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Haven Hills, Inc.

2009-2010 CASE FOR SUPPORT

The Problem

Domestic Violence is a problem of epidemic proportions.

• Approximately 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day
• Of these, most are killed within 2 weeks of leaving the batterer
• 1 in 3 women report being in an abusive relationship sometime in her life
• Two-thirds of residents in battered women's shelters are children
• Men who are physically violent toward their partners are likely to use violence toward children

The health effects of domestic violence are devastating. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women ages 15-44. In the United States, approximately two million injuries are sustained by women and 580,000 by men due to domestic violence each year. In addition, those experiencing domestic violence are more likely to have a wide range of physical and mental health problems. Victims of domestic violence experience twice the rate of depression of non-victims.

The healthcare costs of intimate partner violence are substantial. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that the direct physical and mental health care costs of domestic violence in the U.S. are over $4 billion per year. Victims of domestic violence have twice the health care visits and utilization compared to those not experiencing domestic violence.

Domestic violence affects families at all socio-economic levels, all education levels, all religions, and all ethnicities. Its impact on individual families is enormous and devastating but the impact on the community as a whole is equally devastating. It is a serious, widespread health and safety issue and must be treated as such.

Although victims are at increased risk of injury when trying to leave, they are safe only if they are able to successfully leave the batterer. Counseling, crisis shelters, transitional living and employment programs are important support systems for women and children to escape the hold of domestic violence. Haven Hills provides these support systems and does so in a cost effective, fiscally sound manner.

Haven Hills Provides Solutions

Mission

Haven Hills provides safety and support to victims of domestic violence while working to break the cycle of abuse. We offer shelter, crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy, and activities supporting increased economic opportunity to victims primarily in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. We endeavor to increase community awareness about domestic violence issues and bring about societal change through education and public policy advocacy.

Vision

Stop Domestic Violence, Build Self Reliance, Save Lives

We believe that everyone deserves to live a life free of violence. Our vision is that all people will take personal responsibility to eradicate domestic violence in their own relationships, families and the community at large. Domestic violence will be replaced with equality in relationships and mutual respect.

Services

As a full-service domestic abuse agency, Haven Hills provides a Crisis Line, a 30-day Crisis Shelter for victims and their children, outreach counseling programs, legal advocacy, an18-month transitional housing and employment program, children's programs, and volunteer training. Offering shelter, intervention and prevention to victims and their children are the primary goals and all services are provided at no cost to the clients.

The Crisis Line is staffed with trained volunteers and staff; Training includes a 40-hour state mandated certification program. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and receives over 12,000 calls per year. This is often the first contact a victim has with the agency and is an important one. It may facilitate getting a victim out of a circumstance of abuse and into a safer situation. The hotline also offers resources and referrals to other agencies, medical support and housing assistance.

The 30-day Crisis Shelter is comprised of 6 units with a total of 36 beds, able to accommodate women and their children. It is located at a confidential site and provides a classroom for the children living in the shelter. A certified teacher is qualified to educate K-12 children and the classroom offers all needed materials so that children are able to maintain their education and avoid missing valuable schooling. Counseling is an integral part of all the Haven Hills programs and services and the Crisis Shelter offers basic medical assessments with a physician's assistant and a health educator. In 2008, 85 women and 176 children stayed in the shelter for an average of 18 days.

The legal advocacy component assists victims in meeting with an advocacy counselor and accessing the resources for restraining orders. The advocates are bilingual to meet the needs of Spanish speaking clients and will accompany the victim to court.

The Haven Two Transitional Housing and Employment Program is an eighteen- month program provided to low-income women dedicated to changing their lives. This complex has 23 apartments ranging from 1 - 4 bedrooms, a children's play room and counseling areas. At Haven Two women learn job-training skills, continue their education and/or return to jobs while continuing to address their domestic violence issues. Individual and group counseling for the women and children is provided on site. The program is focused on helping the victim become self sufficient, breaking the cycle of violence.

