In 2024, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) will celebrate 30 years since its passage. VAWA has helped countless survivors of all ages and backgrounds, all races and religions, and all communities throughout the nation, as well as allocated essential funding to the programs that benefit survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The VAWA legislation has periodically been renewed and each time, members from both parties worked to expand access to survivor safety and support and to increase prevention efforts. On a local level, funding has allowed us to offer transitional housing, rental assistance, and advocacy for survivors. It has also been crucial in our homicide prevention work.

2024 will also mark the end of my thirtieth year at the Center. I remember so distinctly the surprise I felt when I learned that this little organization – at the time we were a staff of six with an annual budget that hovered around $200K – was helping 1,000 survivors a year. We were a skeletal crew offering essential services such as the 24-hour crisis hotline, safe homes, support groups, advocacy, and help with restraining orders. I also suffered with the illusion that if we were able to provide more comprehensive services, the numbers of survivors needing services would diminish over time and yes, we would close our doors when the time came. That was a lesson! We began to offer more services to better meet the needs of survivors: we worked with local police to meet with survivors following a critical incident; funded a safe home for women; hired a staff attorney that could better prepare survivors for court proceedings; created a program for child survivors; created and piloted the nation’s first DVHRT that focused on homicide prevention; worked with people who use violence; introduced art therapy; initiated school prevention programs, and a lot more. What happened? Did our numbers drop? No. Our numbers increased. People – whether adult, teen, or a child – need services that support every aspect of their humanity to heal and move forward.

I know that the work is far from over – in many ways for us at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, it is just beginning. Three years ago, rocked by the murder of George Floyd, we embraced the work of becoming an anti-racist organization. We wanted to make sure our staff and board comprised a variety of voices, perspectives, and lived experiences; vetted our policies and procedures to eliminate bias and white supremacy; changed our recruitment and hiring process; began the work of community engagement; and trained at every level in the organization. People have asked me why we are so focused on racial justice and the answer is simple: while domestic violence occurs in every culture regardless of socioeconomic, educational, and religious background, we must address the fact that violence disproportionately affects marginalized groups, especially those who experience multiple forms of oppression. We must bring a focus to the experiences of women of color, who experience domestic violence at high rates and continue to encounter barriers when trying to access services.

In the last 30 years, we have helped more than 25,000 survivors of domestic violence, providing life-changing services to those in need in the 16 communities that we serve. We were able to do that because of you. Without your support we would not be able to offer the robust services we do. Nor would we be able to do the important culture and systems-change work that is necessary to remove the barriers survivors face.

On behalf of all of us at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, thank you.

Suzanne C. Dubus
Chief Executive Officer