We offer help to families that have experienced domestic violence through grants which are targeted to a small number of people, but are unusually comprehensive.  These women are courageously trying to take care of their families and improve their financial situation, despite enormous challenges.  

The types of things the grants are used for include:

  • Housing (often one of the toughest areas for these families to manage)
    • subsidize rent at a gradually reducing rate over 3-5 years
    • provide a guarantee to landlords that the rent will be paid
  • Furnishings 
  • Computers and internet access
  • Education
  • Tuition and books for school programs designed to create marketable skills
  • Childcare
    • Cover the cost of daycare, after school care and some babysitting to allow the mother to work and go to school
  • Job costs
  • Counseling—financial, psychological, legal, employment

Our typical recipient is a competent working woman who has recently separated from her abuser and is unable to make ends meet.  She is anxious to put in the effort to upgrade her educational credentials so that she may earn more money and better provide for her family.

The grants are provided in two ways.  First, we provide subsidized rent, furnishings and other support services at a house in Westchester, NY.  Three fully-furnished apartments are located in a suburban community with a good school system, within walking distance to a Metro-North train station and local bus routes.  Each apartment is equipped with a computer and high-speed internet access.  Families in the house are given grants to cover the full range of their needs in their quest to becomes economically and emotionally stable.

Second, we have begun a new grant through Safe Space in Manhattan (formerly known as The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) to give incremental support to a limited number of families whom they identify and manage.  The newly developed program is called Safe Passage and supplements the range of services offered by Safe Space with more comprehensive support.  Often larger programs provide some level of support but fall short of the housing and childcare services required by a family over a longer period of time in order for them to achieve financial independence.