Both of our shelter sites provide counseling for children, with an emphasis on art and play therapy techniques. Agency statistics show that over 86% of the children are victims of psychological and/or physical abuse.

Governance

A volunteer-led, staff-managed organization, Haven Hills Board of Directors holds a minimum of 6 meetings per year and elects its own Board Chair. The Board is composed of members of the community who are committed to eradicating domestic violence. The co-founders of the organization are currently on the board.

How you can help

Haven Hills receives 65% of its funding from state and local government grants which support direct programs and services. Over the past several years we have seen this funding decrease by approximately 20% per year. In spite of this, Haven Hills has been able to sustain a consistent level of services by creative staffing, utilizing volunteers and managing expenses. As we face another round of cuts for the coming budget year we are redoubling our efforts to develop independent funding sources for the budget items not covered by restricted government grants, and to rebuild agency capacity.

It's not only emotionally difficult to leave an abusive relationship, but also very dangerous. Your help is needed now to ensure that the life saving services offered to victims of domestic violence in our community will be there when a woman is ready to leave. She needs safety, support and education to overcome the tremendous obstacles facing her as she struggles to begin rebuilding her life.

Financial Information

More than 78% of every dollar raised goes directly to programs and services for victims of domestic violence in our community. Haven Hills receives the majority of funds from state and local government grants which have been steadily decreasing over the past few years. It is imperative that we increase revenue from individuals, corporations and foundations to sustain the agency in the future.

Haven Hills has been saving lives for over 32 years

Haven Hills began as a grass-roots community effort in 1977 by members of the Canoga Park Women's Club who realized that the San Fernando Valley did not have services for victims of domestic violence. The agency was incorporated in 1977 and immediately established a speaker's bureau and volunteer training program.

The first Crisis Line opened in 1978 in donated space in a bank operating for just 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. This was soon followed by a counseling clinic. Soon, they started looking for a space to open a crisis shelter. Of course, they had no idea how they were going to pay for it, but in 1980 the 30-day crisis shelter opened with 36 beds. Soon thereafter, a school was started on site. The vision had been realized.

The programs grew steadily over the next few years. Staff was hired, grants were obtained and services were increased. We had a counseling clinic, advocacy, case management, children's counseling and many other programs, but the women leaving the shelter expressed a need for more time in a safe, supportive environment to begin putting their lives back together. As a result, the board and staff began planning for expansion and in 1997 the dream became reality with the opening of Haven Two, an 18-month transitional housing facility. This 23-unit apartment complex enables women to begin rebuilding their lives and take steps to become self-sufficient.

Valley D.A.R.T. (Domestic Abuse Response Team) was also launched in 1997 in conjunction with the L.A.P.D. Trained volunteer advocates respond with police to domestic violence calls offering immediate assistance with medical, legal and counseling referrals and shelter options. Due to budget cuts, this program was discontinued in 2008.

Because victims of domestic abuse have special concerns that affect their ability to secure and hold employment, Haven Hills opened a CalWORKs office in 1998. Due to budget cuts and economic constraints, we closed the CalWORKS office in 2008, but we have been able to continue the service through our counseling programs.

Our mission to break the cycle of violence through prevention and education was strengthened with the start of our teen violence prevention program, Love's Child, in 2000. This peer-run, art based program addresses healthy relationships and dating violence for at-risk youth. Now called the Haven Hills Teen Program, the group has expanded its focus and coordinates a Teen Summit each year to take the message to more young people in the community. This program was temporarily suspended in 2009 due to elimination of a grant from the State of California, Department of Public Health. We are looking for community support to re-establish this program as we recognize that prevention is the key to the elimination of domestic violence.

From the first tentative, small steps taken in 1977 Haven Hills has grown into a model agency with a wide array of programs focused on breaking the cycle of domestic violence. We have helped over 600,000 women and children over the past 32 years in addition to the work we've done to bring attention to the problem in our community. Haven Hills continues to be a critically necessary and inventive organization working to end domestic violence.