United Way Domestic Violence Initiative

Domestic Violence Initiative Update

United Way is committed to fostering a regional response to domestic violence by promoting safe and healthy relationships. We have mobilized community members, partners and experts to develop the following initiatives designed to enhance the region’s response to and prevention of domestic violence.

Survivor Housing: Policy and Coordination

The lack of available, affordable and safe housing is currently a critical barrier for domestic violence survivors who want to live free from violence. Survivors often experience an extended period of homelessness, hampering their ability to rebuild a stable life. For many, the fear of homelessness is a key reason for remaining with or returning to an abusive partner.

In an effort to increase the stability and safety of survivors of domestic violence, this initiative will bring together homeless services providers, landlords and domestic violence programs to improve policy coordination and collaboration related to survivor housing. Coordinators will make connections with partners in each county to collaborate across sectors to address barriers to housing. A Regional Policy Advocate will convene all the coordinators and key partners to pool each county’s strengths and collaborate on regional priorities.

Prevention: elementary school curricula

Domestic violence remains a persistent problem in every social, economic and ethnic group and it is in every neighborhood and community. Breaking this cycle requires intervention early enough in a person’s life to assure sound social and emotional development, to develop skills for creating healthy relationships, and teaching about the use of alternatives to violence. In elementary school, habits of social interaction are learned and practiced and will be carried through the child’s life to adulthood.

The goal of this initiative is to achieve broad and enduring change in how violence prevention education is conducted in schools for K-6th grade. To that end, United Way will work collaboratively with education, parent, domestic violence, and community stakeholders to create a comprehensive skill-based violence prevention curriculum. This would encompass age-appropriate skills for creating healthy relationships, bullying/violence prevention and what to do when witnessing violence.

Prevention: social marketing

While a comprehensive response to existing domestic violence situations is absolutely essential, relying on this approach alone does not reduce the overall prevalence of domestic violence. Breaking the cycle of violence requires a change in how the community as a whole understands gender roles, relationships, dominance, privacy and domestic violence, and how the perpetrator, survivor and bystanders (family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, schools, churches – everyone in the family’s life) respond when unhealthy relationship behaviors or domestic violence are threatened or occur.

By focusing on positive messaging, this social marketing plan will encourage men to act as positive role models. United Way will develop a social marketing campaign for the four-county region to provide a message for men and by men that a healthy relationship is more desirable than control and violence, and that bystanders have a role in helping this to happen.

United Way will be gathering resources for the domestic violence initiatives and will continue to convene regional workgroups to implement these initiatives. Join us in supporting our community to prevent and respond to domestic violence by signing up to receive our enewsletter on our website and choosing the Ending Domestic Violence check box to be updated on our progress.