing dedicated single-sex accommodations. 

“So that’s why we keep the women comfortable by not bringing any other gender in,” Audi told IW Features.

Maintaining sex-segregated accommodations has become complicated as federal and local policies concerning “gender identity” have shifted. According to Audi, Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries has faced scrutiny from the city of Detroit and the Biden administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over its approach to single-sex accommodations.

“We showed them our rules and we showed them what we stand for, and we showed them that we’re not being discriminatory, we’re being much more protective,” he recalled to IW Features.

In February 2025, HUD Secretary Scott Turner directed the agency to halt certain enforcement actions under the 2016 Equal Access Rule. In April 2026, HUD proposed further changes, which have not yet been finalized, to provisions governing gender identity and sex-based accommodations in certain shelters. Those proposed changes have not been finalized. Yet Audi says federal policy changes do not resolve every challenge, particularly when local governments maintain separate requirements.

Despite controversies surrounding transgender policies, Audi said Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries remains committed to helping everyone in need while also protecting female residents. After nearly 30 years with the organization, his goal remains the same: helping people rebuild their lives while treating them with dignity and respect.

THE FIGHT OVER WOMEN-ONLY SHELTERS CONTINUES

While Audi has taken steps to protect the women at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries as much as possible, the broader debate over protections for women’s shelters is far from settled. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), first enacted in 1994, was amended in 2013 to add “gender identity” to its nondiscrimination requirements for federally funded programs. 

Congress is poised for VAWA’s next reauthorization in 2027, and lawmakers will again confront questions over how federal policy treats sex-specific shelters and intimate spaces where privacy and safety are at stake. Audi’s experience at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries illustrates why that distinction can matter in practice and what those policies can mean for shelters serving vulnerable women.

As Audi told IW Features, “The women in particular are a very vulnerable population, especially, whether they’re single or they have children. We need to protect them, and we can’t just bring somebody into their space.”

INDEPENDENT WOMEN ON THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

READ: This Detroit Shelter Director Refuses To Compromise Women’s Privacy

Direct media inquiries and booking requests to [email protected].  

###

www.independentwomen.com

Independent Women’s trusted experts, analysis, and data enable us to drive informed conversations to build support for better policy solutions.

www.IWFeatures.com

Independent Women’s Features identifies real people, tells their stories, and builds support around them to bring issues to life and foster more civil, compassionate, and productive debates.

Independent Women®’s unique methods and trusted brand shape public preferences, policies, and movements to create a better future for everyone.