Domestic Violence Services Fund
Donation protected
Immediate Funding Needed to Continue Life Saving Services!
The HOPE program at St. Pius V provides professional, comprehensive Domestic violence (DV) services to primarily low-income, monolingual Latina women and their children who reside principally on the southwest side of Chicago. HOPE has filled the gap in culturally proficient, Spanish language domestic violence services. Because of language and cultural barriers, these families would be very unlikely to seek services for DV elsewhere. HOPE is now the largest Catholic parish-based domestic violence program in the country. Nevertheless, many clients come from all over Chicago and the surrounding suburbs because of their interest in accessing culturally sensitive and faith-based services.
Each year the program serves 200+ women and 130+ children. Services are provided free of charge regardless of clients religion, gender/gender expression, sexual orientation, legal status, age, disability or race.
Since the HOPE program began in 1996, the women seeking services have often expressed a desire for the men in their lives to change. Given these requests, the HOPE program also provides separate services for men who desire to stop acting abusively. Each year 100+ men voluntarily enroll in treatment.
Your donation directly benefits women, children, and families dealing with domestic violence by funding the modest salaries of staff who provide counseling and case management services.
For more information visit the website below and/or read on to hear about the Garcia family:
http://stpiusvparish.org/hope-at-st-pius-v/
Thank you for your generous support!
The Garcia Family Story
(As told by Dolores Tapia, HOPE Program Director/Counselor *Names have been changed to protect identities*)
Ericka noticed that her friend Juanita was constantly depressed. After a while Ericka asked Juanita to share what was going on. Juanita told Ericka that her husband, Pedro was physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive. Juanita felt overwhelmed, hopeless about the condition of her family, and wanted the abuse to stop. Ericka remembered how much the HOPE program helped her and referred Juanita there immediately. As Juanita began meeting with a counselor and attending groups with other women, she realized she was not alone in her experiences. After just six weeks she began noticing changes in the way she felt. Instead of feeling isolated, she began to feel empowered and decided to bring her children (Jose Antonio, age16; Jasmine, age12; Fernando, age 8) to get counseling also.
Pedro soon discovered that Juanita and the children were seeking help. He demanded that they stop, but Juanita decided to continue. Even though he was skeptical, Pedro eventually decided to meet with a male counselor himself. His first impression surprised him and Pedro began to think that the men's group might be worth a try, especially because he didn't want to lose his family. After a year of Pedro and Juanita getting services individually, Juanita decided that she wanted to start couples counseling. Both counselors agreed that they were each ready for this next step. Even though Pedro stopped the abuse, the damage was deep. Juanita decided that she wanted to work through it and remain together. Each step of the way, the HOPE program was there to support Juanita in her decisions (whatever they may have been), offer counseling to children who had been traumatized by witnessing the abuse, and help Pedro become committed to a life of peace.
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About the creator of this gofundme page: My name is Maxine Davis and I am a PhD Candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. For the past year I have been living in Chicago and researching the HOPE program. In all of my experience as a social worker studying domestic violence services, I have never encountered such a holistic and impactful program. Research findings indicate that the services provided have an overwhelming positive impact in the lives of those seeking help. It is vitally important that this program gets the funding needed to continue services!
The HOPE program at St. Pius V provides professional, comprehensive Domestic violence (DV) services to primarily low-income, monolingual Latina women and their children who reside principally on the southwest side of Chicago. HOPE has filled the gap in culturally proficient, Spanish language domestic violence services. Because of language and cultural barriers, these families would be very unlikely to seek services for DV elsewhere. HOPE is now the largest Catholic parish-based domestic violence program in the country. Nevertheless, many clients come from all over Chicago and the surrounding suburbs because of their interest in accessing culturally sensitive and faith-based services.
Each year the program serves 200+ women and 130+ children. Services are provided free of charge regardless of clients religion, gender/gender expression, sexual orientation, legal status, age, disability or race.
Since the HOPE program began in 1996, the women seeking services have often expressed a desire for the men in their lives to change. Given these requests, the HOPE program also provides separate services for men who desire to stop acting abusively. Each year 100+ men voluntarily enroll in treatment.
Your donation directly benefits women, children, and families dealing with domestic violence by funding the modest salaries of staff who provide counseling and case management services.
For more information visit the website below and/or read on to hear about the Garcia family:
http://stpiusvparish.org/hope-at-st-pius-v/
Thank you for your generous support!
The Garcia Family Story
(As told by Dolores Tapia, HOPE Program Director/Counselor *Names have been changed to protect identities*)
Ericka noticed that her friend Juanita was constantly depressed. After a while Ericka asked Juanita to share what was going on. Juanita told Ericka that her husband, Pedro was physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive. Juanita felt overwhelmed, hopeless about the condition of her family, and wanted the abuse to stop. Ericka remembered how much the HOPE program helped her and referred Juanita there immediately. As Juanita began meeting with a counselor and attending groups with other women, she realized she was not alone in her experiences. After just six weeks she began noticing changes in the way she felt. Instead of feeling isolated, she began to feel empowered and decided to bring her children (Jose Antonio, age16; Jasmine, age12; Fernando, age 8) to get counseling also.
Pedro soon discovered that Juanita and the children were seeking help. He demanded that they stop, but Juanita decided to continue. Even though he was skeptical, Pedro eventually decided to meet with a male counselor himself. His first impression surprised him and Pedro began to think that the men's group might be worth a try, especially because he didn't want to lose his family. After a year of Pedro and Juanita getting services individually, Juanita decided that she wanted to start couples counseling. Both counselors agreed that they were each ready for this next step. Even though Pedro stopped the abuse, the damage was deep. Juanita decided that she wanted to work through it and remain together. Each step of the way, the HOPE program was there to support Juanita in her decisions (whatever they may have been), offer counseling to children who had been traumatized by witnessing the abuse, and help Pedro become committed to a life of peace.
___________________________________________________________
About the creator of this gofundme page: My name is Maxine Davis and I am a PhD Candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. For the past year I have been living in Chicago and researching the HOPE program. In all of my experience as a social worker studying domestic violence services, I have never encountered such a holistic and impactful program. Research findings indicate that the services provided have an overwhelming positive impact in the lives of those seeking help. It is vitally important that this program gets the funding needed to continue services!
Organizer
Maxine Davis
Organizer
Chicago, IL
