Healing Abuse Working For Change Inc

Emergency shelter and housing:hawc's emergency shelter provides a six to twelve month program for individuals who have become homeless as a result of domestic violence. While in the shelter program, survivors participate in intensive one-on-one advocacy and support groups. Advocacy includes housing search support, connection to various community programs including job readiness counseling, school, daycare and early intervention enrollment for children. Group support includes domestic violence 101 and parenting support. Support for children includes story hour, visits with a therapy dog and structured playtime with pals. Once permanent housing is secured, hawc provides moving expenses, furniture and housing goods, and short-term rental assistance, as available. Hawc participates in the statewide emergency hotline, safelink, which links domestic violence victims to shelters with vacancies.

Legal services:survivors experience an average of one to three legal issues when seeking to end an abusive relationship. With help from hawc's legal services, abuse survivors can learn about and enforce their rights in court. Hawc's trained legal advocates, staff attorneys and pro bono attorneys provide the following support:legal accompaniment: abuse survivors applying for abuse and harassment prevention orders in the five local courts in hawc's service area can acquire support in the application process and during hearings, discuss individualized safety plans, and receive referrals for other hawc services.legal consultations: abuse survivors seeking advice on custody issues, divorce hearings, housing and immigration concerns, or other legal matters resulting from abuse, can attend free legal clinics run by staff and pro-bono attorneys.direct representation: in high-risk cases, depending on hawc's availability, abuse survivors can acquire direct legal representation.

Education and outreach: hawc provides violence prevention education in schools and in partnership with local youth serving organizations to increase awareness about healthy relationships, warning signs of abuse and explore ways for friends and bystanders to get involved to reduce bullying and aggression.hawc is an important community resource providing education and training on how to support survivors. Hawc frequently provides training for the staff of community partners, such as head start and local public schools. It is hawc's goal to empower other service providers with the tools they need to provide trauma informed care and make referrals to hawc.the organization trains community volunteers and interns who assist in providing hotline support, court advocacy and support group facilitation. Through special events and social media content the organization seeks to raise awareness about domestic violence and social justice initiatives that empower survivors and work to eliminate oppression in all its forms.