La Casa de las Madres

Provides over 10,000 battered women, teens and their children free and multilingual emergency residential and community-based support services -- crisis response, advocacy, counseling, family-based services and referrals -- each year.

Why do we exist?

La Casa de las Madres exists in order to build a community where violence against women, teens and children is not tolerated. We exist because, right now, domestic violence is the leading cause of death for women between ages 15 and 44, more common than automobile accidents, muggings and rapes combined (California Department of Health Services); because teenage victims of relationship violence report the same progression of violence as do adult victims—from slaps and shoves to severe beatings, and because in the last 15 months at least 13 Bay Area women have been murdered by their current or ex-partners.   We exist because way too many children are growing up in abusive households, and relationship behaviors and expectations, ideas of love, caring, health, conflict and “normal” interactions, are learned and passed on in intergenerational cycles—as is violence. 

People often wonder why those suffering from domestic violence don’t simply leave a violent relationship.  The fact is that leaving a violent relationship isn’t easy.  Most often a woman is isolated—emotionally, physically and economically—from friends, family and other support systems.  What’s more, to maintain control over their victim, a batterer may use threats, insults, or humiliation.  A woman’s isolation is reinforced by our society’s profound silence about—and implicit tolerance of—domestic violence.  For many women and children, this silence may be a matter of life or death, thriving or losing themselves.  In response to this overwhelming need, La Casa de las Madres is committed to providing quality, comprehensive services that offer families realistic and long-lasting options toward ending domestic violence and homelessness.

What have you accomplished?

In 1976, a dynamic group of Bay Area women gathered to found La Casa de las Madres. In this momentous act, they created California’s first and the nation’s second shelter dedicated to women and children escaping domestic violence.  Our founders blazed a trail, at the forefront of a movement, for victims of abuse to reclaim their lives, safety and self-determination—a momentum that continues today.  

Thirty years later, La Casa remains San Francisco’s only shelter that accepts victims 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.  We also offer a continuum of community-based support services, because survivors need much more than a bed for the night in order to transition to truly violence free lives.  Each year we provide expert intervention and prevention services to more than 10,000 women, teens and children, and each contact makes a huge difference:

 “Looking back, I wonder about myself and why I continued to stay with him for another two years.  I was used to his dramatic mood swings.  But I shouldn't have kept putting up with it as long as I did…I can now honestly say that I will never put up with anybody's abusiveness.  I started meeting with a counselor from La Casa, although at first I didn't think I needed it.  I was able to work out my feelings about my situation.  I ended up with the clarity and the strength I needed to end my relationship.  Abuse is painful, but you can refuse to accept it.”

	How do you help people in my community?		Why do you need my support?
	How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?		Can I Volunteer? How?