Did you know the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has published the National Directory of Domestic Violence Programs for more than 30 years. This valuable resource has provided domestic violence programs, advocates, victims and survivors information about shelter programs across the nation and has been used by many to help those trying to safely escape their abusers with that process.
Thanks to the generosity of the Avon Foundation and our wonderful partners in production, Theresa's Fund the Directory will be updated this summer! We are very excited to announce that because of this partnership, this cutting-edge resource will be available later this summer via a new website called domesticshelters.org.
For the first time ever in the U.S., some 250,000 data points on 2,000+ providers will be available on desktop computers, tablets and mobile devices. This will allow easy access to important data, and will make it much more accessible both to shelter programs nationally and people seeking help.
Additionally, the site will empower victims to quickly and easily find nearby help that matches their needs, language, and other preferences. Most people conduct searches online these days when making choices. And domesticshelters.org will be the first "one-stop" online resource for just about everything they need to take that first important step. Rest assured though, addresses will not be released or publicized and searchers will be directed to websites only to maintain safety and confidentiality.
Domesticshleters.org is the idea of a family foundation called Theresa's Fund that has been an active, successful domestic violence change agent and resource in Arizona for more than 20 years. In February they began surveying providers around the country with the intent of launching domesticshelters.org as their own initiative.
However, as word spread about their important work, NCADV was made aware of their endeavor through our members and movement friends and thus reached out to Theresa's Fund. Long story short, after a number of meetings, we both decided the greatest impact would happen if we collaborated on the project.
Today we need your help in collecting information about your organization. Your participation is the key to domesticshelters.org being the powerful force that it can be in changing lives. You may have completed a survey for Theresa's Fund previously by phone or online but we ask that you take it one more time since we have revised the survey to make it more inclusive and comprehensive. Please let us know if you discover any issues while taking it as your feedback is very important to us. You can email us with those issues at storralba@ncadv.org.
Please take this survey by June 30th, 2014. It's free to participate.
We will be launching domesticshelters.org this summer, and to make this important and revolutionary resource available to your organization, and more importantly to the victims that need it the most.
